Podcasts about Hussites

Sigismund, king of the Romans, king of Hungary and recently crowned king of Bohemia is not doing too well. Despite his long list of glittering titles he is stuck in the town of Kutna Hora, the revolutionaries have taken Prague, built strongholds, created a completely new army for a completely new form of warfare and were taking over more and more of his ancestral kingdom.When one of his most strategic positions, the castle of Vyšehrad comes under siege, he had to take his forces into another battle with the Hussites, which will set off a string of events that will bring what every true supporter of the Holy Roman Empire must have been craving – taxes.The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season. So far I have:The Ottonians Salian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic KnightsThe Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

“It is we, the followers of master Jan Hus, who are obeying the law of God, we who are the true followers of Christ. Thus therefore, who oppose us, oppress us, kill us, are themselves heretics, trying to thwart the will of God. Out of this deep, passionate conviction was born the determination not to yield, not to surrender, but to challenge if need be, all the forces of the religious and political order which had dominated medieval europe for nearly a thousand years, to fight it out against odds the like of which have seldom been seen in history”So it is written in the “Very Pretty Chronicle of the life of John Zizka” which tells the not so very pretty story of the war against the Hussites that is now heating up. Sigismund musters his crusading army in Silesia whilst the radical Hussites take to the hills and then take a hill.The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season. So far I have:The Ottonians Salian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor MundiSaxony and Eastward ExpansionThe Hanseatic LeagueThe Teutonic KnightsThe Holy Roman Empire 1250-1356

“To our great shame and sorrow, we must acknowledge how our brethren have been cleverly seduced by Satan, and how they have departed from Holy Scriptures in strange and unheard-of ideas and acts. When Satan first came to them it was not with an open face, as the devil, but in the shining garb of voluntary poverty, [..], and in the zealous work of preaching to and serving the people and in giving them the Body and Holy Blood of God. And [..] a great many people flocked to them. Then the devil came to them clothed in other garb, in the prophets and the Old Testament, and from these they sought to confect the imminent Day of Judgement, saying that they were angels who had to eliminate the scandals of Christ's kingdom, and that they were to judge the world. And so they committed many killings and impoverished many people; but they did not judge the world according to their words, for the predicted time has elapsed with which they terrified the people, telling them strange things.” End quote.Strange things indeed were happening in Bohemia. Peter Chelcicky whose words you just heard reported how the radical Hussites had called the End of Days for February 14th, 1420. But when that day came, and instead of all the enemies of the faith lying dead with their noses pointing skywards, royalist forces surrounded the radical Hussites in the city of Pilzen. Now the end really seemed nigh, but cometh the time, cometh the man, even if the man is a one-eyed, gruff ex-Highwayman. The music for the show is Flute Sonata in E-flat major, H.545 by Carl Phillip Emmanuel Bach (or some claim it as BWV 1031 Johann Sebastian Bach) performed and arranged by Michel Rondeau under Common Creative Licence 3.0.As always:Homepage with maps, photos, transcripts and blog: www.historyofthegermans.comIf you wish to support the show go to: Support • History of the Germans PodcastFacebook: @HOTGPod Threads: @history_of_the_germans_podcastBluesky: @hotgpod.bsky.socialInstagram: history_of_the_germansTwitter: @germanshistoryTo make it easier for you to share the podcast, I have created separate playlists for some of the seasons that are set up as individual podcasts. they have the exact same episodes as in the History of the Germans, but they may be a helpful device for those who want to concentrate on only one season. So far I have:The Ottonians Salian Emperors and Investiture ControversyFredrick Barbarossa and Early HohenstaufenFrederick II Stupor Mundi

Today, January 13, we remember the Hussites who, on this day in 1501, published the first hymnal in history written in the language of the common people. The descendants of the Hussites are known as the Moravian Brethren, who carry on the rich tradition of hymns and church music today.   Christians have good reason to commemorate this event. After all, ours, like Judaism, has always been a singing faith. The longest book in the Bible, and the one at its center, is the Psalms, a word that means “songs.” David's plans for the Temple included clans of Levites whose entire job was music. Choirs, soloists, orchestras, and antiphonal singing were prescribed parts of Temple life and practice, and an entire class of Psalms, the Songs of Ascent, were sung by the people as they traveled to Jerusalem for the annual pilgrimage festivals.   Throughout the biblical texts, music is also connected to prophecy and to dealing with evil spirits. Jesus and the apostles sang a hymn after the Last Supper, according to two of the Gospels. The Apostle Paul specifically associates singing with being filled with the Spirit in his epistle to the church at Ephesus.  And, in John's Revelation of what is constantly happening around the throne of God, there is lots of singing, sometimes accompanied by harps.   Music also is part of the culmination of the creation story. When Eve is taken from Adam's side, Adam awakes and exclaims, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Many scholars believe this to essentially be a celebratory song.   Eliminating the musical element from the text of Scripture would be to gut them and the practices that have emerged from them. Monks chanted the Psalms daily, in some cases covering the entire Psalter in a week. Medieval thinkers thought of the human heartbeat, respiration, and daily cycle of sleeping and waking as “music.” They also believed the motion of the heavenly bodies was regulated by the “music of the spheres.” To the medieval mind, music was a glue holding the universe together. These ideas shaped the imaginations of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, who used music as the agent of creation in their respective tales of Narnia and Middle Earth.   In the Reformation, Martin Luther reintroduced congregational singing to the liturgy, an idea that spread through all the branches of Protestantism and, eventually, returned to the Roman Catholic Church. Reformed Christians focused on singing the Psalms and other songs from Scripture, though some also incorporated hymns in their worship.   All of this points to a central truth of a Christian worldview, that God loves music. Because music has been so central to Church worship and the Christian imagination, the first common-language hymnal is a milestone to remember and an opportunity to reflect on how music serves Christian worship today.  While I have no desire to reignite the “worship wars” of recent decades, Christians should not think of music as mere decoration to services that are really about teaching and preaching. The essential question, even as music styles change and new music is created and incorporated, is what is music in worship services for?   The Psalms offer essential guidance. Some are songs of praise, others are confessions, but the largest category of Psalms are laments. In other words, the Psalms cover the full range of human emotions, bringing the totality of human experience into corporate worship.   And yet, the Psalms always direct our attention to God. Even when talking about their own experiences and hardships, they always turn attention outward and upward, from self and toward God. And often, this is done by remembering what God has done and who He has revealed Himself to be.   Too often, music utilized in churches fails to take us past expressing our own thoughts and feelings about God and, too often, only songs that elicit positive and happy emotions are sung. This does not follow the model of Scripture, a model that helps God's people see trouble and sorrow in light of God's faithfulness and character. This also misses what music is for. Music instructs. It is a tool of catechetical instruction, not merely a time of self-expression. In the end, songs centered on the subjective experience of Christians quickly become sources of bad theology.  Another consideration is that music is for the entire congregation. When music in the church is primarily about the performance of professional musicians, the songs are unsingable to much of the congregation. This is not an issue of style or preference. I thank God for modern writers of hymns and songs committed to producing music that is true and excellent for the glory of God and the people of God.   Music is a gift of God, a unique way of connecting His revelation with our hearts and minds. St. Augustine is thought to have said, “he who sings, prays twice.” The Church must recover a more robust understanding and practice of music.  This Breakpoint was co-authored by Dr. Glenn Sunshine. For more resources to live like a Christian in this cultural moment, go to colsoncenter.org.  This Breakpoint was originally published on January 13, 2023.

Pastor Steve discusses the dissenting groups that serve as forerunners of the Protestant Reformation- Petrobrusians, Waldensians, Lollards, and Hussites.

Pastor Steve discusses the dissenting groups that serve as forerunners of the Protestant Reformation: Petrobrusians, Waldensians, Lollards, and Hussites.

Because music has been so central to Church worship and the Christian imagination, the first common-language hymnal is a milestone to remember and an opportunity to reflect on how music serves Christian worship today.

