by Jan Hus
in ePub, .mobi & .pdf fomats
The Letters of Jan Hus offer a rare and moving glimpse into the heart of one of the Church’s great pre-Reformation witnesses. Written during his years of ministry, exile, and eventual imprisonment leading up to his martyrdom at the Council of Constance (1415), these letters reveal Hus not merely as a bold reformer but as a humble and faithful pastor, steadfast in the face of overwhelming opposition.
In these pages, Hus speaks with remarkable tenderness, clarity, and courage. We see a man who clung to Christ amid betrayal, isolation, and the threat of death. His letters to friends, fellow believers, and even his adversaries are rich with pastoral wisdom, fervent prayer, and a deep concern for the purity of the Church. Again and again, Hus insists that no earthly authority—whether pope or council—stands above the Word of God. Tradition, he held, must be respected, but only insofar as it remains faithful to Scripture, for Scripture alone is the infallible guide of faith and life.
Though Hus lived a century before Luther, readers will find in these letters the seeds of Reformation theology: a Christ-centered understanding of the Church, a sober realism about the fallibility of human authorities, and an unwavering devotion to the authority and sufficiency of the Scriptures. Yet Hus remained, in many respects, a man of his medieval time—accepting, for example, the existence of purgatory and certain traditional practices that later Reformers would refine more fully in light of Scripture.
Reading The Letters of Jan Hus is not merely an exercise in history; it is an encounter with the timeless realities of Christian suffering, hope, and perseverance. Hus’s pen reveals a man whose conscience was captive to God’s Word, and whose love for the truth was stronger than the fear of death. These letters shine as a testimony to the Spirit’s sustaining power amid trial, and they call every believer to walk faithfully, even when the cost is great.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE I. FROM THE TRANSLATOR
PREFACE II. PREFACE OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER, TO THE LETTERS OF JOHN HUSS, PUBLISHED BY HIM IN THE YEAR 1537
