INTRODUCTION Jan Hus was a giant of a man, who stood astride the Moldau, watchful, as the guardian of Prague against the evil satanic conspiracy of the Romish church, during Bohemia's darkest hours. 1 Or, if you prefer, John Huss 2 was an evil homunculus of a man, set loose upon the planet to pave the way for the thousand-year reign of Lucifer and his dark angels. Although the two previous descriptions may seem somewhat farfetched, they represent, if broadly, a problem which faces the researcher into the history of the early reformation. This problem is one of bias, and pervades this particular subject matter in ways and to levels which are not often reached. The subject matter, which has at its heart not only issues of religion, but of nationalism, ethnic identity, and even political idealism has, over the course of the nearly six centuries since the death of Jan Hus, run the gamut of variations of misrepresentation and weak exploration. The nature of the subject, driven as it is by a split within the Catholic church, rooted in the early years of the Protestant reformation, and with participants of virtually every ethnic and national variegation which fifteenth-century Europe had to offer, is inherently divisive in its presentation. It invites parochialism and defensive posturing from even the most seasoned historians. 1 This opening might seem just a bit "over the top" until one reads the opening lines ofMatthew Spinka's John Hus and the Czech Reform. (Hamden: Connecticut, 1966) 2 A forewarning to the reader: hereafter throughout this work, the spelling of Hus' name will be regularized as 'Jan Hus.' Likewise the names of Sbynco, the archbishop of Prague, and Wenzel, the King of Bohemia. • The exception to that regularization will be in the quoted sections, where the spellings chosen by the original writers will be honored, in their many variegations.
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