October 23: Saint John of Capistrano, Priest1386–1456Optional Memorial; Liturgical Color: WhitePatron Saint of military chaplains and juristsA worldly man becomes a Franciscan and a great preacherToday's saint, like Saints Francis of Assisi, Maximilian Kolbe, Jerome Emiliani and many other male saints, was a prisoner of war. And just like all the others, imprisonment changed John of Capistrano forever. Being confined to the four walls of a prison made him realize how precious was the life that God had given him and how sad it was to waste it on frivolities. John had studied law before he was captured in battle and had even become the mayor of the major Italian city of Perugia. He was bright, energetic, and successful. Life was his oyster. John's mature decision to enter religious life was not, then, an escape hatch from real life or the last exit on a dead-end road. He had silver in his hands but dropped it to stretch for the gold. In a shocking display of humility after giving his life to Christ, John mounted a donkey backwards and rode through the streets of his town wearing only a list of his worst sins. People ridiculed him and pelted him with mud and dung. In this forlorn state, he presented himself at the door of a Franciscan monastery to seek admission. He was immediately accepted. After studies, he was ordained a priest in 1421.John's well of humility had no bottom, and his physical austerities never ceased. He continually mortified himself. He fasted, went barefoot, and slept little throughout his life. He was a protégé of the great Saint Bernardino of Siena, a fellow Franciscan. Like Bernardino, John became a renowned preacher and traveled throughout Central and Northern Europe drawing vast crowds. John lived poverty so totally that he, along with other reforming Franciscans of his generation, made it appear as if they were the measure for Christ's poverty, instead of Christ being the example and inspiration for Franciscan poverty. John's radical poverty and other reforming efforts were also the beginning of the divisions that would eventually cleave the body Franciscan into three distinct Orders.Already famous in his mid-sixties as a theologian, preacher, and inquisitor, John was appointed by the Pope to lead a team of Franciscan missionaries to Hungary and the Bohemian peoples of Central Europe. John Hus, a Bohemian priest, had been burned at the stake by the Church for heresy in 1415. This searing event had caused his followers, known as Hussites, to increasingly separate themselves from the Church. Hussite theology was a precursor to the Protestant movement that engulfed Northern Europe one hundred years after Hus' death. The Pope wanted John of Capistrano to either convert the Hussites or to subjugate them.John's mission to Hungary and Central Europe produced mixed results. He was an effective crusher of heretics, but his techniques did not always display the tact such a delicate mission required. After the shocking fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, John led a preaching crusade to unify a Christian response to the threat of impending Muslim expansion. At the age of seventy, Saint John personally led troops in a successful battle to defend Belgrade from the Turks, but he died soon afterward. Over two centuries after his death, John and his melodic last name of Capistrano were immortalized by his Franciscan brothers when they named a large mission in Southern California in his honor. The Mission of San Juan Capistrano, although ruined by earthquakes, is a much visited stop on the famous chain of missions that wind up and down the spine of California. This soldier-priest and tireless reformer and preacher was canonized in 1724.Saint John of Capistrano, we ask your intercession to embolden all preachers to present the truths of Catholicism in all their fullness and vigor, and to buttress that preaching by an impeccable life of virtue and apostolic activity. 

In this video I introduce the Hussites, the Bohemian Reformers inspired by Jan Hus, drawing from the 15th century Hussite historian Laurence of Brezona. I give an overview of how they were persecuted and then explore the theological reforms they initiated, particularly focusing on their theology of the Eucharist. I conclude with one cautionary lesson for Protestants today. Truth Unites is a mixture of apologetics and theology, with an irenic focus. Gavin Ortlund (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) serves as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Ojai. SUPPORT: Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/truthunites One time donation: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/truthunites FOLLOW: Twitter: https://twitter.com/gavinortlund Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TruthUnitesPage/ Website: https://gavinortlund.com/

Synopsis The last of the major proto-protestant heresies we’re going to examine is the Hussites, who were led by Jan Hus. And then we’re going to quick talk about the man, the myth, the machine, Martin Luther. The first rule of Medieval Studies is “Don’t talk about Luther.” [Also the second and third rules.–Jesse] But … Continue reading "Episode 50: The Heretical Hussites (feat. Martin Luther)"

Welcome to the first part of our reading series on Roland Boer's Red Theology: On the Christian Communist Tradition. We are joined by our Comrades in Christ, Mir and Ben for the first two chapters, which mostly deal with Karl Kautsky's writings about early Christianity and how it informs the communist tradition.Boer, Roland. Red Theology: On the Christian Communist Tradition. Studies in Critical Research on Religion . Haymarket Books, 2020.Music: Ktož jsú boží bojovníci written by Jan Čapek z Klatov in 15th Century as a battle anthem for the Hussite rebels. Support the show (http://patreon.com/theregrettablecentury)

The Upper Room Experience Great Controversy Chapter 6.5 – God Goes Undefeated   In this week's episode: Learn about God's army that couldn't be defeated Rome tricks the Hussites into a bad deal God's underground church grows despite fierce persecution Starting paragraph: “The enemies of the Bohemians…” Ending paragraph: end of chapter   Weekly Review Questions: What have I learned about God? What have I learned about myself/humanity? Is it biblical? What are some key verses? How does this make me feel?/how is my life going to change? Who will I share this with?   This has been another installment in our devotional series on The Next Drop Off podcast. We are reading The Great Controversy by Ellen G. White from beginning to end and commenting on certain portions. Our aim is to help you get closer to Christ and find strength for the daily battles of life. Join us again on our next episode and tell a friend!   Co-host for this episode: Kristal Jimenez   Visit our website: www.thenextdropoff.com Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thenextdropoff/?hl=en

"Romans and Hussites;" Matthew 11:12-19

Martin tells us about his studies of the Taborites, a radical faction of the Hussite revolution, who transitioned from the passive escapist apocalyptic thought into a revolutionary activist mode. They participated in what they perceived as the Apocalypse through violence, seeing themselves as agents that have to participate in the cleansing of the world. They went to the fortified town of Tabor, they became militarized and were very important for the Hussites and what became known as the Hussite wars.  Martin has studied sermons, theological debates, polemics and letters that the leaders of the Taborite movement have sent to their followers. He traced the neoplatonic philosophical background of the Taborites, which came out of university circles, was translated into vernacular and mixed with the apocalyptic thoughts. He also tells us of his involvement with the Centre for Medieval Studies in Prague participating in a research group focusing on conflict in Central Europe in the Late Middle Ages. In the second half of the interview, Martin talks about the Utraquist communion - consuming both the bread and the wine - and the pacifist movements and thought patterns within the Hussite movement. He also explains the downfall of the Taborite faction, when the main request of the Hussites, the Utraquist communion was granted, but the other ones that the Taborites also held important were not, which sparked a divide between the Taborites and the moderate Hussites. This culminated in a war in which the Catholics and moderate Hussites joined forces and defeated the Taborites in the Battle of Lipany in 1434. Concluding the talk, Martin talks about the controversial nature of the Taborite vision, and how we probably wouldn’t want to live in a post-revolutionary world where the Taborite way of thinking is prevalent.

Full Text of ReadingsFriday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 477All podcast readings are produced by the USCCB and are from the Catholic Lectionary, based on the New American Bible and approved for use in the United States _______________________________________The Saint of the day is St. John of CapistranoOn Oct. 23, the Catholic Church celebrates the life of Saint John of Capistrano, a Franciscan priest whose life included a political career, extensive missionary journeys, efforts to reunite separated Eastern Christians with Rome and a historically important turn at military leadership.Invoked as a patron of military chaplains, St. John of Capistrano was praised by St. John Paul II in a 2002 general audience for his glorious evangelical witness, as a priest who gave himself with great generosity for the salvation of souls.Born in Italy during 1385, John lost his father a French or possibly German knight who had settled in Capistrano at a young age. Johns mother took care to have him educated, and after learning Latin he went to study both civil law and Church law in Perugia. An outstanding student, he soon became a prominent public figure and was appointed governor of the city at age 26.John showed high standards of integrity in his civic career, and in 1416 he labored to end a war that had erupted between Perugia and the prominent House of Malatesta. But when the nobles had John imprisoned, he began to question his lifes direction. Encountering Saint Francis of Assisi in a dream, he resolved to embrace poverty, chastity, and obedience with the Franciscans.Abandoning his possessions and social status, John joined the religious order in October 1416. He found a mentor in Saint Bernardine of Siena, known for his bold preaching and his method of prayer focused on the invocation of the name of Jesus. Taking after his teacher in these respects, John began preaching as a deacon in 1420, and was ordained a priest in 1425.John successfully defended his mentor from a charge of heresy made against his way of devotion, though he found less success in his efforts to resolve internal controversy among the followers of St. Francis. A succession of popes entrusted important matters to John, including the effort to reunite Eastern and Western Christendom at the Ecumenical Council of Florence.Drawing immense crowds in his missionary travels throughout Italy, John also found success as a preacher in Central Europe, where he opposed the Hussites error regarding the nature and administration of the Eucharist. After Constantinople fell to Turkish invaders in 1453, Pope Nicholas V sent John on a mission to rally other European leaders in defense of their lands.Nicholas successor Pope Callixtus III was even more eager to see the Christian world defend itself against the invading forces. When the Sultan Mehmet II sought to extend his territorial gains into Serbia and Hungary, John joined the celebrated general Janos Hunyadi in his defense of Belgrade. The priest personally led a section of the army in its historic victory on Aug. 6, 1456.Neither John nor the general, however, would survive long past the battle.Weakened by the campaign against the Turks, Hunyadi became sick and died soon after the victory at Belgrade. John survived to preach Janos Hunyadis funeral sermon; but his own extraordinary life came to an end after a painful illness, on Oct. 23, 1456. St. John of Capistrano was canonized in 1724. Saint of the Day Copyright CNA, Catholic News Agency

Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327  

How do the parallels play out when looking at specific examples? I take some historical examples, largely related to warfare, and run the comparison. These include the Crusades, the Hussites, Edward IV from the War of the Roses, the Thirty Years War, and more. Also, I'm making another T-shirt order so email me if you want one.     - Website - http://www.ourfoundations.podbean.com/ - Email - ourfoundations@protonmail.com - Patreon page to support / donate - https://www.patreon.com/ourfoundations - Twitter - https://twitter.com/Foundationspc - Medium - https://medium.com/@OurFoundations - Bitcoin Address - 1AZFLCvmfXasChaaecgYMP3vtnUrnLJoY7 - Ethereum - 0x409D0F2766e208C1Ea97fF2429D38a3D9E3abd3a - Zcash - t1SZKfocBcghVMWVCsbSA9zAHr5fzsxi62H - Pivx - D7ziutb5gGNnJ5pXngwa3w9zJj2P1iNzUT - Nano - nano_16gh7igt8zb1cntbmq1hrnmnc9ea9qrj3zycscqywhak5dgtx1gwommekt7r - Music - Gregorian Chant Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License - The Road Home by Alexander Nakarada | https://www.serpentsoundstudios.com, Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)  - New Digital War by Groove Bakery | https://groovebakery.com, Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com, Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) - Pied Piper by Shaolin Dub is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License. - Jet Fueled Vixen Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License  - Hard Fragility by Bisou is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial License 

Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327  

Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327    

Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327

In part one of this extended episode on utopian socialism, Sean KB and Matt Christman examine the seeds of the anti-work/pro-leisure impulse from hobos to harlots to Hussites. Where does the drive for an autonomous, collective communal existence come from? How has religion been a catalyst for envisioning utopia in heaven and on earth? In what ways did Christianity and capitalism give rise to the fractious movements that challenged the entire social order? And how did these revolts prefigure the rise of a more, shall we say, scientific socialism? To access this great content and more, become a patron at www.patreon.com/theantifada Part two on labor phalanxes, back-to-the-land and Occupy Wall Street next week!

Brother Jan and Sir Reinhardt notices changes in themselves.  Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327  

One man tries to sway another man into another cause.  Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327  

Deals are made as miracles occur.  Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327  

A letter is drafted, and a homeless veteran is shown kindness.  Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327  

Jan Zizka was dead, but the Hussite cause was not. They continued to fight the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church. They found a new leader in Prokop the Great, and were able to keep Sigismund at bay, but internal turmoil helped splintered the Hussites, but also helped usher in a real compromise.

The Hussites, now fighting both the Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire, find the leader they need to survive against impossible odds in Jan Zizka. Zizka was an incredible commander, who never lost a battle, and helped lay the groundwork for two centuries of a semi-independent Bohemian Church.

The travelers reach their destinations. Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327  

The travelers dealing with what happened the night before in their own ways. Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327  

A knight makes his way with a caravan while a preacher speaks to the downtrodden. Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327  

Join us in the character creation session of the two mortals who will be traveling in the caravan Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327  

Join us in the character creation session of the two demons who will be tempting the two mortal characters in the game. Chronicles of Darkness: Inferno "Temptation" takes place in the year of our Lord 1425, nearly a year after the legendary undefeated Hussite general Jan Žižka has succumbed to his wounds during the third anti-Hussite crusade. The crusade is over now and the Catholics were once again defeated but this is no time of peace. Famine and disease plague the land and war is on the horizon once again. During this time a small caravan of Hussites is moving towards a bastion of the Hussite faith - the city of Tábor. During their journey the caravan stop to rest near a burned down abbey... Inferno is a Chronicles of Darkness 1st edition expansion published by Onyx Path Publishing (Licensed from White Wolf Publishing). If you would like to support the podcast stop by our Patreon https://www.patreon.com/TwinCitiesbyNight Come by and visit our Discord! https://discord.gg/T9zeN9p Check us out on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/twin-cities-by-night/id1246523585?mt=2 Find us on Twitter! https://twitter.com/Twin_Cities_VtM Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TwinCitiesByNight/ Find us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBUyj7h-xIhwsM3kHK56SRA For more White Wolf RPGs game play and media please check out https://www.facebook.com/groups/862703457198327  

In 1402 the Bohemian priest and scholar Jan Hus denounced the Catholic Church as corrupt and began preaching about reformation of the church in the land. The people listened as the church was indeed corrupt and so many, especially Czech’s, supported this cause that the pope ultimately had to declare a crusade against these “Hussites” who had even had the gall to occupy the castles of Prague. Using modern weaponry like hand cannons and well thought out battle tactics the Hussites defeated five consecutive crusades sent against them and became a sort of spontaneous military power in the region. The Hussite movement would ultimately fall from within when a moderate and radical faction, the Utraquists and Taborites, ended up fighting a war that weakened both sides, ultimately allowing Polish troops under Wladyslaw III to defeat the Hussites at the Battle of Grotniki in 1439. Campaign: “Curse of Strahd”, Dungeons & Dragons Music by: Metatron Omega, Flowers for Bodysnatchers & Wordclock Web: https://www.redmoonroleplaying.com iTunes: http://apple.co/2wTNqHx Android: http://bit.ly/2vSvwZi Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/RedMoonRoleplaying RSS: http://www.redmoonroleplaying.com/podcast?format=rss Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/RedMoonRoleplaying

The Letters of Hus have long been recognised by the best judges as one of the world’s spiritual treasures. The discovery of Hus, if we may so express it, forms more than once a landmark in the spiritual development of Luther. ‘When I was a tyro at Erfurt,’ we read, ‘I found in the library of the convent a volume of The Sermons of John Hus. When I read the title I had a great curiosity to know what doctrines that heresiarch had propagated, since a volume like this in a public library had been saved from the fire. On reading I was overwhelmed with astonishment. I could not understand for what cause they had burnt so great a man, who explained the Scriptures with so much gravity and skill. But as the very name of Hus was held in so great abomination that I imagined the sky would fall and the sun be darkened if I made honourable mention of him, I shut the book and went away with no little indignation. This, however, was my comfort, that perhaps Hus had written these things before he fell into heresy. For as yet I knew not what was done at the Council of Constance’ (Mon. Hus. vol. i. Preface). Some years later, in February 1529, after pondering the matter over with Melancthon, Luther was driven to write to Spalatin: ‘I have hitherto taught [2] and held all the opinions of Hus without knowing it. With a like unconsciousness has Staupitz taught them. We are all of us Hussites without knowing it. I do not know what to think for amazement.’ In this letter Luther was probably referring to his reading of the controversial works of Hus, especially his De Ecclesia. Shortly afterwards, however, he came across a copy of the Letters. At once he perceived their value, not merely in their bearing on the expected Council convoked for Mantua, which subsequently met at Trent in 1542, but for the larger outlook of spiritual life. He took immediate steps for bringing them before the German public. In 1536 and 1537 no less than three different editions in Latin and three editions in German, each of them with a preface by Luther, issued from the presses of Wittenberg and Leipzig. The most important of these editions is that entitled Epistolæ Quædam Piissimæ et Eruditissimæ, printed at Wittenberg by John Lufft in 1537, an edition which now forms the sole extant source of many of the letters of Hus. In his preface to this volume Luther is not backward in his praises of the Letters. ‘Observe,’ he writes, ‘how firmly Hus clung in his writings and words to the doctrines of Christ; with what courage he struggled against the agonies of death; with what patience and humility he suffered every indignity, and with what greatness of soul he at last confronted a cruel death in defence of the truth; doing all these things alone before an imposing assembly of the great ones of the earth, like a lamb in the midst of lions and wolves. If such a man is to be regarded as a heretic, no person under the sun can be looked [3] on as a true Christian. By what fruits then shall we recognise the truth, if it is not manifest by those with which John Hus was so richly adorned?’ Luther is not alone in his judgment. The Letters of Hus, in the verdict of Bishop Creighton, “give us a touching picture of simple, earnest piety rooted on a deep consciousness of God’s abiding presence. These letters show us neither a fanatic nor a passionate party leader, but a man of childlike spirit, whose one desire was to discharge faithfully his pastoral duties, and to do all things as in the sight of God and not of man.”1 Other testimonies to the value of this series of letters could easily be adduced, but would add nothing to the decision of the great Reformer and the modern Historian. We may safely assert that in the years to come The Letters of Hus will form the only part of his voluminous writings that will be read even by students. For the works of Hus, as Loserth has shown, are for the most part mere copies of Wyclif, oftentimes whole sections of the great Englishman’s writings transferred bodily, without alteration or acknowledgment. The very titles are not original; their parade of learning, which deceived Luther, is completely borrowed, when not from Wyclif, from Gratian and other recognised mediæval handbooks. The Englishman Stokes was right when at Constance he bluntly asked: ‘Why do you glory in these writings, falsely labelling them your own, since after all they belong not to you but Wyclif, in whose steps you are following?’ To the same end was the taunt of his former friend, Andrew Brod: [4] ‘Was Wyclif crucified for us? were we baptised in his name?’ The case is otherwise with Hus’s Letters, eighty-two1 of which have escaped the ravages of Time. For if the controversial works of Hus have contributed little to the intellectual heritage of mankind, his Letters have enriched for ever our moral outlook. The preservation of these letters we owe for the most part to the care of Peter Mladenowic, the secretary of John of Chlum. They form a priceless memorial of one of the truest hearted of the sons of God. His later correspondence especially, his letters from exile and prison, show John Hus to be one of the chosen few who exalt humanity. Though undoubtedly the last letters are the most interesting, inasmuch as in them the personal note reaches its highest, yet in the whole series there is nothing that is unworthy, little that is tedious. Bishop Creighton is correct in his judgment: “Everything Hus writes is the result of his own soul’s experience, is penetrated with a deep moral earnestness, illuminated with a boldness and a self-forgetfulness that breathes the spirit of the cry, ‘Let God be true and every man a liar.’ ” In the belief that a wider acquaintance with The Letters of Hus will lead to a general endorsement of this verdict, we have translated into English these priceless human documents. Visit our sponsors: McFarland-Murray Chevrolet The Commercial Bank of Grayson

