The Trial of Jan Hus in the memories of Catholics and Hussites: Dietrich Vrie, Eberhard Windecke and Vavřinec z Březové (1415–1440)

Abstract

The paper deals with the Hussite and the Catholic memories concerning the judgment against Jan Hus drawn up by the Council of Constance. The Catholics Dietrich (Theodericus) Vrie and Eberhard Windecke while composing their writings in the 1420s and 1430s misrepresented the proceeding of the year 1415, which they had probably witnessed. They considered Hus to be condemned for heresy because of his misinterpretation of Holy Communion. However, the documents deriving from the time of the Council do not prove this opinion, which could possibly emerged because of the theological and societal clashes between the Catholics and the Utraquists during the Hussite wars. The second chapter discovers two manners the Utraquists memorized Jan Hus: 1) they described the death of Hus similarly to the death of Christ as Vavřinec z Březové did; 2) the Bohemian estates summoned on the Diet in Časlav in the year 1421 (the Utraquists as well as the Catholics) considered the Hus’ death to be an instrument of political pressure against King Sigismund. However, the judgment of 1415 had not instantly created a Hussite identity for those who defended the Utraquism in the 1420s, because the term “Hussite” had been being used by the Catholics as swearword from the very beginning. Finally, there is a conclusion drawn that memory of Jan Hus as well as the term “Hussite” have been an impediment to the societal integration of Bohemian kingdom while emphasizing its confessional division contrary to the attempts of the Utraquists to unite the country in the face of King Sigismund.