Dear Christians, I ask you to live according to God's law, to see to your
salvation and listen to the word of God.
Beseech the Lord to grant you the wisdom, patience, humility and courage to
persevere in his truth.
The names of many important people feature in the history of the European
Reformation.
There was John Wycliffe in England, John Calvin in Switzerland and Martin
Luther in Germany.
In the Czech lands, it was John Hus who dreamt of a better church, honest priests
and more pious bishops.
For this reason, he became a symbol of Christian integrity, not only to the Czech
nation, but also to the whole of Europe.
But who was John Hus?
What do we know about his life and his ideas?
Master John Hus is currently imprisoned in the lakeside German town of Constance.
But our story begins with another man.
A man whose life was forever changed by his association with Hus.
Hey, are you there?
Do you hear me?
Yes, sir.
It's noisy here.
You know this place?
Of course.
Constance is my home.
I got a bit lost.
Looking for my brother, Francisco Taglia.
I don't know any Taglia.
He's here with the council.
The council is full of prelates and lords.
Do you know where he lives?
A moment.
He wrote to me.
That's enough.
Stop it.
What's up?
Oh, forgive me, sir.
I didn't mean you.
I meant this one, our heretic.
Dog is a heretic.
Well, why not?
Anyway, he's always barking like a madman.
And this morning he ripped my skirt.
Here, you see?
Is that your idea of a heretic?
Barking and ripping skirts?
Oh, I don't know, sir.
A parson said that... I don't understand it.
Yes, I see.
And do you at least know where Island Street is?
I know that.
It's not far.
Go further down the alley to St. Peter's Church.
You'll see big houses.
Well, this took some time.
Here you are.
The famous Council, taking place in Constance at that time, ranked among the
biggest and most important events in the history of the Catholic Church.
However, to Czech Christians, it is primarily associated with the martyrdom of
John Huss.
Today, we only have one Pope, but there was a time when there were three.
Believers were troubled by this as they could not be sure which Pope was the
rightful one.
This is one of the reasons why the Council was convened and went on for four long
years.
Your Eminence, do you need anything?
I always need something, Talio.
Oh, are you dissatisfied?
No, not at all.
We're really being looked after like royalty.
We're doing our best to see you have everything you need here in the Council.
After all, it is a serious issue.
Did you mean the schism?
Yes.
It's destroying the Church and it has gone on too long.
I was 20 when the turmoil began.
Today, Talio, I am an old man and it's still not over.
Even the Council of Pisa didn't help.
Didn't help?
They made it even worse.
Instead of two Popes, we now have three.
And the power was given to the Joker who calls himself John XXIII.
I'd better keep my mouth shut.
Your Eminence, I hope you don't think that not a word will leave this place.
Of that I am sure, Talio.
My mind is preoccupied with a very burning issue relating to one John Huss.
The Jackaritic?
He proclaims that the Church should be poor and that everyone should listen to
their own conscience.
This harms the Church more than the entire schism.
But the cause of this is Wycliffe, who we should have forced to recant or
even have him...
Have him what?
Burn to death?
What else is there?
They shall be a stubble.
The fire shall burn them.
Ah, the Prophet Isaiah.
I see that you've been studying, Talio.
But would it be prudent?
Prudent?
I'm afraid I don't understand.
There's a saying that one reformed heretic serves the Church more than a hundred
burnt to death.
If we burned Huss, all Bohemia would revolt.
All at once they'd have their very own martyr.
And the Church truly won't stand for that.
But what can we...
We need Bohemia calm, Talio.
Sigismund gave Huss safe conduct to ensure his security.
The Pope had to cancel the anathema in order that the Council could be in
session.
Huss must be persuaded to recant.
He'd save his life and, lo, the issue would be resolved.
And you would let him walk away?
Certainly not.
He'll end up in a monastery.
Somewhere in the hills.
And well guarded.
And what role should I play, Your Eminence?
Your brother spent many years with the Inquisition.
His achievements are known to me.