The Letters of Hus have long been recognised by the best judges as one of the world’s spiritual treasures. The discovery of Hus, if we may so express it, forms more than once a landmark in the spiritual development of Luther. ‘When I was a tyro at Erfurt,’ we read, ‘I found in the library of the convent a volume of The Sermons of John Hus. When I read the title I had a great curiosity to know what doctrines that heresiarch had propagated, since a volume like this in a public library had been saved from the fire. On reading I was overwhelmed with astonishment. I could not understand for what cause they had burnt so great a man, who explained the Scriptures with so much gravity and skill. But as the very name of Hus was held in so great abomination that I imagined the sky would fall and the sun be darkened if I made honourable mention of him, I shut the book and went away with no little indignation. This, however, was my comfort, that perhaps Hus had written these things before he fell into heresy. For as yet I knew not what was done at the Council of Constance’ (Mon. Hus. vol. i. Preface). Some years later, in February 1529, after pondering the matter over with Melancthon, Luther was driven to write to Spalatin: ‘I have hitherto taught [2] and held all the opinions of Hus without knowing it. With a like unconsciousness has Staupitz taught them. We are all of us Hussites without knowing it. I do not know what to think for amazement.’ In this letter Luther was probably referring to his reading of the controversial works of Hus, especially his De Ecclesia. Shortly afterwards, however, he came across a copy of the Letters. At once he perceived their value, not merely in their bearing on the expected Council convoked for Mantua, which subsequently met at Trent in 1542, but for the larger outlook of spiritual life. He took immediate steps for bringing them before the German public. In 1536 and 1537 no less than three different editions in Latin and three editions in German, each of them with a preface by Luther, issued from the presses of Wittenberg and Leipzig. The most important of these editions is that entitled Epistolæ Quædam Piissimæ et Eruditissimæ, printed at Wittenberg by John Lufft in 1537, an edition which now forms the sole extant source of many of the letters of Hus. In his preface to this volume Luther is not backward in his praises of the Letters. ‘Observe,’ he writes, ‘how firmly Hus clung in his writings and words to the doctrines of Christ; with what courage he struggled against the agonies of death; with what patience and humility he suffered every indignity, and with what greatness of soul he at last confronted a cruel death in defence of the truth; doing all these things alone before an imposing assembly of the great ones of the earth, like a lamb in the midst of lions and wolves. If such a man is to be regarded as a heretic, no person under the sun can be looked [3] on as a true Christian. By what fruits then shall we recognise the truth, if it is not manifest by those with which John Hus was so richly adorned?’ Luther is not alone in his judgment. The Letters of Hus, in the verdict of Bishop Creighton, “give us a touching picture of simple, earnest piety rooted on a deep consciousness of God’s abiding presence. These letters show us neither a fanatic nor a passionate party leader, but a man of childlike spirit, whose one desire was to discharge faithfully his pastoral duties, and to do all things as in the sight of God and no

Pastors Gillespie and Riley read a letter from John Huss to John Barbatus about the biblical teaching on who can (and cannot) preach. Our Text: John Hus, To John Barbatus and the People of Chrumnaw (May 25, 1411) Show Notes:  John Huss: Pre-Reformation Reformer (Christianity Today) Roundabout (Rick Beato breakdown) Animal House Baz Luhrmann Moulin Rouge Diamond Dogs — Questions? Comments? Show Ideas? Send them to us at BannedBooks@1517legacy.com. Please subscribe, rate, and review the show in Apple Podcasts: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/banned-books-podcast/id1370993639?mt=2. We’re proud to be part of 1517 Podcasts, a network of shows dedicated to delivering Christ-centered content through weekly, monthly, and seasonal audio platforms. Our podcasts cover a multitude of content, from Christian doctrine, apologetics, cultural engagement, and powerful preaching. Find out more at 1517. And as always, don't forget Gillespie's coffee for your caffeinated needs and especially the 1517 Reformation Roast

500 years ago, there was only one Christian denomination throughout most of the world. 500 years ago, the church and the government killed those who resisted tradition. 500 years ago, no one could read the bible in their own language. How did we get from there to here? Discover the wild and exciting story of Read more about 116 Introduction (Five Hundred 1)[…]

500 years ago, there was only one Christian denomination throughout most of the world. 500 years ago, the church and the government killed those who resisted tradition. 500 years ago, no one could read the bible in their own language. How did we get from there to here? Discover the wild and exciting story of Read more about 116 Introduction (Five Hundred 1)[…]

Whitcliffe was condemned by the pope in Rome. The Crusades had been in Spain as Christians pushed the Arabs back southward. Aristotle's notion of science had been accepted. The Consecration of the bread and wine came under discussion. Anyone could change the form of the bread and wine. The accidents can be changed without changing the substance. In the Consecration, the priest had changed the underlying substance. Celibacy became reinforced. Ordination became the giving of power. Jan Hus raised the standard of revolt against the Church. A third pope was elected because the other two would not resign. In 1415 AD, the Pope decided Hus should be burned at the stake as a heretic. The Emperor had gone back on his word on safe conduct for Hus. The Hussites continued to resist the Church.

Springing forth from a revival in Herrnhut, Germany, this group comprised some of the first Protestant missionaries and was made up of both Hussites as well as Lutherans who had been spurred on by the Holy Spirit to take the Gospel to the far reaches of the earth.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the medieval kingdom of Bohemia which was at the crossroads of Europe and, during the 15th century, at the heart of the Holy Roman Empire. Under Charles IV, its cosmopolitan capital Prague became a cultural and intellectual centre, attracting scholars and artists from all over Europe. But Prague was awash with religious and political dissent. At its core stood the anarchist philosopher Jan Hus, whose ideas anticipated the Lutheran Reformation by a full century. He was burnt at the stake, but his followers, the Hussites, embarked on a series of wars that continue to mark the Czech and German characters even today. Why was Bohemia such a crucible of dissent and how were its ideas exported to the rest of Europe? What did it mean to be Bohemian then and how was the ancient kingdom of Bohemia, with its ferment of religious, national and ethnic ideologies, divided up to form the states of modern Central Europe? With Norman Davies, Professor Emeritus, University of London; Karin Friedrich, Lecturer in History, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London; Robert Pynsent, Professor of Czech and Slovak Literature, University College London.

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the medieval kingdom of Bohemia which was at the crossroads of Europe and, during the 15th century, at the heart of the Holy Roman Empire. Under Charles IV, its cosmopolitan capital Prague became a cultural and intellectual centre, attracting scholars and artists from all over Europe. But Prague was awash with religious and political dissent. At its core stood the anarchist philosopher Jan Hus, whose ideas anticipated the Lutheran Reformation by a full century. He was burnt at the stake, but his followers, the Hussites, embarked on a series of wars that continue to mark the Czech and German characters even today. Why was Bohemia such a crucible of dissent and how were its ideas exported to the rest of Europe? What did it mean to be Bohemian then and how was the ancient kingdom of Bohemia, with its ferment of religious, national and ethnic ideologies, divided up to form the states of modern Central Europe? With Norman Davies, Professor Emeritus, University of London; Karin Friedrich, Lecturer in History, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London; Robert Pynsent, Professor of Czech and Slovak Literature, University College London.

