John Huss Pre-Reformation Reformer
JOHN HUSS (1369-1415) The most famous quote by John Huss Lord Jesus, it is for thee that I patiently endure this cruel death. I pray thee to have mercy on my enemies." Early in his monastic career, Martin Luther, rummaging through the stacks of a library, happened upon a volume of sermons by John Huss, the Bohemian who had been condemned as a heretic. "I was overwhelmed with astonishment," Luther later wrote. "I could not understand for what cause they had burnt so great a man, who explained the Scriptures with so much gravity and skill." Luther Inspired by Huss Huss was born to peasant parents in "Goose town," that is, Husinec, in the south of today's Czech Republic Huss would become a hero to Luther and many other Reformers, for Huss preached key Reformation themes (like hostility to indulgences) a century before Luther drew up his 95 Theses. But the Reformers also looked to Huss's life, in particular, his steadfast