Patron Saint and Prophet

de Phillip N. Haberkern

The Bohemian preacher and religious reformer Jan Hus has been celebrated as a de facto saint since being burned at the stake as a heretic in 1415. 'Patron Saint and Prophet' analyzes Hus's commemoration from the time of his death until the middle of the following century, tracing the ways in which both his supporters and his most outspoken opponents sought to determine whether he would be remembered as a heretic or saint. Phillip Haberkern examines how specific historical conflicts and exigencies affected the evolution of Hus's memory - within the militant Hussite movement that flourished until the mid-1430s, within the Czech Utraquist church that succeeded it, and among 16th-century Lutherans who viewed Hus as a forerunner and even prophet of their reform.