This is part three of “The Long Road to Reform.”In our last episode we looked at The Conciliar Movement that formed to end the Great Papal Schism and so many hoped would be a permanent fixture for reform in the Church. As well-intentioned as the movement was, it ended up resurrecting the Schism instead of solving it. In its long battle with the Papacy, Conciliarism eventually lost.We turn now to look at a reformer from Bohemia named John Hus; or more properly Jan Hus. One of my personal, all-time favorite church leaders.Bohemia was an important part of the Holy Roman Empire; a sovereign state with its capital at Prague. Today, it roughly corresponds with the Czech Republic. It had a long history as a place of vibrant Christianity, especially monasticism. In 1383, Bohemia and England were linked by the marriage of Anne of Bohemia and the English King Richard II. With this union, students of both countries went back and forth between the colleges of Prague and Oxford where the pre-reformer John Wycliffe.The revolt Wycliffe started at Oxford, expanded when he was booted and met with greater success in Bohemia than England because unlike England, it was joined to a strong national party led by a man named Jan Hus.Hus came from peasant parents in the southern Bohemian town of Husinetz. He studied theology at the University of Prague, earning a Master of Arts before teaching there and diving into the cause of religious reform.While a student, Hus was introduced to the early philosophy of Wycliffe, but it was only after his appointment as the pastor at Bethlehem Chapel that was exposed to Wycliffe's more radical views on religious reform. He immediately adopted Wycliffe's views that the church was an invisible company of the elect, with Jesus as its head rather than a Pope.Bethlehem Chapel was located near the University of Prague, giving Hus an open door to circulate Wycliffe's writings. As his ideas took hold, paintings began to appear on the walls of the church contrasting the behavior of the popes and Christ. In one, the pope rode a horse while Jesus walked barefoot. Another showed Jesus washing the disciples' feet as the pope's were kissed.Bethlehem Chapel had been founded in 1391 to encourage the national faith of Bohemia, so Hus's strong sermons in Bohemian stirred up popular support for reform. And wouldn't you know it? Where do you think the first protests came from--That's right: Students rioted both for and against the ideas of Wycliffe being promoted by Hus and his supporters.The Archbishop of Prague realized the threat Hus's activities had for the upper echelons of Church Hierarchy and complained to the pope. The Pope responded, “Root out the heresy.” So the Archbishop excommunicated Hus. Bad move; for right away the Archbishop realized how little local support he had. When Hus realized he held the backing of the people, he ramped up his criticisms and attacked the pope's sale of indulgences to support of his war against Naples. That was too much for the Bohemian King Wenceslas. Hus might have the support of the common people, but his condemnation of the sale of indulgences impacted a political issue the king didn't want messed with. Negotiations between the Pope and king saw Prague being placed under a papal interdict; a political and religious slap on the wrist that had an immediate impact on people across the board. When under an interdict, people remained members of the church, but the sacraments were suspended. All of this happened because of Hus, so he left Prague to live in exile in southern Bohemia. It was during this time Hus wrote his most notable work, titled On the Church.The Council of Constance we recently looked at was fast approaching. This was the council set to solve the problem of the Great Papal Schism. At the urging of the Emperor Sigismund, Hus agreed to appear. He hoped to present his views on the nature of the Church to the members of the Council. He ended up instead a victim of the Inquisition.The rule of the Inquisition was simple. If enough witnesses testified to the guilt of the accused, he had to confess and renounce his error or he'd be executed by being burned, because, well – being good churchmen, they couldn't shed blood. If the accused confessed, the sentence was life in prison, which in most cases was hardly better than being burnt at the stake. Hus's case was handled in a manner typical for the Inquisition of that time. Greedy Inquisitors often went after someone simply because they lusted for their property. So people were accused of some grievous crime and there were usually enough witnesses-for-hire around who'd say whatever the Inquisitors paid them to. In Hus's case, the Inquisitors weren't after his wealth; the Church simply wanted him gone, so he was accused and found guilty of heresies he'd never taught.Now, Hus said he'd alter his views—IF they could be shown to be contrary to Scripture. But he refused to recant the heresies he'd been falsely accused of. It was a matter of principle; to recant of them, he'd have to admit he taught them. He hadn't. How could he recant something he'd never taught? But the Inquisitors were adamant: Hus must recant.In words similar to what Martin Luther would say some time later while on Trial at Worms, Hus said, “I have said that I would not, for a chapel full of gold, recede from the truth. . . . I know that the truth stands and is mighty forever, and abides eternally, with whom there is no respect of persons.”It's clear in the letters Hus wrote at this time his main anxiety was that “liars would say I've slipped back from the truth I preached.” This trial of Hus is one of those special stand-out moments in church history. His fidelity and refusal to swerve from Truth, even to save his life was duplicated many times over by thousands of the un-named, but it was Hus who forged the template.For 8 months he lay in prison in Constance. His letters during his last month rank among the great in Christian literature.“O most holy Christ,” he prayed, “draw me, weak as I am, after Yourself, for if You do not draw us we cannot follow You. Strengthen my spirit, that it may be willing. If the flesh is weak, let Your grace precede us; come between and follow, for without You we cannot go for Your sake to cruel death. Give me a fearless heart, a right faith, a firm hope, a perfect love, that for Your sake I may lay down my life with patience and joy. Amen.”On July 6th, 1415 Jan Hus was led out of his cell and began the walk to the place where he was to be burned. On the way he passed thru a churchyard and saw a bonfire of his books. He laughed, and told those looking on not to believe the lies being passed around about him. On arriving at the stake in a spot called The Devil's Place, Hus knelt and prayed. Following protocol, the official in charge of the execution asked him for the final time if he'd recant and save his life. Hus replied, “God is my witness that the evidence against me is false. I have never thought nor preached except with the one intention of winning men, if possible, from their sins. In the truth of the gospel I have written, taught, and preached; today I will gladly die.”The Inquisitors thought Hus's condemnation and execution would put the kibosh on the calls for Reform. They thought burning Hus was a kind of back-fire that would put out the forest-fire lit by Wycliffe's criticisms. They couldn't have been more wrong. The Bohemian rebellion grew and developed into both a moderate and a militant wing. The moderates were called Utraquists, a Latin term meaning “both” since their protest called for freedom to receive both the bread and the cup in Communion.The militants were called Taborites after the city in Bohemia that served as their headquarters. This was an apocalyptic group that called for radical reform.Facing armed resistance from the Bohemian King at the urging of the Pope, the various groups of Hus's followers, loosely called Hussites, agreed to what's called The Four Articles. Under the Articles, while the various groups might differ on this or that, they were far more united with each other in facing the King. The Four Articles were, à1) The Word of God was regarded as the chief authority and was to be taught freely throughout the kingdom.2) Per the Ultraquists, Communion would be given by BOTH bread and cup.3) All agreed that clergy should give up their wealth and live in apostolic poverty.4) Simony and any other public sin was to be punished.When King Wenceslas died in 1419, his successor was Sigismund, the guy who'd failed Hus at Constance. The Hussites demanded he agree to the Four Articles and grant them freedom of worship. Sigismund refused and petitioned the Pope to proclaim a Crusade against them. The Pope agreed and Sigismund marched on Prague where he and his army was crushed by the Hussites.Their leader was Jan Zizka who turned the many peasant carts into a kind of war chariot. In a follow up battle, the remnant of Sigismund's army was wiped out. Then, a year later, an army of a hundred thousand crusaders fled yet again before Zizka's carts. A 3rd Crusade, a year after that, in 1422, dissolved before it even met them.Under different leaders, the Bohemians crushed 2 later Crusades called against them, one in 1427 and the other in 31. The Council of Basel extended an olive branch to the Hussites, but they, fearing the same treatment Hus had met at Constance, refused. So yet ANOTHER Crusade was called against them. This was also put down. Good Grief! When are these people going to learn?Actually, this defeat convinced the Catholics negotiation with the Hussites was necessary. As a result of that negotiation, the church in Bohemia rejoined the rest of Western Christendom, but was allowed to retain Ultraquist communion as well as a modified form of the Four Articles.While most of the nobility accepted this arrangement and honored Sigismund as King, many of the commoners left the Church, and formed the Unitas Fratrum—or “Union of Brethren.” Their numbers grew in Bohemia and nearby Moravia.They'll become closely aligned with the Reformation later.What the lives of Wycliffe and Hus make clear is that if the Church of Rome was going to be reformed from within, it had ample opportunity in the 14th and early 15th Cs. By the end of the 15th , those who hoped to bring reform by councils were themselves frustrated and by their opponents, repudiated. The treatment of Wycliffe and Hus by church authorities made clear to all the reform-minded how they were going to be dealt with. It was now clear:  Reform of the papal church from within was impossible. A time of “judgment” had come.In our next episode, we'll take a look at an Italian Reformer from a bit later in the 15th C; Savonarola.

