Testimony Before the Council of Constance

The Catholic Church could no longer put up with Hus’ exposures and summoned him to answer for his views before the Council of Constance, held from 1414 to 1418 near Lake Constance.b He was tricked into attending by the king’s brother, Emperor Sigismund, with the promise of a safe-conduct, which quickly proved to be false. Soon after his arrival he was arrested, but he continued to resist the authority of both the pope and the council.

When the council called upon Hus to retract his ideas and teachings, he replied that he would gladly do so if he was proved wrong by Scripture, in accordance with 2 Timothy 3:14-16. Hus felt that his conscience would always reproach him if he made a retraction couched in ambiguous terms. He declared: “My wish always has been that better doctrine be proved to me out of Scripture, and then I would be most ready to recant.” Despite his challenge that the least member of the council show him his error from God’s Word itself, he was condemned as an obstinate heretic and sent back to prison without anything being discussed from the Bible.

On July 6, 1415, Hus was formally condemned in the cathedral of Constance. He was not allowed to reply as the charges against him were read. Then his priesthood was publicly stripped from him, while his writings were burned in the churchyard. He was led out to a field in the suburbs and there burned at the stake. His ashes were collected and thrown into the Rhine River to prevent anyone from keeping relics of this martyr.