HUSS, JOHN, the celebrat, d reformer and founder of the sect called Hussites, was born at Hussinez, a village in Bohemia, about the year 1376, and received his education at the university of Prague, where he took his degrees of M A. and B. D. and at length became minister of a church in that city. In the year 1400. he was chosen confessor to the queen Sophia ; and at this early period, he already be gan to distinguish himself by his freedom and zeal in re prehending the corrupt morals of. the laity, as well as the • vices of the clergy. The monks, under the protection of some of the nobles, comphin...d of him to the king Win ceslaus ; but this prince, who was no friend to the clergy, declined to interfere.
About this period, in consequence of the marriage of Ann of Bohemia with Richard II. of England, a commu nication and intercourse were opened between these two countries ; and several young Bohemians repaired to Eng land, where they became acquainted with the writings or Wickliffe. Among these was Jerome of Plague, who had formerly been a pupil of Huss, and after spending some time at the university of Oxford, returned to his na tive country, bringing along with him several of the works of the English reformer. Huss perused these writings, and having found that many of the opinions which they contained coincided with those which he himself had been led to entertain, he continued to preach openly and zea lously against the errors and corruptions of the reigning church. His eloquence was powerfully directed against the sale of indulgences ; he inveighed against this system of Papal extortion with uncommon warmth; and his argu ments received countenance both from the monarch and the people. By this conduct, however, he rendered him self greatly obnoxious to Subinco, the archbishop of Prague, a violent, bigotted, and illiterate prelate, who From thenceforth became his irreconcileable enemy. Being aware that Huss was secretly attached to the doctrines of Wickliffe, he obtained a decree of the university, in which the opinions of the English reformer were condemned as heretical, and those who should in future attempt to disse minate these opinions were threatened with the punish ment of burning. Huss perceived at once that this decree
was levelled at his person, rather than the opinions of Wickliffe ; but he relied upon the protection of the queen, and the acknowledged purity of his life and conversation.
Meanwhile, two young Englishmen, and zealous disci ples of Wickliffe, having arrived at Prague, contributed to strengthen his attachment to the doctrines of that re former ; and Wickliffe's treatise De realibus Universalibut having fallen into his hands, he relished it so much, that he adopted the opinions of the author, and became a de cided realist. The whole university was at this time di vided into two parties, the German and the Bohemian, or the nominalists and realists, whose contests were carried on with great animosity, and not without bloodshed. The German, or foreign pal ty, possessed most it fltience in the university, as the original constitution allowed them three votes in all elections and deliberations ; while the native Bohemians had only one. This constitution conferred upon the former a superiority, which the latter could not con template without jealousy, especially as the Germans con ducted themselves with great arrogance towards the na tives. Huss took upon hiniself to contest the right of the Germans to this superiority, and demonstrated, that al though, by the original constitution of the university, the German masters had been allowed three votes, while the Bohemiaras had only one, as the latter were then inconsi derable in point of number ; yet that, by a later act of Charles IV. it was expressly declared, that in all matters they should be governed by the constitution of the univer sity of Paris, according to which foreigners had but one vote, and the natives three. Through his great influence at court, Huss actually succeeded in cal Tying this mea sure, the consequence of which was, that almost all the Germans withdrew from Prague, and repaired to Lcipsic, where a new university was soon after founded.