The title of this episode is Moravians and Wesley.We took a look at Pietism in an earlier episode. Pietism was a reaction to the dry dogmatism of Protestant Scholasticism and the reductionist rationalism of Enlightenment philosophers. It aimed to renew a living faith in a living Christ.As a movement, it was led in the 17th C by Philip Jakob Spener and August Francke.Spener's godson was a German Count named Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, who even as a child bore a deep devotion to God.  His parents were devout Pietists and sent him to the University of Halle, where he studied under the Pietist leader Francke. Later he went to Wittenberg, a center of Lutheran orthodoxy, where he repeatedly clashed with his teachers. After travel and study at law, he married and entered the service of the Court of Dresden. There Zinzendorf first met a group of Moravians who changed the course of his life.Moravia lies in the southeast of what today is the Czech Republic. Moravians were Hussites; long-time adherents to the renewal begun by Jan Hus. They were forced by persecution to forsake their native lands. Zinzendorf offered them asylum. There they founded the community of Herrnhut. It so appealed to Zinzendorf he resigned his cushy post in Dresden and joined it. Under his direction, the Moravians became part of the local Lutheran parish. But the Lutherans were unwilling to trust foreigners who were also Pietists.In 1731, while visiting Denmark, Zinzendorf met a group of Inuit believers brought to faith in Christ by the Lutheran missionary Hans Egede.  This kindled in the Count an interest in missions that would dominate the rest of his life. Soon the community at Herrnhut was on fire with the same zeal, and in 1732 its first missionaries left for the Caribbean. A few years later there were Moravian missionaries in Africa, India, and the Americas. They founded the communities of Bethlehem and Nazareth in Pennsylvania, and Salem, North Carolina. In just twenty years a movement that began with two hundred refugees had more missionaries overseas than had been sent out by all Protestant churches since the Protestant Reformation a couple of centuries earlier.In the meantime, conflicts with Lutherans back home in Germany grew. Zinzendorf was banned from Saxony and traveled to North America, where in 1741 he was present at the founding of the Bethlehem township. Shortly after his return to home, peace was hammered out between Lutherans and Moravians. It failed to last. Zinzendorf agreed to become a bishop for the Moravians, from a spiritual line of ecclesiastical authority reaching back to Jan Hus. Lutherans didn't recognize Hus; they wanted the Count's authority to link to Luther. This is odd since Luther honored Hus as an influence in the development of his own ideas.A personal aside. What silly things Christians bicker over. Doesn't a person's spiritual authority rest in their being called by God, not man? What matter is it that it comes through this or that one-time leader? It's the original source that matters.Zinzendorf died at Herrnhut in 1760, and shortly after, his followers broke with Lutheranism. Although the Moravian church never had a large membership and was unable to continue sending so many missionaries, its example contributed to the great missionary awakening of the 19th C. Perhaps the greatest significance of the movement was its impact on John Wesley and, through him, the Methodist tradition.In late 1735, early ‘36, a group of Moravians sailed to North America hoping to preach to the Indians of Georgia. Onboard was a young Anglican priest, named John Wesley, whom the Georgia Governor Oglethorpe had invited to serve as a pastor in Savannah. The young Wesley accepted the offer and hoped to preach to Indians. The early part of the voyage was calm and Wesley learned enough German to communicate with the Moravians. Then the weather turned and the ship was soon in real danger. The mainmast split, and panic nearly ruined the crew. The Moravians, by contrast were utterly calm and sang hymns throughout the ordeal. Meanwhile, Wesley, chaplain of the vessel, came to the realization he was more concerned for himself than his shipmates. After the storm, the Moravians told him they were able to brave the storm and reality of death because of their conviction their lives were in God's hands, and should they perish at sea, they would but pass into the Hands of their glorious King. Wesley simply couldn't relate to that kind of peace born of faith in the God he served.Arriving in Savannah, Wesley asked one of the Moravians named Gottlieb Spangenberg for advice regarding his work as a pastor and missionary. He left a record in his diary of the conversation:Spangenberg asked, “My brother, I must first ask you one or two questions. Have you the witness within yourself? Does the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit, that you are a child of God?”Wesley wrote, “I was surprised, and knew not what to answer. He observed it, and asked, ‘Do you know Jesus Christ?' I paused, and said, ‘I know he is the Savior of the world.' ‘True,' replied he; ‘but do you know he has saved you?' I answered, ‘I hope he has died to save me.' He only added, ‘Do you know yourself ?' I said, ‘I do.'Then Wesley adds, “But I fear they were vain words.”These experiences left Wesley both profoundly moved and confused. He'd always thought himself a good Christian. His father, Samuel, was an Anglican priest, and his mother Susanna the daughter of another. She'd been particularly careful in the religious instruction of her (get this) nineteen children. When John was five, fire broke out in their home. He was miraculously saved, and after that his mother thought of him as “a brand plucked from the burning.” There was little doubt in her mind God had a special plan for him.At Oxford, Wesley distinguished himself academically and in religious devotion. After helping his father's parish work, he returned to Oxford, where he joined a religious society founded by his brother Charles and a group of friends. Its members made a covenant to lead a holy and sober life, to take communion weekly, to be faithful in private devotions, to visit prisons, and spend three hours every afternoon, studying scripture and reading devotionals together. Since John was the only ordained priest among them and since he possessed an aptitude to teach, he was the group's leader. It didn't take long before other students mocked the group, calling it the “holy club” because of their methodical lifestyle è Leading to them being called “Methodists.”All that preceded his trip to Georgia. But now, he began to doubt the depth of his faith. Adding to this was the fact he failed miserably as a pastor. He expected his parishioners to behave as his holy club back in England. For their part, his parishioners expected him to be content with their attendance in church. John's brother Charles, also in Georgia serving under Governor Oglethorpe, was disappointed with his work as well and decided to return to England. John stayed on, only because he refused to give up. Then he was forced to leave under messy circumstances. A young woman he'd courted but broken up with married another. Wesley, judging her fickle, denied her communion. He was sued for defamation. Angry at this treatment, though mostly self-inflicted, he returned to England, to the rejoicing of the people of Georgia glad to be rid of their depressed and depressing minister.At a low point and not knowing what else to do, Wesley contacted the Moravians. Peter Boehler became Wesley's counselor and confidant. He concluded while Wesley had the facts of theology down, he has yet to personally trust in Christ. He recommended that until John possessed the confidence he was indeed born again, he should stop preaching.Finally, on May 24, 1738, Wesley had the experience that changed his life. He wrote …In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ alone for salvation: And an assurance was given me, that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.Wesley no longer had any doubt of his salvation. The obsession he'd had before about wondering if he was saved was replaced by a confidence that freed him to turn his considerable intellect to other things. Mostly, to the salvation of others. He went immediately to visit the Moravian community at Herrnhut. Although inspiring, the visit convinced him Moravian spirituality was ill-suited to his temperament and involvement in social issues. In spite of his gratitude at the role they played in leading him into saving faith, he decided to not become a Moravian.While all that was taking place, another former member of the “holy club,” George Whitefield, had become a famous preacher. A few years earlier Whitefield was moved by an experience similar to Wesley's at Aldersgate. He now divided his time between his parish in Georgia and preaching in England, where he had remarkable success, especially at the industrial center of Bristol. Whitefield's preaching was emotional, and when critics objected to the way he used the pulpit he began preaching in outdoors; in the open air, as he had in Georgia where the rules about when and where pastors could preach were less strict than back in England. When the work in Bristol multiplied and he knew he'd need to soon return to Georgia, Whitefield asked Wesley to help by taking charge during his absence.Wesley accepted Whitefield's invitation. But Whitefield's fiery preaching was not Wesley's cup of tea. He objected to open-air preaching. Later he commented on those early days, declaring that at that time he was so convinced God wished everything to be done in order, that he assumed it a sin to save souls outside a church. Over time, in view of the incredible results and dramatic conversions, Wesley gave a reluctant nod to open-air work. He was also worried about the response to his preaching since it was so very different from Whitefield's. But people often exhibited the same kind of response to his preaching they had to Whitefield's. Some wept loudly and lamented their sins. Others collapsed in anguish. They'd then express great joy, declaring they were wonderfully cleansed. Wesley preferred more solemn proceedings but eventually decided what was taking place was a struggle between the devil and the Holy Spirit, and he ought not hinder God's work. Over time, these emotion-filled reactions of new converts diminished.Wesley and Whitefield worked together for some time, although Wesley eventually became the leader of the movement. They eventually parted due of theological differences. Both were Calvinists in most matters; but, on the issue of predestination and free will, Wesley departed from orthodox Calvinism, preferring the Arminian position. After several debates, the friends decided each should follow his own path, and that they'd avoid controversies. That agreement was kept well by their followers. With the help of the Countess of Huntingdon, Whitefield organized the Calvinist Methodist Church, the strongest in Wales.Wesley had no interest in founding a new denomination. He was an Anglican, and throughout his life remained so. His goal was to cultivate the faith of the populace of England, much as Pietism was doing in Germany among Lutherans. He avoided scheduling his preaching in conflict with the services of the Church of England, and always took for granted that Methodist meetings would serve as preparation to attend Anglican worship and take communion there. For him, as for most of the Church through the centuries, the center of worship was communion. This he took and expected his followers to take as frequently as possible, in the official services of the Church of England.Although the movement had no intention of becoming a separate church, it did need some organization. In Bristol, the birthplace of the movement, Wesley's followers organized into societies that at first met in private homes and later had their own buildings. When Methodist societies grew too large for the effective care of their members, Wesley followed a friend's suggestion and divided them into classes, each with eleven members and a leader. These met weekly to read Scripture, pray, discuss religious matters, and collect funds. To be a class leader, it wasn't necessary to be wealthy or educated. That gave significant participation to many who felt left out of the Church of England. It also opened the door to women who took a prominent place in Methodism.The movement grew rapidly, and Wesley traveled throughout the British Isles, preaching and organizing his followers. The movement needed more to share the task of preaching. A few Anglican priests joined. Most noteworthy among them was John's brother Charles, famous for his hymns. But John Wesley carried the greatest burden, preaching several times a day and traveling thousands of miles on horseback every year, until the age of seventy.Conflicts in the movement weren't lacking. In the early years, there were frequent acts of violence against Methodists. Some of the nobility and clergy resented the authority the new movement gave people from the lower classes. Meetings were frequently interrupted by thugs and toughs hired by the movement's opponents. Wesley's life was often threatened. As it became clear opposition did nothing to slow or stop it, they gave up.There were theological conflicts. Wesley grudgingly broke with the Moravians, whose inclination toward a contemplative Quietism he feared.But the most significant conflicts were with the Anglican Church, to which Wesley belonged and in which he hoped to remain. Until his last days, he reprimanded Methodists who wanted to break with the Church of England. They saw something he seemed unwilling to see, that a breach was unavoidable. Some Anglican authorities regarded the Methodist movement as an indication of their shortcomings and resented it. Others felt the Methodist practice of preaching any and everywhere, without regard for ecclesiastical boundaries, was a serious breach of protocol. Wesley saw and understood these concerns, but thought the needs of the lost trump all such concerns.A difficult legal decision made matters tenser. According to English law, non-Anglican worship services and church buildings were to be allowed, but they had to be officially registered. That put Methodists in a difficult place since the Church of England didn't acknowledge their meetings and buildings. If they registered, it would be a declaration they weren't Anglicans. If they didn't, they'd be breaking the law. In 1787, after much hesitation, Wesley told his preachers to register, and the first legal step was taken toward the formation of a separate church. Three years earlier, Wesley took a step that had even more drastic implications, at least theologically. For a long time, as a scholar of Patristics, the study of the Church Fathers, Wesley was convinced that in the early church the term bishop was synonymous with elder and pastor. That led him to the conviction all ordained presbyters, including himself, had the power to ordain. But he refrained from employing it to avoid further alienating the Anglican leaders.The independence of the United States posed different difficulties. During the Revolutionary War, most Anglican clergy were Loyalists. After independence, most of them returned to England. That made it difficult, impossible even, for US citizens to partake of communion. The bishop of London, who still had jurisdiction over the former colonies, refused to ordain clergy for the United States. Wesley deplored what he took to be the unwarranted rebellion of Britain's former colonies, both because he was a staunch supporter of the king's authority and because he could not fathom how the rebels could claim that they were fighting for freedom while they themselves held slaves. But, convinced communion was the heart of Christian worship, Wesley felt that no matter what their political stance, US citizens ought not to be deprived of the Lords' table.So in 1784, he ordained two lay preachers as presbyters for the new country and made Anglican priest Thomas Coke their bishop. Later, he ordained others to serve in Scotland and elsewhere. In spite of having taken these steps, Wesley continued insisting on the need to avoid breaking with the Church of England. Charles told him the ordination of ministers for the New World was a break. In 1786, the Methodist leaders decided that in those places where the Anglican church was neglecting its Gospel duties, it was permitted to hold Methodist meetings at the same time as Anglican services.Although Wesley refused to acknowledge it, by the time of his death in 1791, Methodism had become a separate church.

