Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Jan Hus and Martin Luther
The word
catholic
means “universal.” The Roman Catholic
Church—in many ways the administrative ghost of the Roman
Empire—is the only organization to survive from ancient
times. For more than a thousand years, it enforced its notion
that the Vatican was the sole interpreter of God's word on
earth, and the only legitimate way to be a Christian was as a
Roman Catholic.
Jan Hus (c. 1369-1415) lived and preached a century
before Martin Luther. Both were college professors, as well
as priests. Both drew huge public crowds as they preached in
their university chapels. Both condemned Church corruption
and promoted a local religious autonomy. Both helped estab-
lish their national languages. (Hus gave the Czech alphabet its
unique accent marks so that the letters could fit the sounds.)
And both got in big trouble.
While Hus was burned, Luther survived. Thanks to the
new printing press, invented by Gutenberg, Luther was able to
spread his message cheaply and effectively. Since Luther was
high-profile and German, killing him would have caused major
political complications. While Hus may have loosened Rome's
grip on Christianity, Luther orchestrated the Reformation that
finally broke it. Today, both are honored as national heroes as
well as religious reformers.
Jan Hus Memorial
This monument, erected in 1915 (500 years after the Czech reform-
er's martyrdom by fire), symbolizes the long struggle for Czech
freedom (see sidebar above).
Walk around the memorial.
Jan Hus stands tall between
two groups of people: vic-
tor iou s Hu s site p at r iot s
a nd Protesta nts defeated
by the Habsburgs in 1620.
One of the patriots holds a
chalice (cup); in the medi-
eval Church, only priests could drink the wine at Communion.
Since the Hussites fought for their right to take both the wine
and the bread, the cup is their symbol. Hus looks proudly at the
Týn Church
(described on page 58), which became the headquar-
ters and leading church of his followers. A golden chalice once
filled the now-empty niche under the gold bas-relief of the Virgin
Mary on the church's facade. After the Habsburg (and, therefore,
Catholic) victory over the Czechs in 1620, the Hussite chalice was
melted down and made into the image of Mary that shines from
