History

Jan Hus Jan Hus grew up very poor in the Czech Republic. His last name Hus actually comes from the small town he grew up, Hussine. In Czech it means, GooseTown. So in a way his name was Jan the Goose. In 1410, he became a pastor and philosophy professor and got hold of a copy of John Wycliffe's work while in college. He agreed strongly with Wycliffe and openly told people so. It was at this time also, that 3 people claimed to be Pope. Due to political allegiances, one lived in Avignon, one in Rome and the other in Pisa. These rival claims to the papal throne damaged the prestige of the office. After word got to the Vatican of the beliefs of Jan Hus, he was soon in trouble. He was asked to attend a meeting to defend his opinions and promised safe passage. However, when Jan Hus arrived he was instantly arrested. The Pope selected 3 high ranking bishops to judge Jan Hus. They told Jan Hus that if he took back his opinions and agreed with them they wouldn't kill him

Catholic Status Quo  Churches at the time were essential to every day life in the middle ages. They almost exclusively provided charity, food banks, social welfare, orphanages and education. Th e church owned  about one third of the land in  Western Europe. Because the church was considered independent, they did not have to pay the king any tax for their land. Local priests decided whose weddings were lawful and whose births were legitimate. They performed christenings, baptisms, weddings and last rights. They were a central figure of the community and the only person many people knew who could read and read the bible, which was in latin. The church liked it this way and it wasn't until 1466 that it was translated into any other language than latin. An authorized English translation wasn't approved until Henry VIII broke away from the catholic church in 1535. . People lived in a confusing and upsetting world. Plagues could wipe out entire villages and two-thirds o