This 107th episode is titled, “Reform Around the Edges.”It's difficult living in the Modern World to understand the Late Medieval norm that a State had to have a single religion all its subjects observed. You'd be hard pressed to find a European of the 16th C who didn't assume this to be the case. About the only group who didn't see it that way were the Anabaptists. And even among them there were small groups, like the extremists who tried to set up the New Jerusalem at Munster, who did advocate a State Church. Mainstream Anabaptists advocated religious tolerance, but were persecuted for that stance.As we've seen in the story of the Church in Germany and as was hammered out in the Peace of Augsburg, peace was secured by deciding some regions would be Lutheran, others Catholic by the principle of cujus regis eius religio [coo-yoos regio / ay-oos rel-i-gio] meaning, “Whose realm, whose religion.” The religion of a region's ruler determined that regions subjects' religion. Under Augsburg, people were supposed to be free to relocate to another region if a ruler's religion didn't square with their convictions.Sounds simple enough >> for moderns who are highly mobile and have little sense of the historic connection between identity and place. Many think nothing today of packing up and moving to a new place across town, or across a state, nation, or even some other part of the globe. Not so most Europeans for most of their history. Personal identity was intimately connected to family. And Family was identified by location. That's why long before people had surnames, they were identified by their town. John of Locksley. William of Orange. Fred of Fillsbury. Families built a house and lived in it for many generations. Losing that home to whatever cause was one of the great tragedies that could befall one. It was a betrayal of previous generations who'd handed down both a family name and home, as well as all those future generations who now would have no home to call their own.On the surface, the Peace of Augsburg sounded like a sound solution to the religious conflicts that raged after the Reformation. But it was in fact, a highly disruptive force that ultimately helped spark the Thirty Years War.The wars of religion that washed over Europe in general and France in particular is evidence that the rule a region could have but one religion wasn't workable. Even the Edict of Nantes, passed by French King Henry IV after the bloody St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre, only guaranteed the survival of French Protestantism by granting a number of Protestant cities as enclaves in an otherwise Roman Catholic realm.We've given a thumbnail sketch of the spread of the Reformation over Germany, France, England, Scotland, the Low Countries and in Scandinavian.Let's take a look now at Spain.Before the Reformation reached the Iberian Peninsula, many hoped the Spanish Church would lead the way in long-overdue reform. Queen Isabella's faith was earnest. She and Cardinal Jiménez de Cisneros implemented a massive reform—including a renewal of biblical studies centered on the Complutensian Polyglot Bible. Today a polyglot is known as a parallel Bible, where multiple versions of the bible are arranged in side-by-side columns for comparison. But in parallel Biblr, these version are all the same language. A polyglot is the comparison of different languages. The Complutensian Polyglot had the Hebrew, Latin and Greek texts of the OT as well as the Aramaic of the Torah. The NT was both Greek and Latin. Spain also had many humanists scholars similar to Erasmus—some of them in high places—who longed for reform.The arrival of the Protestant Reformation saw attitudes in Spain changed. At Worms, the upstart monk Martin Luther defied Emperor Charles V, who just happened to be King Charles I of Spain. Charles became the champion of opposition to Protestantism. The Spanish Inquisition, previously aimed at Jews and occultists, turned its attention toward those calling for reform and anything that smacked of the now-dreaded Lutheranism. Several leading humanists fled to places like the Low Countries where they were welcomed. Others stayed in Spain and tried to lay low, devoting themselves to their studies and hoping the storm would pass them by.The Inquisition wasn't able to halt the “Lutheran contagion,” as it was called. Valladolid and Seville became centers of Reformation despite frequent burnings at the stake by the Inquisition. A monastery in Santiponce near Seville was a reform center where Bibles and Protestant books were smuggled in barrels labeled as oil and wine. When one of the smugglers was captured and burned, a dozen of monks fled, agreeing to meet in a year in Geneva. One of them became pastor to a Spanish congregation there. Another, Casiodoro de Reina, spent the rest of his life translating the Bible into Spanish; a recognized masterpiece of Spanish literature released in 1569. A few years later, another of the 12, Cipriano de Valera, revised de Reina's version, which is known as the Reina-Valera Bible. Back in their monastery in Santiponce and throughout the area around Seville, the Inquisition cleansed the Church of all trace of Protestantism.We hop over now to Italy.Among the inaccessible valleys of the Alps, some more reachable parts of Northern Italy and Southern France, the ancient community of the Waldensians continued a secluded but threatened existence. They were repeatedly attacked by armies hoping to suppress their supposed heresy. But they'd long stood firm in their mountain fastness. By the early 16th C the movement lost steam as constant persecution suppressed them. Many among them felt that the price paid for disagreeing with Rome was too high, and increasing numbers returned to Catholicism.Then, strange rumors were heard. News of a great Reformation arrived. An emissary sent to inquire about these rumors returned in 1526 announcing they were true. In Germany, Switzerland, France, and even more distant regions dramatic change was afoot. Many of the doctrines of the Reformers matched what the Waldensians had held since the 12th C. More delegations met with leading reformers like Martin Bucer, who warmly received them and affirmed most of their beliefs. They suggested some points where they differed and the Waldensians ought to consider revising their stand to bring it into closer alignment with Scripture. In 1532, the Waldensians convened a synod where they adopted the main tenets of the Protestant Reformation. By doing so, they became the oldest Protestant church—existing more than 3 Cs before the Reformation.Sadly, that didn't make things any easier for the Waldensians. Their communities in Southern France, whose lands were more vulnerable than the secluded Alpine valleys, were invaded and virtually exterminated. The survivors fled to the Alps. Then a series of edicts ensued, forbidding attendance at Protestant churches and commanding attendance at Mass.  Waldensian communities in southern Italy were also exterminated.Large armies raised by the Pope, the Duke of Savoy, and several other powerful nobles wanting to prove their loyalty to Rome repeatedly invaded the Waldensian mountain enclaves, only to be routed by the defenders. On one occasion, only six men with crude firearms held back an entire army at a narrow pass while others climbed the mountains above. When rocks began raining on them, the invaders were routed.Then, in what has to be a premier, “Can't a guy catch a break?” moment, when the Waldensians had a prolonged respite from attack, a plague broke out decimating their population. Only two pastors survived. Their replacements came from the Reformed centers of Switzerland, bringing about closer ties between the Waldensians and the Reformed Church. In 1655, all Waldensians living in Northern Italy were commanded under penalty of death to forfeit their lands in three days as the lands were sold to Catholics, who then had the duty to go take them from recalcitrant rebel-Waldensians.In the same year, the Marquis of Pianeza was given the assignment of exterminating the Waldensians.  