HIS 334-ST1: Medieval European Civilizations: Jan Hus

Jan Hus was a late medieval Czechuniversity master and popular preacher who was condemned at the Council of Constance and burned at the stake as a heretic in 1415. Hus has become one of the best known figures of the Czech past and one of the most prominent religious, national, and political groups eager to appropriate his legacy. This treatment tells a story of a late medieval intellectual who--through his dedicated pursuit of what he understood as his mission--generated conflict and was eventually executed. an,but about the church, state, and society in late medieval Europe. Each chapter takes a major event in Hus' life as a starting point for a broader discussion of crucial problems connected to his career and the controversies he generated. By suggesting parallels to and departures from other late medieval figures and events in Europe, the book liberates Hus from a narrow and nationalist Czech historiography and places him squarely in a broader European context, showing a significance that transcended Czech borders.From a number of different vantage points.