30
May 1416 A.D. Get
the Wood! Jerome of Prague to be Burned
Graves, Dan. “Into the Fire Went Jerome of
Prague.” Christianity Today. Apr
2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1201-1500/into-the-fire-went-jerome-of-prague-11629879.html.
Accessed Apr 24, 2014.
In many respects, the life of
Jerome of Prague paralleled that of his teacher and friend Jan Hus. Hus
welcomed the writings of Wycliffe to Bohemia. There he preached reformation a
century before Luther. Jerome was also convinced of the Wycliffian truths.
At Hus's suggestion Jerome sailed
to England and studied at Oxford, Wycliffe's old seat of learning. For the next
several years, Jerome moved about a good deal, spreading reform doctrines in
Paris, Jerusalem, Heidelberg, Vienna, Russia, Lithuania, Hungary and Cologne.
In his native Bohemia he sided with nationalistic students. He denounced a bull
proclaiming an indulgence for a crusade against Naples.
When Hus was arrested by the
Council of Constance, Jerome secretly followed, hoping to defend his friend. He
discovered he could do nothing but was in great danger himself, and so he went
to neighboring Idelberg and asked for safe conduct. Unwilling to do nothing, he
had placards posted throughout Constance saying he was willing to appear before
the bishops, that his character had been maligned, and that he would retract
any error which could be proven against him. All he asked was a pledge of
security.
When no pledge was forthcoming,
Jerome headed home. On the way he was seized and sent in irons to the Council.
A long chain was attached to the irons, and by this he was dragged into the
cloister to be insulted, and then locked in a tower. His legs were fastened in
stocks. For many days he was kept in this miserable condition. After Hus was
burned, Jerome was threatened with torments if he would not recant. In a moment
of weakness, he yielded.
Despite his recantation, he was
not released. On the contrary, a second recantation was demanded. He said he
would recant only in public. By then he had been a prisoner almost a year. At
the public "recantation," he took back his earlier recantation and
demanded a hearing to plead his cause. The Council refused this plea.
Indignantly he protested, "To my enemies you have allowed the fullest
scope of accusation: to me you deny the least opportunity of defense. . .
."
Jerome insisted he protested only
against the bad behavior of the clergy. Unlike Hus he did not reject the
doctrine of transubstantiation. Nonetheless, he was condemned to die in the
flames as Hus had. For two days the council kept him in suspense, hoping to
frighten him into a recantation. The Cardinal of Florence personally reasoned
with him. Jerome remained steadfast. When a cap was made for him painted with
red devils, he said, "Our Lord Jesus Christ, when he suffered death for
me, a most miserable sinner, did wear a crown of thorns upon his head; and I
for his sake will wear this adorning of derision and blasphemy. He sang hymns
on his way to execution. Because of his vigor and health he was a long time
dying in the flames. On this day, May
30, 1416, he and his paper crown were burned.
Bibliography:
1. Foxe, John. The New Foxe's Book
of Martyrs. Rewritten and updated by Harold J. Chadwick. Gainesville, Florida:
Bridge-Logos, 2001.
2. "Jerome of Prague." New
Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Baker Book
House, 1954.
3. "Jerome of Prague." The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A.
Livingstone. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
4. Spinka, Matthew. John Hus and the
Czech Reform. Hamden, Connecticutt: Archon Books, 1966, 1941.
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