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The Hussites
The Hussite movement was a historical watershed, in which popular and scholastic theology combined with a nascent Czech nationalism to produce a full-scale social revolution that presaged the Protestant Reformation and the birth of the modern nation state. The Hussites defeated the forces of the Empire and the Pope, and their king George Poděbrady was the first to advocate a trans-national European state. Jan Hus is remembered as a martyr for church reform, but his colleagues formulated a theology that scholars are now recognizing to have had influence on Luther and the birth of Protestantism. Another Bohemian associated with the movement, Petr Chelčick�, was the first to advocate a radical pacifist Christian anarchism. This survey introduces the reader to the events, people, and ideas that define this remarkable movement.
- GenresHistory
120 pages, Paperback
Published September 30, 2019
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 27, 2022
The Hussite wars raged in central Europe for 15 years. It was a war fought over the definitions of the Eucharist and the rights of Czechs to not only eat bread, but also to drink wine in church. The pope sanctioned 5 separate crusades in an attempt to crush this heresy together with the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. For the Czechs this was a populist uprising of peasants and laymen, and they repeatedly fought off superiour military forces with irregular tactics and a mix of farm equipment, bows and gunpowder weapons.
As to the book, I found it to be about as stale as dry bread. These are very interesting events but don't expect any real narrative or overview of war and politics. What the book does present are the theological viewpoints of various characters and fractions throughout these years, and the religious debates and mediations that eventually lead to compromise and an end to the war.
The last chapter that goes into historiography and how the war has been interpreted was quite interesting. First viewed as heretics and fanatics, then as precursors to the reformation, later as the beginnings of Czech nationalism, and then as a marxist-proletariat revolution against feudalism.
There's not much "pop-his" here, yet there's a conspicuous lack of sources and references for an academic work. I don't think it works as either. If you're interested in christian church doctrine leading up to the reformation, as opposed to the Hussite Wars, then this book might be interesting to you.
As to the book, I found it to be about as stale as dry bread. These are very interesting events but don't expect any real narrative or overview of war and politics. What the book does present are the theological viewpoints of various characters and fractions throughout these years, and the religious debates and mediations that eventually lead to compromise and an end to the war.
The last chapter that goes into historiography and how the war has been interpreted was quite interesting. First viewed as heretics and fanatics, then as precursors to the reformation, later as the beginnings of Czech nationalism, and then as a marxist-proletariat revolution against feudalism.
There's not much "pop-his" here, yet there's a conspicuous lack of sources and references for an academic work. I don't think it works as either. If you're interested in christian church doctrine leading up to the reformation, as opposed to the Hussite Wars, then this book might be interesting to you.
Displaying 1 of 1 review