Robert, I expect him any day.
Excellent, Talio.
I want to make him an offer.
John Huss originally believed that at the Council, in the presence of learned
theologians, he would be able to defend his teaching.
But even though he came to Constance with numerous companions from Bohemia,
and with the safe conduct of the Roman Emperor Sigismund, he was eventually
tricked and was arrested and jailed.
Dear Robert.
Francesco.
At last.
I expected you yesterday.
I got a bit lost.
This place is chaos.
Well, not surprising.
Come, eat, have a rest.
I didn't come to Constance to have a rest.
I want to see the Council, to meet all the important people, bishops and cardinals.
Yes, yes, you can do that.
But I have something special for you.
Well, out with it.
You should keep a close eye on a heretic in prison.
I'm to guard a heretic.
You have jailers, don't you?
I can't be locked up in a jail because of a prisoner.
This isn't just any prisoner.
This one threatens the whole Sacred Church.
Sir, to the fire with him.
Well, I thought so too.
Till yesterday.
Until I spoke to Zabarella.
To Zabarella?
He needs to find out what the heretic has in mind.
And whether it is even possible to make him recant.
I should spy on him?
I promised you'd do it.
Dear Robert, consider it.
Zabarella has power.
If you help us, the Church will never forget.
And you can be sure that the reward will be generous.
Who's the prisoner?
A certain Huss.
John Huss, a priest.
I don't know of any Huss.
Never mind.
Sit down, please.
I'll explain everything.
Although many books have been written about John Huss, we still do not know
everything about him.
For example, his exact date of birth is unknown.
He was a diligent student at Prague University.
He became a Master of Liberal Arts, graduated in Theology at the prestigious
Charles University in Prague, and in 1400, he was ordained as a priest.
Huss himself wrote about the motives which brought him to priesthood.
Therefore, I confess my wicked desire that when I was a schoolboy, I thought about
soon becoming a priest in order to have a good livelihood, and the robes,
and to have the respect of the people.
Young John seemingly enjoyed the pleasures of student life to the full.
He liked playing chess, feasting, drinking, and the good company to be found
in pubs.
At the same time, however, he studied several tracts written by English reformer
John Wycliffe, and copied them for his friends and other students.
These tracts greatly influenced his thinking.
While preaching at Bethlehem Chapel in 1402, he began pointing a finger at the
abuses of the church and society.
Most of all, faithful Christians strive for the power, for the privilege,
of being God's children.
Seek no other power.
One strives to be a rich, mighty bishop.
Someone else, even a king, who has power over his subject.
Others want to be lovely.
Others, powerful, wealthy.
Those who embrace Christ and believe in his name, have the God-given right to be
God's children.
And that is truly better.
That is more dignified than being the pope or a king with the kingdom.
Therefore, faithful Christians, first and foremost, care about the power
to be God's sons.
John Huss preached that a priest living in mortal sin cannot celebrate mass with
dignity, and that everyone is equal before God.
Rich and poor, men, women and children.
He also explained that people should look only for the truth in the Bible.
Bethlehem Chapel was crowded during Huss's sermons.
All sorts of people came to hear him.
City councillors, nobility and criminals, prostitutes from the nearby market,
and even Bohemia's Queen Sophia.
At first, Huss even had the support of the King of Bohemia, Wenceslas IV,
and the Archbishop of Prague, Zbigniew Zajic.
Gradually, however, they both turned away from him.
It was here that Huss began his journey to execution at the stake.
Who's there?
Robert Talio.
Another jailer.
Who were you expecting?
I would like to see my friends.
What about the council?
King Sigurd's wound has come.
You don't think he'll save you?
I have the word of the King.
Guarantee.
Guarantee for a heretic?
Nonsense.
I came to the council to defend my teaching.
I am not a heretic.
You and your teaching.
Wait.
Could I at least write a letter to my friends?
Don't even ask me.
Huss was apparently unaware of the danger he was in at the council.
Even friends in Prague warned him before he left for Constance.
