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Collection of medieval manuscripts of the Czech Reformation

Inscribed 2007

What is it

The collection of Czech manuscripts relating to what became the Hussite movement for religious reform and its offshoot Christian denomination, the Unity of Brethren.

Why was it inscribed

The collection represents a movement which in retrospect can be said to have anticipated and influenced the Reformation that took place in Germany and Switzerland and spread across Europe in the 16th century.

Where is it

National Library of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic

All the documents in the collection relate to reforming ideas that influenced or originated in the Czech Church from the late-medieval period into the early-modern era. Manuscripts relating to reform movements within the Church are far less common than printed material, and extensive manuscript collections such as this one, even less so. The collection is also distinct in that it is held in or close to its place of origin. Although the collection, containing the works of various authors, lacks a uniformity of theme, its time-span allows an overview of the development of Czech and other European ideas of reform over a long period.

Many of the manuscripts in the collection are either originals or direct copies of originals, and are often unique. They comprise a wide variety of material, ranging from transcriptions of tracts and sermons by Czech priests and lay preachers to some of the polemical works of English priest John Wycliffe, a noted critic of clerical immorality and vocal advocate of reform in the Church in the 14th century. The collection also contains works by German priest Konrad von Waldhausen, who lived and preached in Prague in the 1360s and whose ideas influenced Czech clergyman Jan Hus (c. 1369–1415).

Among the most important documents in the collection are the works of Jan Hus himself. Hus was a supporter of Wycliffe, whose work he translated, and was also influenced by the ideas of von Waldhausen. He became one of the most prominent figures among those agitating for reform and set an example that was followed by many younger, reform-minded priests in the Czech lands. Many of his most important works are represented in original form and in copies made later by his contemporaries and students.

After Hus was executed in 1415, civil unrest brought the Czech lands to the brink of civil war. Hus’s followers split into various factions, one of which was the Unity of Brethren (Unitas Fratrum); the collection also contains documents relating to this denomination. Still in existence today, it is the oldest Czech Protestant church.

National Library of the Czech Republic, Prague, where the manuscripts are housed.

A depiction of Czech cleric Jan Hus being led to his execution in 1415.