Jan Hus

Jan Hus was born to a poor family in Husinec, in southern Bohemia, now the Czech Republic. He studied at the University of Prague, became a priest, and later rector of the university. From 1402 he preached in Czech at the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, which drew large crowds. Influenced by the writings of John Wycliffe, he criticized the wealth and corruption of the clergy and the sale of indulgences, and taught that Christ, not the pope, is the head of the Church and that Scripture is the highest authority. He was excommunicated, and Prague was placed under an interdict, so he left the city to preach in the countryside. In 1414 he went to the Council of Constance under a promise of safe conduct from the emperor Sigismund to explain his views. Instead he was imprisoned, tried, and ordered to recant teachings he said he had never held. He refused and was burned at the stake on 6 July 1415. His death set off the Hussite movement in Bohemia, and a century later Martin Luther read his writings with admiration.

Faith: Czech reformer accused of spreading the Wycliffite heresy; he died at Constance in 1415. Source: Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)