The Church (De Ecclesia)

Of the writings of John Huss of Bohemia, the Treatise on the Church is the most important.1 From its pages the charges were drawn upon which the author was pronounced a heretic by the council of Constance and the same day, July 6, 141 5, burned at the stake. It was written in Latin and the translation, here offered, is the first that has appeared in English and seems to be the first to be issued in any language. It is offered as a help in the appreciation of a memorable man who deserves well of Western Christendom and as a contribution to the study of ecclesiology.

I. The Author. John Huss is the chief religious character of Bohemia, as Luther is of Germany, and John Knox of Scotland; and he is the one contribution his country has made to the progress of religious thought and of culture in Western Christendom. His fame it has been possible for several centuries to obscure through the semi-mythical personality of the Roman Catholic saint, John Nepomuk, but recently Husss eminence as a notable preacher and an unselfish patriot has come to recognition among his people, and in Southern Bohemia, though it is loyal to the Roman Catholic church, his memory is yearly celebrated.2

Born in 1373, Huss studied at the university of Prague — then in the golden period of its history. In 1403, he was made its rector, holding the position six months and later,

1 Loserth, who pronounces the same judgment, says that the treatise has inspired friends and foes alike with deep respect, Wklif and Hus, p. 182. Huss's main treatise attacking John XXIII's bulls of indulgences and his Rtply to the Eight Doctors, Monumenta, 1: 215-237; 366-402, are more spirited and make the impression of being more direct, because they are less encumbered by quotations from the canon law and other sources.

* For details of Huss's life, see Schaff, Lifc of John Huss, N. Y., 19 15.

in 1409, for the term of a year. In 1403, he was also appointed preacher at Bethlehem chapel which had been founded ten years before to afford preaching in the native Czech tongue. Under Huss the chapel became the most conspicuous religious centre of the city next to the cathedral of St. Vite and the centre of a national movement. His sermons at once attracted attention by their Scriptural fervor and by their attacks upon the abuses of the clergy. As Eneas Sylvius bears witness,1 he was forcible in speech; and his purity of…