Sigismund's promise of safe conduct, however, gave Master John a sense of
security.
Perhaps he also imagined that his defence before the council would be a scholarly
disputation rather than a judicial process in which he would not be able to defend
himself.
Now listen to me.
I say that the council will rightly condemn Huss.
Do you know how much dissent his sermons have caused in Bohemia?
Trouble's really brewing.
Have you heard him preach?
I do not care for the talk of any heretic.
I went to Bethlehem Chapel whenever I could, and I know that Master John is not
a heretic.
He's not against God.
He wants to make Christians return to the scriptures, to follow the Bible,
and not the words of corrupt priests.
They reproach him for preaching against Simonian indulgences.
Well, he did.
But can you buy a clear conscience?
Their indulgences are sold everywhere.
That doesn't mean it's right.
How can you lie, steal, kill, fornicate, then buy an indulgence and just be
forgiven?
Do you think that's the way Christ intended it to be?
Don't blaspheme.
And how do you know what Christ intended?
And the church needs to raise money.
Indulgences pay for a crusade, a holy cause.
What do you mean, holy cause?
Is anyone going to win back the holy grave from the pagans?
Not these days.
They're just fighting amongst themselves for power.
You're drunk!
Wine, sir.
This one I've met.
Can't heretic the dog.
Run for me.
When do I get some?
Sorry, sir.
I'll bring more.
Who's that girl?
She helps out here in the evening.
Not only that.
You know how it is with these girls.
She's a... prostitute?
Of course.
Or a Groschen.
You can spend a night that you are never likely to forget.
Hey, Margaret.
How many Groschen for the night?
One.
So, there you are.
The ecumenical council held in the city on the shores of Lake Constance drew 23
cardinals, hundreds of archbishops, bishops, abbots and university masters,
not to mention kings and princes, nobles and knights.
According to reports, there were 350 street traders, 170 tailors, 45
bartenders, 516 trumpeters, fiddlers, pipers, jugglers and more than 700
prostitutes.
What's the matter?
You're as miserable as sin.
You're supposed to cheer men up, not make them cry.
No, how could I ever forget?
So, what is it?
Do you think I enjoy this?
Happy to go to bed with any man who pays?
I have no idea.
So, what do you want?
An ordinary life.
Family, children.
Do you think I want too much?
Take him.
In the meantime, bishops and lawyers sent by the council visited Hus in his cell in
the Dominican monastery.
They interrogated Hus, questioned him about his teaching and tried to convince
him to recant.
But Hus stuck to his convictions.
False messengers, preachers of the antichrist, collect money for the
forgiveness of sins.
The pope is like a god.
God on earth, who can forgive the sins of anyone he wants, whenever he wants.
Why?
Don't they say what Jesus said?
If you do not pay penitence, you will all perish.
Really?
All of us?
Robert, I didn't know you were there.
You have a fever.
You are shivering.
May they be forgiven.
Forgiven who?
Those who want me to recant.
They may believe they will manage to break my spirit with the cold and the stench of
the drains.
I'm only human.
Christ suffered infinitely more and still he was able to forgive his tormentors.
You're right.
It is not easy to forgive.
I know that you preach against indulgences, but isn't it easier simply by
forgiveness?
If one could simply by forgiveness, what would be the point in Christ's
sacrifice?
The whole city is talking about you.
You're a famous person.
That's bad then.
Even more likely that the council will condemn me.
But you have some good friends here.
You've seen them?
At least one.
Quite a young man.
He said that he'd been to all your sermons.
Peter Mordaniewicz, our cleric.
He's gone over to the Czech nobles.
I'd love to see them.
Maybe you could write to them.
But nobody must know.
Thank you, Robert.
Thank you.
It was at the university in Prague that Husserl's ideas began to take shape.
Today, Christians receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the form of bread
and wine during a mass or communion service.
In medieval times, disputes about the form in which Christ was present in the
Eucharist divided the whole of society.
Those who trespassed against the official teaching of the Church were often punished
by death.
