Hus is Accused to the Pope.
Now Archbishop Sbynko went over to the rival pope, Alexander V, and
convinced him that all the troubles in Bohemia were due to the teachings
of Wiclif spread by Hus. These teachings, he said, made the clergy
disobedient and led them to ignore the authority of the Roman Church,
made the laity think it was for them to lead the clergy, encouraged the
King to lay hands on the property of the Church.
[Illustration: KING WENZEL OF BOHEMIA]
As a result Alexander V sent a bull on Dec. 20, 1409, ordering the
Archbishop to suppress all books of Wiclif and all preaching except at
the usual places; this last was to silence Hus in Bethlehem Chapel.
On July 16, 1410, the Archbishop burned two hundred manuscripts of
Wiclif, many of them in costly binding; two days later he excommunicated
Hus and his followers.
[Illustration: POPE JOHN XXIII]
This caused an indescribable sensation all over, in some places serious
riots resulted. The publishers of the excommunication were in danger of
their lives. The King compelled the Archbishop to pay damages to those
whose manuscripts had been burned. Hus defended the writings of Wiclif
in public debates. The Wiclifites in England were delighted. Hus wrote
them: "The whole Bohemian people thirst for the truth, it will have
nothing but the Gospel and the Epistles, and wherever in a city or
village or castle a preacher of the holy truth appears, the people
stream together in great crowds. Our king, all his court, the barons,
and the plain people favor the word of Christ." Hus continued to preach
in the Bethlehem Chapel in ever bolder tones. He said: "We must obey God
rather than men in things which are necessary for salvation." Against
the authority of the Church Hus placed the individual conscience. The
decisive step of a breach with the Papal system had been taken.
Hus, the King, and the Queen repeatedly appealed to the new Pope, but
John XXIII twice confirmed the sentence of Pope Alexander V; Hus was
declared a heretic and Prag placed under interdict. This was done on the
advice of Cardinal Otto Colonna, later Pope Martin V. Hus was summoned
to appear before the Pope. Hus did not appear; he was pronounced
excommunicated in February 1411, published in Prag on March 15, 1411.
The bold preacher said: "I avow it to be my purpose to defend the truth
which God has enabled me to know, and especially the truth of the Holy
Scriptures, even to death, since I know that the truth stands and is
forever mighty and abides eternally; and with Him there is no respect of
persons. And if the fear of death should terrify me, still I hope in my
God and in the assistance of the Holy Spirit that the Lord will give me
firmness. And if I have found favor in His sight He will crown me with
martyrdom."
In June the King's commission requested the removal of the interdict. On
September 28, the Archbishop died; they say he poisoned himself. In the
attempt to sacrifice Hus, he sacrificed himself.