[Lekooks] Happy Jan Hus Day

[Liz Kreml]

Did you know that today, July 6, is Jan Hus Day? Are you familiar? 

Jon Hus (or Huss) was a Bohemian priest and reformer who was burned at the state for heresy 100 years before Martin Luther? I'm Czech and was taught about him first by my Dad. He was killed because he read and gave sermons directly from the Bible and thought everyone should be free to read the Bible too (rather than getting all their information / insight from a Pope (it was the time of the great Schism when there were two popes)). He was also against indulgences, essentially the Catholic Church charging for forgiveness. 

This is a link to a short biography. It was just the first good short article I found. The information on Hus matches what I know but I'm not familiar with and don't endorse anything else at this website. 
http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/martyrs/john-huss.html
(King Wenceslas is the one from the Christmas Carol. He was a "good" King because he believed peasants should know how to read and do simple math, virtually unheard of in the early 15th Century. They were buddies at first then the King sided with the Church in the end. Also, at this time, Prague, Vienna and Budapest were the gateways between Europe and Asia and "ahead" of Central Europe and England in many ways, like the educating of peasants.) 

If you're still interested, this link has what the Hussites (his followers) went on to do. It's from the history section of a Czech Republic tourist website. 
(Defenestration = killing someone by throwing them out a window. You don't hear of this as a planned method anymore. Must have been a castle thing. Were castle windows just open spaces in the 1400's? I think there was glass then but was there window glass?)
Hussitism and the Heritage of Jan Hus
http://www.czech.cz/en/czech-republic/history/all-about-czech-history/hussitism-and-the-heritage-of-jan-hus/

And if you're really, really interested, these are letters he wrote. The introduction is by Martin Luther. You can view it online or download.



From the introduction - "Conscience in matters of faith" - cool!




https://books.google.com/books?vid=OCLC00802093&id=bU6mxnnH6k0C&printsec=titlepage&dq=inauthor:martin+inauthor:luther+date:1500-1923#v=onepage&q&f=false


Jon Hus Day is a national holiday in CR, no work for them today. Czech's celebrate by doing quiet things with their family's, like picnics in parks and rides in the country (for those in Prague), and/or charity work as a family. Most set aside time to read and reflect in his honor. (I wonder how they've kept Hallmark, a candy manufacturer, or some other secular industry from changing how it's celebrated.)

So If you want to disappear with a good book today just tell people you're off to celebrate Jon Hus Day.

Liz

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