John Huss and his friend Stefan Palec were enthusiastic about the writings of the
English reformer John Wycliffe.
Wycliffe condemned the Church for the accumulation of property, calling for a
return to the poverty of apostolic times.
He even called the Pope the Antichrist.
But the Church clamped down on him.
Wycliffe's theses were declared heresy and his books were burned.
The Archbishop of Prague, Zbigniak Zajic, took a stand against them and
anathematized Huss for teaching them.
An interdict was declared over Prague which meant a ban on performing religious
ceremonies, baptisms, weddings and funerals for the period of his stay in the
city.
It had disastrous consequences for everyday life.
Stefan, welcome.
What's the matter?
Can't you see John?
The entire faculty is upside down.
You set people against the Church.
You must stop it.
What do you mean?
Must stop what?
Those errors of yours.
My errors?
How can you say that?
We were reading Wycliffe together.
We were both excited.
Have you forgotten?
That, that was a mistake.
You know Wycliffe is a heretic.
His books were burned in public, John.
I've come to warn you.
It's high time you came to your senses.
Recant your teaching.
I can't and I won't do that.
Stefan, you know what the truth is.
But this is not about the truth.
No?
So what is it about?
About life.
About dear life.
Your life, naturally.
I preach only what the Bible says.
You fringe on their privileges, criticize them, set people against them,
incite them not to obey them.
How can you think the powers will let it lie, even if you're right a thousand
times?
I don't understand you.
You cannot deny the truth, even if it costs a life.
Excuse me?
I say that there's no helping you now.
How is it possible that these friends became so alienated?
Stefan Paletsch supported Haas in his fight against indulgences, but then turned
away from him.
Perhaps it was due to his imprisonment in Bologna in 1408.
What we know for certain is that in Constance, Stefan Paletsch tried hard to
ensure that Master John was burned at the stake.
Master, you have a fever again.
A splitting headache.
I have toothache.
This will help you.
A cure from the gentleman of the council?
Nobody knows of this.
Ah, I see.
You're kind to me, Robert.
What's changed your mind?
I don't know.
At first, I had no doubts that you were a heretic.
But now...
You have no idea how happy I am to hear it.
But it is dangerous for you.
I'm not a jailer.
In Italy, I was a scourge of heretics, and here...
Here, I'm a spy.
They want me to report your every word.
Have you?
It's getting harder and harder.
It's too much.
You told them about my letters?
No, I told no one.
I'm so glad, Robert.
I appreciate you telling me.
Don't you blame me.
Would Christ condemn you?
Have some more medicine.
No, no, no.
I need a clear head.
I have to write.
A council talks of me as an arch-sheretetic.
Help me, Robert.
I must fight.
Back.
Is something worrying you?
Yes.
Although it's a trifle compared to your torture.
Tell me.
I met a woman in the city.
She is a prostitute, a harlot.
But I can't help thinking of her.
She's still a young girl.
Maybe she deserves contempt, but...
He who is without sin cast the first stone.
You'd like to help her?
Do you think she could live as a virtuous woman?
It is just up to her.
And could I bring her to you?
If you can.
Huss's views on women may seem very conservative to us today.
For example, he wrote, A woman is the minstress of the devil, because her beauty
only leads a man to fornication.
And women are fragile creatures, sinful in nature, unstable and
superficial, and at the same time sensual, predestined to be sinful due to their
appearance.
But at the same time, Huss appealed for their morality and purity.
He said that women should seek union with Christ.
In his sermons, he also encouraged men to love their wives as Christ loved his
church.
It is a historical fact that later John Huss wrote his treatise on marriage in
this spirit for Robert the Jailer.
Thank you.
I'm the last person you need fear.
Really, what's your name?
Margaret.
Will you pass me the picture?
Sure.
Don't worry, don't worry.
I'm sorry.
Robert will bring some more.
He's a good man.
Yes.
You don't know any like him?
No.
No one except Robert.
I wanted to confess to the parson, but he wouldn't hear me.
