Mondays are for Church History. This post was prepared 5/9/15 for publication 5/11/15.
Ozment, Steven E. The Age of Reform: 1250-1550 : An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe. New Haven, Conn. ; London: Yale University Press, 1980. Kindle Electronic Edition.
Chapter 4, “The Ecclesiopolitical Traditions” pp. 135-181 Part 5, “The Council of Constance” pp. 164-172
Ozment reminds us (Oment 1980, 164) of the controversy over the papacy in Rome, Avignon, and Pisa, concurrent with the work of Jan Hus. Through a series of negotiations the council of Constance eventually achieved the removal of all three popes, leaving only one newly appointed one, Martin V, 1417 (Ibid.). At the same time the rise of Jan Hus and John Wyclif was seen as heretical and dangerous from a political and military standpoint. Ozment summarizes the influence of Wyclif’s writings as they reached the University of Prague. At issue was, chiefly, his view of property rights. “Those who abuse God’s gift of dominion by living unworthy lives forfeit all rightful claim to their property and possessions in the eyes of God, even though human law and tradition may permit them to keep them (Ibid., 166). Hussites extended this view in such a way as to question church authority, demanding vernacular Bibles, communion in both kinds, and questioning clergy authority to administer church discipline (Ibid.) The execution of Hus in 1415 resulted in military action on the part of their followers, requiring a military and strongly political response from the Church (Ibid., 170).
Ozment, Steven E. The Age of Reform: 1250-1550 : An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe. New Haven, Conn. ; London: Yale University Press, 1980. Kindle Electronic Edition.
Chapter 4, “The Ecclesiopolitical Traditions” pp. 135-181 Part 5, “The Council of Constance” pp. 164-172
Ozment reminds us (Oment 1980, 164) of the controversy over the papacy in Rome, Avignon, and Pisa, concurrent with the work of Jan Hus. Through a series of negotiations the council of Constance eventually achieved the removal of all three popes, leaving only one newly appointed one, Martin V, 1417 (Ibid.). At the same time the rise of Jan Hus and John Wyclif was seen as heretical and dangerous from a political and military standpoint. Ozment summarizes the influence of Wyclif’s writings as they reached the University of Prague. At issue was, chiefly, his view of property rights. “Those who abuse God’s gift of dominion by living unworthy lives forfeit all rightful claim to their property and possessions in the eyes of God, even though human law and tradition may permit them to keep them (Ibid., 166). Hussites extended this view in such a way as to question church authority, demanding vernacular Bibles, communion in both kinds, and questioning clergy authority to administer church discipline (Ibid.) The execution of Hus in 1415 resulted in military action on the part of their followers, requiring a military and strongly political response from the Church (Ibid., 170).
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