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JOHN HUSS

John Huss was a Bohemian religious reformer. He was born in 1369 and died in 1415. His efforts to reform the church anticipated the Protestant Reformation. In 1398 he became a lecturer in theology at the university of Prague where he had studied and in 1401 was made dean of its philosophical faculty. Ordained a priest in 1401, the following year he took up additional duties as preacher at the Bethlehem Chapel, where the sermons were given in Czech instead of the traditional Latin. In 1414 Huss was summoned to appear at the Council of Constance which had been convened to resolve the schism in the church and to suppress heresy. Having received a safe conduct from Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, Huss thought he might manage successfully to defend his beliefs. On his arrival, however, his enemies had him imprisoned and tried for heresy. The charges against him falsely stated the doctrines he had preached. Called upon to recant (and to promise not to teach) his doctrines, Huss refused. He was condemned by the council and burned at the stake. His execution gave rise to the Hussite Wars in Bohemia.
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