All he wanted was reformism of the catholic church: removing corruption, pardons, going back to the roots, mass in local language so everyone would understand what the pastor told in his "religious songs", etc.
This lead to crusades against Hussites, protestantic revolutionary movement created as reaction on result of cynism of the Popes,
in the next events the crusaders were being crushed, shot, smashed, running in fear from Hussites. Armies of Hussites were lead by Jan Žižka from Trocnov, one-eyed military genius with experience from Baltic countries. He was using gunpowder weapons (hussite rifles called Flutes and howitzers - original word was probably copied by Germans then, crowder probably sounds silly, but it's what it is), walls from armored wagons (and wagons full of cannons - tank of that era, like Korean War Wagon), advantages of terrain (crusaders dying in empty carp pond), religious battlesongs singed by all marching brothers and sisters like "Who are the God's Fighters (Kdož sú Boží bojovníci)", hussites were also using weapons created from farm tools and typical elongated shields. He was never defeated and died of the plague at Přibyslav (October 11, 1424, around 64yr) on the Moravian frontier.
Civil war and further conflicts after great man's death lead to further devastation, schism and despite relative stabilization it was striking that whole movement became weak, attempts of the Hussite king George of Poděbrady on Christianic european military union against Turks failed and finally in the 1620 the Battle Of White Mountain lead to demonization of protestants, violent recatholization, Germanization and Dark Ages caused by Habsburgs and Jesuits.
John Huss theses were influenced by teaching of John Wycliffe and teaching of both men lead to real protestantism and in the end reformation of catholic church itself.
The latter one was real goal of John Huss.
Hussites were heroes for later Czech patriots, nationalists (including communists) and communists who favoured their socialistic society.
From one point of view I can call them communists of their era (same could be said for Jacobins)
and I can find similarities between their fall and today politics: expansion of catholics and group around Habsburgs / expansion of China and India with their neoliberalistic allies.
Many (maybe most) European rightwingeristic parties are rather anti-patriotistic. Unlike their counterparts in countries like Britain, France, Italia, China, India, Russia, Canada or one bankrupting military superpower (in case of China or Russia it borders with fascism). Worse case scenario of future says that hundreds of years of revivalist work were in vain and new neocolonialism (and neofeudalism) with China in charge begins. On the other hand Latin America or islamic countries change in different way, in a way similar to protestantic countries in Western and North Europe in the 16th century, similar like communists and Hussits.
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Also the 5th July is the Slavic Missionaries Cyril and Methodius Day in both Czech and Slovak Republics unlike in other countries where they usually celebrate their memory in March. These Greek Brothers changed Ortodox Christianity and culture of the Eastern and Southeastern Slavs for good...
wikipedia.org:
Saints Cyril and Methodius (Greek: Κύριλλος καὶ Μεθόδιος, Old Church Slavonic: Кѷриллъ и Меѳодїи) were two Greek brothers born in Thessaloniki in the 9th century. They became missionaries of Christianity among the Slavic peoples of Great Moravia and Pannonia. Through their work they influenced the cultural development of all Slavs, for which they received the title "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited with devising the Glagolitic alphabet, the first alphabet used to transcribe the Old Church Slavonic language. After their deaths, their pupils continued their missionary work among other Slavs. Both brothers are venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church as saints with the title of "Equals to the Apostles". In 1880, Pope Leo XIII introduced their feast into the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1980, Pope John Paul II declared them co-patrons of Europe, together with Saint Benedict of Nursia.
Edited by partyzanPaulZy, 06 July 2010 - 01:38 PM.
