A man burned alive. A country riven by fire, sword, and destruction. Violence fanned by religious bigotry. Mass protests and innovative social experiments. All of this occurred in late medieval Bohemia, where a localized revolt produced a full-blown revolution.
An effort at religious reform led to a reformation, in response to which the older idea of crusading was revived. The Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire used military force in an effort to subdue those they considered to be dangerous subversives.
The ideas promoted by the Hussites that they found most objectionable included social equality, communalism, shared property, and a new world order. This cycle of rebellion and repression resulted in the Hussite revolt.
The Hussite age occurred during a bellicose time in later medieval Europe. Three rival popes jostled for control of the papal throne. Social and religious discontent ran high, and there was a sense of crisis in the fabric of society.
The Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire used military force in an effort to subdue those they considered to be dangerous subversives.
In Prague, the priest Jan Hus strove to see the church reformed. Like many reformers, Hus pressed his agenda quickly and aggressively. The church responded to these efforts by putting him on trial and eventually handing him over to the secular authorities to be burned alive as a heretic. A similar fate befell his colleague Jerome of Prague, and more burnings followed.
Many Czechs were outraged and vowed to oppose the holders of political and ecclesiastical power….
La suite est à lire sur: jacobin.com
Auteur: Thomas Fudge
