Excommunication and Seclusion
It was the last straw for the church leaders; John Hus was excommunicated from the Catholic Church; he was considered an outcast and his parishioners were forbidden to even speak to him under threat of excommunication; so, Hus went into hiding to protect his followers. During his seclusion, he wrote a book entitled ‘On the Church’, a compilation of his teachings on the true church under the headship of Jesus Christ and the critical need for repentance by the Catholic clergy.
The Betrayal of a Friend
While Hus believed his seclusion was a safe haven, the Catholic archbishops and King Sigismund of Germany were secretly plotting to eliminate him once and for all; and, so, they invited him to the Council of Constance in Germany. Hus was assured of the king’s promise of safe passage to present his case before the pope, cardinals and archbishops that were gathered for the conference.
In October of 1414, full of hope in Christ, Hus left for Constance under the protection of the king’s knights; and, in the weeks it took to make the trip, Hus’ supporters greeted him with enthusiasm in towns all along the way. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, his old university friends, Palec and Stanislav, had betrayed Hus, writing accusations of heresy to the pope against him. Not long after Hus arrived in Constance, the trickery of the council was revealed: Hus was deceived into accompanying one cardinal to a special church meeting but instead was captured by Sigismund’s guards and imprisoned in a dungeon in the local abbey.
To be continued…
Date: 24th August 2024
Martyr: John Hus
Location: Not specified
Source: God’s Generals – The Martyrs
Author: Roberts Liardon
Suffering Saturday 105
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