1. INTRODUCTION
PART. I. LETTERS WRITTEN BEFORE THE DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP ZBINEK
2. PART I.—LETTERS WRITTEN BEFORE THE DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP ZBINEK
3. LETTER I. TO ZBINEK, ARCHBISHOP OF PRAGUE
4. LETTER II. TO THE NUNS OF A CERTAIN CONVENT
5. LETTER III. TO ZBINEK, ARCHBISHOP OF PRAGUE
6. LETTER IV. TO MASTER ZAWISSIUS, RECTOR OF PRACHATICZ
7. LETTER V. TO THE PEOPLE OF LAUN
8. LETTER VI. TO MASTER RICHARD [WYCHE] OF ENGLAND
9. LETTER VII. TO A CERTAIN MONK
10. LETTER VIII. TO JOHN BARBATUS
11. LETTER IX. TO JOHN XXIII., THE ROMAN PONTIFF
12. LETTER X. TO THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS
PART II. FROM THE DEATH OF ZBINEK TO THE EXILE OF HUS
13. PART II.—FROM THE DEATH OF ZBINEK TO THE EXILE OF HUS
14. LETTER XI. TO THE SUPREME COURT OF THE KINGDOM OF BOHEMIA
15. LETTER XII. TO THE PEOPLE OF PILSEN
16. LETTER XIII. TO LADISLAUS, KING OF POLAND
17. LETTER XIV. TO THE BRETHREN OF THE MONASTERY OF DOLEIN, IN MORAVIA
18. LETTER XV. TO MASTERS MARTIN AND NICOLAS MILICZIN
PART III. LETTERS WRITTEN DURING THE EXILE OF HUS
19. PART III.—LETTERS WRITTEN DURING THE EXILE OF HUS
20. LETTER XVI. TO THE PEOPLE OF PRAGUE.
21. LETTER XVII. TO THE SAME.
22. LETTER XVIII. TO THE SAME
23. LETTER XIX. TO THE SAME
24. LETTER XX. TO THE FAITHFUL BOHEMIANS
25. LETTER XXI. TO THE PEOPLE OF PRAGUE
26. LETTER XXII. TO THE SAME
27. LETTER XXIII. TO THE SAME
28. LETTER XXIV. TO THE SAME
29. LETTER XXV. TO THE SYNOD OF PRAGUE IN THE YEAR 1413
30. LETTER XXVI. TO MASTER CHRISTIAN OF PRACHATICZ, RECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PRAGUE.
31. LETTER XXVII. TO THE SAME
32. LETTER XXVIII. TO THE SAME
33. LETTER XXIX. TO THE SAME
34. LETTER XXX. TO THE SAME
35. LETTER XXXI. TO MASTER JOHN SYBART IN THE UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA
36. LETTER XXXII. TO THE PEOPLE OF PRAGUE
PART IV. LETTERS WRITTEN ON THE JOUNEY TO CONSTANCE
37. PART IV.—LETTERS WRITTEN ON THE JOURNEY TO CONSTANCE
38. LETTER XXXIII. TO SIGISMUND, KING OF THE ROMANS AND OF HUNGARY
39. LETTER XXXIV. TO HIS BOHEMIAN FRIENDS ON STARTING FOR CONSTANCE
40. LETTER XXXV. TO MASTER MARTIN, HIS DISCIPLE
41. LETTER XXXVI. TO HIS BOHEMIAN FRIENDS
42. LETTER XXXVII. TO THE SAME
43. LETTER XXXVIII. TO THE SAME
44. LETTER XXXIX. TO THE FAITHFUL BOHEMIANS
PART V. LETTERS WRITTEN DURING THE IMPRISONMENT AT THE BLACKFRIARS
45. PART V.—LETTERS WRITTEN DURING THE IMPRISONMENT AT THE BLACKFRIARS
46. LETTER XL. TO THE PEOPLE OF PRAGUE
47. LETTER XLI. TO JOHN OF CHLUM
48. LETTER XLII. TO THE SAME
49. LETTER XLIII. TO PETER MLADENOWIC
50. LETTER XLIV. TO JOHN OF CHLUM
51. LETTER XLV. TO THE SAME
52. LETTER XLVI. TO HIS FRIENDS AT CONSTANCE
53. LETTER XLVII. TO JOHN OF CHLUM
54. LETTER XLVIII. TO THE SAME
55. LETTER XLIX. TO THE SAME
56. LETTER L. TO HIS FRIENDS
57. LETTER LI. TO HIS FRIENDS AFTER THE POPE’S FLIGHT
58. LETTER LII. TO THE SAME
PART VI. LETTERS WRITTEN FROM THE FRANCISCAN FRIARY
59. PART VI.—LETTERS WRITTEN FROM THE FRANCISCAN FRIARY
60. LETTER LIII. TO JOHN OF CHLUM
61. LETTER LIV. TO HIS FRIENDS STAYING ON IN CONSTANCE
62. LETTER LV. TO JOHN OF CHLUM
63. LETTER LVI. TO PETER MLADENOWIC
64. LETTER LVII. TO HIS FRIENDS STAYING ON IN CONSTANCE
65. LETTER LVIII. TO HIS FRIENDS IN CONSTANCE
66. LETTER LIX. TO THE SAME
67. LETTER LX. TO HIS FRIENDS STAYING ON IN CONSTANCE
68. LETTER LXI. TO HENRY SKOPEK DE DUBA
69. LETTER LXII. TO A FRIEND
70. LETTER LXIII. TO HIS BOHEMIAN FRIENDS
71. LETTER LXIV. TO ALL THE PEOPLE OF BOHEMIA
72. LETTER LXV. TO HENRY SKOPEK DE DUBA
73. LETTER LXVI. TO MASTER MARTIN, HIS DISCIPLE
74. LETTER LXVII. MASTER JOHN HUS TO THE “FATHER”
75. LETTER LXVIII. TO THE SAME
76. LETTER LXIX. TO HIS FRIENDS IN CONSTANCE
77. LETTER LXX. TO THE SAME
78. LETTER LXXI. TO GALLUS (HAWLIK), PREACHER IN THE BETHLEHEM
79. LETTER LXXII. TO MASTER CHRISTIAN
80. LETTER LXXIII. TO HIS FRIENDS AT CONSTANCE
81. LETTER LXXIV. TO THE FAITHFUL BOHEMIANS
82. LETTER LXXV. TO HIS BOHEMIAN FRIENDS
83. LETTER LXXVI. TO THE FAITHFUL BOHEMIANS
84. LETTER LXXVII. TO THE SAME
85. LETTER LXXVIII. TO THE UNIVERSITY OF PRAGUE
86. LETTER LXXIX. TO BARONS WENZEL DE DUBA AND JOHN OF CHLUM
87. LETTER LXXX. TO JOHN OF CHLUM
88. LETTER LXXXI. TO WENZEL DE DUBA
89. LETTER LXXXII. TO HIS FRIENDS IN BOHEMIA
90. APPENDIX