Hus in Exile.
As later Luther in the Wartburg, so Hus now found shelter in the castle
of the Lord of Usti, and later with Henry of Lazan in his castle of
Cracowec.
Hus had a rare gift of persuasion, and wherever he preached, in city or
country, everybody became his follower; he was the pastor of his people;
his immense popularity clings to his memory to the present day.
Besides much preaching, the exile did much writing. He revised a
Bohemian translation of the Bible of the fourteenth century and thereby
greatly improved the popular language, much like Luther with his German
Bible. He guarded the purity of his Bohemian language against the
foreign, disfiguring influences. He labored to establish fixed rules of
grammar and invented a new system of spelling, which is in general use
today! He wrote letters, tracts, poems, and hymns. His chief work was
"On the Church," based on Wiclif, often to the word and letter.
[Illustration: CONSTANCE ON THE RHINE]
The excitement in Prag continued. The King convened the Estates of the
realm for Christmas, 1412. These called for a Synod, which met Feb. 2,
in the Archbishop's palace at Prag; it was a failure. The King had a
Commission continue the work of peace in April, 1414. The papists held
the Pope the Head of the Church, the Cardinals the body of the Church,
and all commands of this Church are to be obeyed. Of course, Hus and his
followers could not accept such monstrously wicked teaching. On the
contrary, Hus held it the duty of kings to restrain the wickedness of
the clergy and root out simony.