But he was convinced if he invaded the Alps his army would suffer the same fate as earlier invaders. So he offered peace to the Waldensians. They'd always said they'd only fight a war of defense. So they made peace with the Marquis and welcomed the soldiers into their homes where they were fed and housed against the bitter cold. Lovely story huh? Well, wait; it's not over yet. Two days later, at a prearranged time, the guests turned on their hosts, killing men, women and children. This “great victory” was then celebrated with a Te Deum; a short church service of thanksgiving to God.Yet still the Waldensians resisted, hoping their enemies would make peace with them. King Louis XIV of France, who ordered the expulsion of all Huguenots from France, demanded the Duke of Savoy do as the Marquis had done with his Waldensians. This proved too much for many of them who left the Alps to live in Geneva and other Protestant areas. A few insisted on remaining on their ancestral lands, where they were constantly menaced. It wasn't until 1848 that the Waldensians and other groups were granted freedom of worship in Italy.Ah, time for a breather, we'd hope. But again, it was not to be. Because just two years later, famine broke out in the long exploited and now over-populated Alpine valleys. After much debate, the first of many Waldensian groups left for Uruguay and Argentina, where they flourished. In 1975, the two Waldensian communities, one on each side of the Atlantic, made it clear that they were still one church by deciding to be governed by a single synod with two sessions, one in the Americas in February, the other in Europe in August.The Waldensians weren't the only Protestant presence in Italy. Among others, Juan de Valdés and Bernardino Ochino deserve mention.Valdés was a Spanish Protestant Humanist of the Erasmian mold. When it was clear Charles V was determined to wipe Protestantism out of Spain, he fled to in Italy in 1531 where we settled in Naples and gathered a group of colleagues who devoted themselves to Bible study.  They didn't seek to make their views public, and were moderate in their Protestant leanings. Among the members of this group was the historically fascinating Giulia Gonzaga, a woman of such immense beauty the Muslim ruler Suleiman the Great tried to have her kidnapped so he could make her the chief wife of his huge harem.  Another member of the group, Bernardino Ochino, a famous and pious preacher, was twice elected leader of the Capuchins. Ochino openly promulgated Protestant principles. When the Inquisition threatened him, he fled to Geneva, then went to Basel, Augsburg, Strasbourg, London, and finally Zürich. Ochino's journeys from city to city marked a concurrent journey from Biblical orthodox to heresy. He became ever more radical, eventually rejecting the Trinity and defending polygamy; another reason he moved around a lot. He kept getting kicked out of town.  He died of the plague in 1564.Now we take the Communio Sanctorum train to HUNGARYAt the beginning of the Reformation, Hungary was ruled by the 10-year-old boy, King Louis II. A decade later, in 1526, the Ottoman Turks defeated the Hungarians and killed him. The Hungarian nobility elected Ferdinand of Hapsburg to take the throne while nationalists named John Sigismund as king. After complex negotiations,  western Hungary was under Hapsburg rule while the East was Ottoman. Stuck between West Hungary ruled by devoted Catholic Hapsburgs and the East ruled by Muslim Ottomans, was Royal Hungary, known as Transylvania, where King Sigismund managed to carve out a small holding.Sigismund knew that religious division would weaken his already tenuous hold on the realm, so he granted four groups to have equal standing; Roman Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism,  and Unitarianism, which we'll take a closer look at when we consider Poland.The Ottomans, ever seeking to weaken the powerful Hapsburgs, supported whichever one of these four was weakest, so that it would continue to cause trouble to the others and so weaken the entire realm. If that group then began to gain power and influence, the Ottomans switched their support to the new underdog.Lutheranism reached Hungary early. There's evidence Luther's 95 theses circulated in Hungary only a year after their original posting in Wittenberg. By 1523, the Hapsburgs ordered Lutherans to be burned to prevent their spread. A few years later, Zwingli's teachings entered the scene, and similar measures were taken against them.Though Ottoman rule was harsh and atrocities were committed against all Christians, it was in the territories occupied by Ottomans that Protestantism grew most rapidly.Hungarians preferred the Reformed Tradition coming out of Switzerland to the church government advocated in Lutheranism. They already suffered under a highly centralized government. In the Swiss-Reformed tradition, pastors and laity shared authority. Also, this decentralized form of church government made it more difficult for Ottoman authorities to exert pressure on church leaders. Records make it clear that Ottoman authorities accepted the appointment of a parish priest on the condition the congregation pay if the priest was arrested for any reason. So, priests were often arrested, and freed only when a bribe was paid.Both Hapsburgs and Ottomans tried to prevent the spread of what they called heresy by means of the printing press. In 1483, long before the Reformation, the Sultan issued a decree condemning printers to have their hands cut off. Now the Hapsburg King Ferdinand I issued a similar ruling; except that, instead of having hands amputated, printers were drowned. But that didn't stop the circulation of Protestant books. Those were usually printed in the vernacular, the language of the common people, climaxing in the publication of the Karoly Bible in 1590 and the Vizsoly Bible in 1607, which in Hungary played a role similar to that of Luther's Bible in German. It's estimated that by 1600 as many as 4 out of 5 Hungarians were Protestant.Then conditions changed. Early in the 17th C, Ottoman power waned, and Transylvania, supported by Hungarian nationalists, clashed with the Hapsburgs.  The conflict was settled by the Treaty of Vienna, granting equal rights to both Catholics and Protestants. But the Thirty Years' War—in which Transylvania opposed the Hapsburgs and their allies—brought devastation to the country. Even after the end of the War, the conflict among the Hapsburgs, Royal Hungary and Ottomans continued. The Hapsburgs eventually gained the upper hand, and the Peace of Karlowitz in 1699 gave them control over all Hungary—a control they retained until 1918 and the end of WWI. In Hungary, as elsewhere, the Hapsburgs imposed virulent anti-Protestant measures, and eventually the country became Catholic.We end with a look at POLAND.When Luther posted his theses on that door in Wittenberg, there was already in western Poland a growing number of the followers of the Pre-Reformer, Jan Hus; Hussites who'd fled the difficulties in Bohemia. They were amped by the prolific work of the German monk. The Poles, however, had long been in conflict with Germans, and distrusted anything coming from such a source. So Lutheranism did spread, but slowly. When Calvinism made its way to Poland, Protestantism picked up steam.The king at the time was Sigismund I who vehemently opposed all Protestant doctrine. But by the middle of the 16th C, Calvinism enjoyed a measure of support from Sigismund II, who even corresponded with Calvin.The leader of the Calvinist movement in Poland was Jan Laski, a nobleman with connections to a wide circle of people with Reformed leanings, including Melanchthon and Erasmus. He purchased Erasmus' library. Exiled from Poland for being a Calvinist, he was called back by the nobility who'd come to favor the Reformed Faith. Laski translated the Bible into Polish, and worked for a meeting of the minds between Calvinists and Lutherans. His efforts led to the Synod of Sendomir in 1570, 10 years after Laski's death.The Polish government followed a policy of greater religious tolerance than most of Europe. A large number of people, mostly Jews and Christians of various faiths, sought refuge there. Among them was Faustus Socinius, who denied the Doctrine of the Trinity, launching a group known as Unitarians. His views were expressed in the Racovian Catechism, authored not by Socinius, but by two of his followers. Published in 1605, this document affirms and argues that only the Father is God, that Jesus is not divine, but purely human, and that the Holy Spirit is just a way of referring to God's power and presence.Throughout most of the 16th C and well into the 17th, Protestantism as affirmed at the Synod of Sendomir, had a growing number of Polish followers—as did Socinian Unitarianism. But as the national identity of Poland developed in opposition to Russian Orthodox Church to the East, and German Lutherans to the West, with both Russia and Germany repeatedly seeking to take Polish territory, that identity became increasingly Roman Catholic, so that by the 20th C, Poland was one of the most Catholic nations in Europe.This brief review of the Reformation around the edges of Europe reveals that within just a few decades of Martin Luther's time the ideas of Protestant theology had covered the continent and caused large scale upheaval. What we HAVEN'T considered yet, is the impact of the Reformation further East. In a later episode we'll take a look at the impact it had on the Eastern Church.