Jerome of Prague and the foundations of the Hussite movement

This book is a scholarly evaluation of the life, work, and influence of Jerome of Prague (ca. 1378-1416). It delineates the controversial nature of Jerome's thinking with respect to the philosophical and theological implications of divine Ideas along with religious and social reform. Abstract: The life and work of Jerome of Prague has been overlooked outside Czech historiography, but it represents an important chapter in the understanding of late medieval European history. Read more... The life and work of Jerome of Prague have been overlooked outside Czech historiography, but represent an important chapter in the understanding of late medieval European history. Thomas A. Fudge makes a case for the central importance of Jerome, peer of Jan Hus, by reconstructing his biography using the original Latin and Czech sources and drawing significantly upon German, French, English, and Czech scholarship. The book traces the development of Jerome's life, paying special attention to the controversies he caused at the universities of Paris, Cologne, Heidelberg, Vienna, and Prague. Of particular note are the two heresy trials in which he was a defendant (Vienna 1410-12 and Constance 1415-16). Fudge situates Jerome within the philosophical conflicts of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries. He argues that Jerome is not only an important component in the intellectual history of the Middle Ages, and a leading personality in the church's war on heresy, but is also an essential influence on the development of the Hussite movement in Bohemia. As the Italian humanist Poggio Bracciolini remarked, after hearing Jerome speak at the Council of Constance in 1416, "this was a man to remember." Jerome of Prague and the Foundations of the Hussite Movement brings to life a little known but indisputably significant figure of the late Middle Ages. This book is a scholarly evaluation of the life, work, and influence of Jerome of Prague (ca. 1378-1416). It delineates the controversial nature of Jerome’s thinking with respect to the philosophical and theological implications of divine Ideas along with religious and social reform. Two legal proceedings concerned with heresy (Vienna 1410-1412 and Constance 1415-1416) in which Jerome was a defendant are analyzed by means of the primary sources. Jerome’s appearance before the Council of Constance in 1415 and 1416 is closely scrutinized. Jerome’s defense of Wyclifite thought, his battle with Jean Gerson, and his tumultuous journeys across Europe over the course of a dozen years provide context for understanding his place in the later Middle Ages. Jerome is an important figure in the history of Prague, Charles University, the development and shape of later medieval heresy, and the beginnings of the Hussite movement. Both as a colleague of Jan Hus as well as an independent thinker, Jerome must be numbered among the most important Czech personalities in the religious history of Bohemia. He provides an intellectual bridge between the Middle Ages and the European Reformations and should be considered part of the harvest of medieval thought Content: An emerging intellectual knight-errant -- Jerome as a Wyclifite thinker -- Disputation and discord: the fugitive and the establishment -- Heresy and intrigue in Vienna -- Iconoclasm: attacking medieval religious practice -- Trial at the Council of Constance -- Five days in May: the battle for conscience -- Heretic and hero at the stake -- Jerome remembered: liturgy, revolution, commemoration. The life and work of Jerome of Prague has been overlooked outside Czech historiography, but it represents an important chapter in the understanding of late medieval European history. Thomas A. Fudge makes a case for the central importance of Jerome by reconstructing his biography using the original Latin and Czech sources and drawing significantly upon German, French, English and Czech scholarship