|
Jerome of Prague
(1379-1416), a Czech church reformer and one of
the chief followers of Jan Hus who was burned for heresy at the Council
of Constance. He is often called Hieronymus the Latin form of his first
name.
|
Jerome was born in
Prague, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) in 1379 and graduated from the
University of Prague in 1398. He later studied at Oxford University where
he first became familiar with the reformist teachings of John Wycliffe. He
was a philosopher, theologian, university professor, and church reformer
who dedicated his life to eradicate those church doctrines and dogmas he
found to be corrupt. He was constantly in and out of jail.[3] His radical
ideas eventually brought about his death by execution as a heretic to the
church, but made him a martyr for the Protestant Reformation and followers
of Jan Hus (known as Hussites). He was
well-educated and spent most of his life traveling, trying to incite
religious reform in various cities. It was for his criticisms rather than
heresy that he was martyred
Jerome tended to
teach radical ideas pertaining to Roman Catholic doctrine, namely that
God’s teachings were directly accessible to a Christian without need for
the church or church officials. He taught that one should obey the direct
teachings of Jesus, even when they conflicted with those of the Catholic Church.
He was largely a follower of the ideologies of both church reformers John Wyclif and Jan Hus. As his teachings were contrary to
those of the Roman Catholic Church, he was constantly on the run from
authorities. Hus, although much less disruptive in his approach, was a
mentor for Jerome.
Jerome incited
public demonstrations in Paris, Vienna, Prague, and everywhere in between;
most of these demonstrations took place in cities with universities where
Jerome taught. Teaching at universities allowed Jerome to reach a broad
audience. In Kraków, he was publicly examined as
to his acceptance of the forty-five articles which the enemies of Wyclif had made up from Wyclif's
writings and which they asserted represented Wyclif's
heretical teachings. Jerome declared that he rejected them in their general
tenor.
Trial and death:
When, on 11 October
1414, Hus left for the Council of Constance, Jerome assured him that if
needed, he would come to his assistance, contrary to the wishes of Hus. Hus
was tricked into attending the Council of Constance by means of a letter
promising immunity, and upon his arrival in the city he was arrested and imprisoned.Jerome kept his promise, even though Hus and
other friends of Jerome warned him not to come. On 4 April 1415, he arrived
at Constance. Predictably, he created a stir in the town.
As he had, unlike
Hus, come without a safe-conduct, Jerome's friends persuaded him to return
to Bohemia. But on his way back he was arrested in Hirschau
on 20 April and taken to Sulzbach, where he was
imprisoned, and was returned to Constance on 23 May. He was immediately
arraigned before the council on the charge of fleeing a citation.
His condemnation was
predetermined in consequence of his general acceptance of the views of Wyclif and his open admiration for Hus. Consequently,
he did not have a fair hearing. The conditions of his imprisonment were so
horrid that he fell seriously ill and so was induced to recant at public
sessions of the council held on 11 and 23 September 1415. The words put into
his mouth on these occasions made him renounce both Wyclif
and Hus. The same physical weakness made him write in Bohemian letters to
the king of Bohemia and to the University of Prague, which were declared to
be entirely voluntary and to state his own opinions, in which he announced
that he had become convinced that Hus had been rightfully burned for
heresy. (Hus had been burned at the stake while Jerome was imprisoned.)
However, the Council of Constance kept him imprisoned as they doubted his
sincerity and wanted a more incriminating confession. On 23 May 1416, and
on 26 May, he was put on trial by the Council. On the second day he
withdrew his recantation, and on 30 May he was condemned and burned. In
this way, Jerome became the first official martyr for the Hussite reform
cause.
Extract from en.wikipedia.org.- Read more
|