I have no money for indulgences.
They say I don't deserve any better.
I'm only fit for hell.
Do you believe it?
I am afraid.
But you could give me a solution.
You don't need any man's help to be forgiven.
Just sincere repentance before God.
What?
Have you heard of Mary Magdalene?
Yes.
When Christ rose from the dead, he appeared first to her.
And he made it clear to all sinners that as long as they truly repent, they will be
forgiven.
That's what I believe.
Margaret, we have to go.
No one will see you here.
Just a moment, Robert.
There is only you.
And God.
I'm very grateful to you.
Now I will depend on you, too.
What becomes of her?
Master Robert, at last I found you.
Peter of Mladonjevice.
The passionate defender of Huss.
Precisely the reason I came to see you.
What's the matter?
You know well how miserable Master John is.
We'd like to try to rescue him.
Set him free.
The escape plan is ready.
If you help us.
Oh no, no.
Count me out.
I feel for him.
I believe that he is an heretic, but...
I can't do this.
Do you know what this would mean?
I'd put myself at risk.
Master John is innocent.
You can count me out.
Go now.
Did I hear well?
They want to rescue the Master.
They are crazy.
They simply can't do it.
But you took me into the two.
That was something else.
And you got me out.
Bring some more wine.
I'm worried about him, Robert.
What am I supposed to do?
Pope John XXIII was an intriguer and a politician.
And since his plans did not work out as expected, he fled from Constance during
the night of March the 20th, 1415.
The council could not continue without the Pope, and the proceedings were thrown into
chaos.
The Bishop of Constance exclaimed that he did not want to have anything more to do
with Hus the heretic, and he withdrew the prison guards.
This presented the perfect opportunity for Hus to escape.
I'm glad you've come.
Robert changed his mind.
I'm to tell you he'll try to save Master John.
And how will he do it?
I don't know, but this is where you're to wait tomorrow at noon.
We'll be there.
And thank you, Margaret.
Dear brother, are you still alive?
It has been a while.
I don't have much time.
You called me, so here I am.
I see.
Otherwise I would be out of luck.
Oh, no hard feelings.
How are you doing?
Do you really care?
No.
As for me, I am more interested in your prisoner.
I haven't heard from you for a couple of weeks.
How is he faring?
You have no way of imagining.
In winter the cold, in summer the stench of drains, and you ask me how he's faring?
I tell you, he sings.
What?
So he keeps singing?
I ask you, where does he get the strength?
He gets it from the devil.
To sing songs about God?
Strange heretic.
Robert, do you hear what you're saying?
Do you want to end up at the stake?
Be glad that nobody else can hear you.
Watch your words.
What is it about us you hate so much?
My goodness!
You were part of the Inquisition court!
The fact that he condemned Simony?
No.
I guess not.
The most important thing that bothers us is probably his... disobedience.
Can you imagine if everyone decided that they would only be obedient to the Church?
Or the nobility if their conscience allowed it?
That would really be the end, Robert.
Absolute chaos.
Actually, you resist chaos.
You have work to do.
The city is already upside down.
Robert, we must maintain peace and order.
Order?
We probably can't agree on that.
Excuse me, I'm in a hurry.
Well, as you wish.
Actually, it's your neck I'm saving.
And here the Roman Emperor Sigismund, the younger brother of Wenceslas IV,
appears on the scene.
The younger Sigismund stole both the power and the title of his brother.
Regarding Huss, he sent a clear message to Bohemia that despite Wenceslas' support,
the heretic would be burned.
Sigismund's conclusion was supported by the Church.
Sigismund had John Huss transported to the strictly guarded Gottlieben Castle,
where the conditions were even harder for the Czech preacher.
His friends wrote official protests, but to no avail.
Not even a petition brought from Bohemia with the seals of 250 Bohemian and
Moravian lords could help to save Huss from prison.
I'm an idiot.
If I hadn't gone to Francesco, we could have saved Master John.
You can't blame yourself.
