Jan Hus, a priest and rector of Prague University, had spent years attacking clerical corruption and papal authority, drawing on ideas later echoed by Martin Luther. Lured to the Council of Constance under a promise of safe passage, he was tried as a heretic and burned. His death ignited the Hussite Wars and made him a lasting Czech national symbol.
Hus went to Constance believing Emperor Sigismund's guarantee of safe conduct would protect him, but the council had no intention of letting a heretic walk free. He was offered repeated chances to recant his teachings on scripture, the eucharist, and church wealth; he refused each time, reportedly saying he would rather be burned than betray his conscience. Witnesses recorded that as flames rose around him he sang hymns until he could no longer breathe.
His execution backfired spectacularly. Bohemia erupted in fury, launching the Hussite Wars, a series of crusades and counter-crusades that devastated Central Europe for two decades and produced Europe's first effective battlefield use of hand-held firearms and war wagons under commander Jan Žižka. Hus became a foundational figure for Protestant reformers a century later, and July 6 remains a public holiday in the Czech Republic, where his statue dominates Prague's Old Town Square.
Key people: Jan Hus, Sigismund of Luxembourg, Jan Žižka