Jan Hus

===Trial===

On 5 June 1415, he was tried for the first time and was transferred to a [[Franciscan]] monastery, where he spent the last weeks of his life. Extracts from his works were read and witnesses were heard. He refused all formulae of submission but declared himself willing to recant if his errors should be proven to him from the Bible. Hus conceded his veneration of Wycliffe and said that he could only wish his soul might some time attain unto that place where Wycliffe's was. On the other hand, he denied having defended Wycliffe's view of [[The Lord's Supper]] or the forty-five articles; he had only opposed their summary condemnation. King Sigismund admonished him to deliver himself up to the mercy of the council, as he did not desire to protect a heretic.{{sfn|Shahan|1908|p=III}}

At the last trial, on 8 June 1415, thirty-nine sentences were read to him. Of these, twenty-six had been excerpted from his book on the Church (''De ecclesia''), seven from his treatise against Páleč (Contra Palecz), and six from that against Stanislav ze Znojma (''Contra Stanislaum''). The danger of some of these views to worldly power was explained to Sigismund to incite him against Hus. Hus again declared himself willing to submit if he could be convinced of errors. This declaration was considered an unconditional surrender, and he was asked to confess:
1. That he had erred in the theses which he had hitherto maintained;
2. That he renounced them for the future;
3. That he recanted them; and
4. That he declared the opposite of these sentences.

He asked to be exempted from recanting teachings which he had never taught. Other views, which the assembly considered erroneous, he was not willing to revoke and to act differently would be against his conscience. These words found no favorable reception. After the trial on 8 June, several other attempts were purportedly made to induce him to recant, which he resisted.{{sfn|Kuhns|1907|pp=126–127}}

====Condemnation====
[[File:Hus památník.jpg|thumb|220px|The monument in [[Konstanz]], where reformer Jan Hus was executed (1862)]]
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2020}}
The condemnation of Jan Hus took place on 6 July 1415 in the presence of the assembly of the council in the cathedral. After the [[Solemn Mass|High Mass]] and Liturgy, Hus was led into the church. The [[Bishop of Lodi]] (then [[Giacomo Balardi Arrigoni]]) delivered an oration on the duty of eradicating heresy; various theses of Hus and Wycliffe and a report of his trial were then read.

An Italian prelate pronounced the sentence of condemnation upon Hus and his writings. Hus protested, saying that even at this hour he did not wish anything but to be convinced from Scripture.{{citation required|date=September 2023}} He fell upon his knees and asked God with a soft voice to forgive all his enemies.{{citation required|date=September 2023}} Then followed his degradation from the priesthood. He was dressed in priestly vestments and again asked to recant and again he refused. With curses, Hus's ornaments were taken from him, his priestly [[tonsure]] was destroyed. The judgment of the Church was pronounced:

{{Blockquote|text=This holy synod of Constance, seeing that God’s church has nothing more that it can do, relinquishes John Hus to the judgment of the secular authority and decrees that he is to be relinquished to the secular court.|source=Council of Constance, Session 15 – 6 July 1415<ref>{{cite web |last1=Fathers |first1=Council |title=Council of Constance 1414-18 Council Fathers |url=https://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum16.htm |website=Papal Encyclicals |language=en |date=5 November 1414}}</ref>}}

A tall paper hat was allegedly put upon his head with the inscription "''[[Heresiarch|Haeresiarcha]]''" (''i.e.'', the leader of a heretical movement).<ref>{{Cite book |last=De Schweinitz |first=Edmund |title=The History of the Church Known as the Unitas Fratrum: Or the Unity of the Brethren, Founded by the Followers of John Hus, the Bohemian Reformer and Martyr |publisher=Moravian Publication Office |year=1885 |location=Bethlehem, PA. |pages=74}}</ref> Hus was led away to the stake under a strong guard of armed men.{{citation required|date=September 2023}}

Before his execution, Hus is said to have declared, "You may kill a weak goose [''Hus'' is Czech for "goose"], but more powerful birds, eagles and falcons, will come after me."{{Citation needed|date=January 2024}} [[Martin Luther|Luther]] modified the statement and reported that Hus had said that they might have roasted a goose, but that in a hundred years a swan would sing to whom they be forced to listen. In 1546, in his funeral sermon for Luther, [[Johannes Bugenhagen]] gave a further twist to Hus's declaration: "You may burn a goose, but in a hundred years will come a swan you will not be able to burn." Twenty years later, in 1566, [[Johannes Mathesius]], Luther's first biographer, found Hus's prophecy to be evidence of Luther's divine inspiration.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scribner|first=R. W.|date=1986|title=Incombustible Luther: The Image of the Reformer in Early Modern Germany|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/650648|journal=Past & Present|volume=110|issue=110|pages=38–68|doi=10.1093/past/110.1.38|jstor=650648|issn=0031-2746}}</ref>