You weren't to know at that moment Sigismund's soldiers would come for Master
John.
I should have thought of it.
For weeks, my brother hasn't invited me.
And now he missed me so much.
Who knows what's going on.
The situation in Constance soon changed dramatically once again.
The fugitive Pope John XXIII was detained and he was immediately thrown,
paradoxically, into the same cell in the Gottlieben Castle where Huss had been
held.
Master John was transported back to Constance, this time to a Franciscan
monastery where he was better looked after, so that he became stronger and was
ready for his final trial.
Master.
Robert.
I did not believe we'd meet again.
I found a few allies in the monastery.
Now we mustn't waste time.
Everything is ready for your escape.
The guards are off duty just for a while.
I will not run away.
I can't do that.
But Master, don't you see the danger you're in?
I see it very well.
Trust me.
What about your loved ones?
Friends?
We will miss you.
I'm glad to hear that.
But I've made my choice.
To die?
I have set out on a journey that allows no return.
Not even death.
I can't betray God or the truth I've found in him.
What strength is this that can remove the fear of death?
So this is farewell?
Yes.
All the more joyful will be our next encounter.
Take care, Robert.
And look after Margaret.
Learned theologians chose dozens of articles taken out of context from Huss's
books and declared them dangerous heresy and asked Huss to renounce them.
Huss was still hoping that he would be able to defend his teaching.
The genuine and open disputation, however, never took place.
I, John Huss, in the hope of Jesus Christ, fearing to offend God and fearing to
commit perjury, do not wish to renounce as a whole or individually the articles
brought by false witness in testimony against me because I have not preached or
asserted or defended them.
The bishops constantly urged Huss to recant.
They didn't want to have another martyr.
Strangely, however, it was his own people, the Bohemians, who demanded the harshest
punishment for the reformer, especially the prosecutor, Michael de Corsis,
as well as the former close friend of Huss, Stephan Paletsch, who spared no
expense on bribes to make sure that Huss was condemned as quickly as possible.
If you wanted to talk to me, John.
Stephan, I'm glad you've come.
Can I ask you for one last favor?
What favor do you mean?
I'd like to confess.
Don't ask me.
I don't want to hear it.
I can't.
What are you afraid of, Stephan?
Of nothing.
You'll be burned.
I take the point.
Trust me.
I'm not angry with you.
Rather...
Rather, I would like to ask your forgiveness that I stepped in your way and
caused you torment.
To me?
John, I don't get it.
I hurt you.
I wanted your death.
And now...
Was Christ's sacrifice only for those who loved him?
No.
He gave his life so that all of us could find redemption.
You think you're a Christian, playing at being a savior?
No, Stephan.
Nothing like that.
Trust me.
In recent days, I feel I'm beginning to understand how Jesus could have fell on
Golgotha.
I don't understand you, John.
God be with you, Stephan.
The council eventually presented Huss with a very mild form of recantation.
Which was probably drawn up by Cardinal Zabarella.
However, Huss refused to sign it.
He wrote his last letters to Bohemia and a bequest to his loved ones.
When he was at last brought to Constance Cathedral on the 6th of July and
excommunicated, the archbishop himself placed upon his head a humiliating paper
hat painted with devils.
Then the church handed him over to the secular powers.
Master...
My dear Jesus, I wish to endure this horrible, ignominious, and cruel death
very patiently and humbly for your gospel and the preaching of your word.
I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present or future nor any powers, heights, or depths, nor anything
else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus
Christ our Lord.
Not a single reminder of John Huss was supposed to be left behind in this world.
His ashes were thrown into the Rhine, his books were burned, and his teaching
condemned.
But the fire only served to stir up his memory.
The Czech preacher's words have accompanied his nation through its entire
history until today.
His words, seek the truth, love the truth, and defend the truth until death,
have emerged every time the Czech country has been in danger.
Time and time again, each new generation has had to come to terms with the meaning
of that truth.
The truth for which John Huss was willing to die.
Live life in the truth of God, in accordance with God's word.