A Companion to the Hussites

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The Hussites, as the Bohemian reformists have come to be called, became one of the most vocal and influential reform movements of the late Middle Ages, with significance for the reformations of the sixteenth century and later. They represented an interchange between “town and gown” that was largely unprecedented in medieval Europe. Scholarship on the Hussites has a long and distinguished tradition, and current studies must continually contend with a historiography that is implicated in the nationalism, confessionalism, and politics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This volume gives students and scholars a clear sense of the historiography and current trends in Hussite studies, as well as concise statements on major emphases in Hussite theology, ecclesiology, philosophy, and religious practice.

Contributors are: Eliška Baťová, Pavlína Cermanová, Dušan Coufal, Phillip Haberkern, Ota Halama, David Holeton, Stephen Lahey, Jindřich Marek, Pavel Kolář, Olivier Marin, Petra Mutlová, Pavlína Rychterová, Pavel Soukup, Michael Van Dussen, and Blanka Zilynská.

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Michael Van Dussen is Associate Professor of Medieval Studies at McGill University. He has published articles and volumes on late-medieval religious controversy and manuscript studies, including From England to Bohemia: Heresy and Communication in the Later Middle Ages (Cambridge, 2012).

Pavel Soukup is researcher at the Centre for Medieval Studies (Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences) in Prague. He has published on heresy, preaching and religious warfare in fifteenth-century Central Europe, including a monograph of Jan Hus (Stuttgart, 2014).
"All of the essays are substantial and include both a useful historiographical overview and an impressive up-to-date bibliography […] Among the volume's many contributions is a fresh examination of the conservative, moderate, and radical diversity of Hussite leaders. The audience for this book will be those with a good grasp of late medieval and early modern religious and cultural history. Recommended."

P. W. Knoll, emeritus, University of Southern California, in CHOICE Connect 58.1




"a well-structured, clear handbook that reflects the state of research and shows further perspectives and that overcomes the reception usually set by Czechs and will inspire a broad international audience about a phenomenon of which the historical significance extends far beyond the borders of Bohemia." (translated from German)

Thomas Krzenck, Leipzig, in ZRGK 107, pp 439-443


"ein gut strukturiertes, übersichtliches, den Forschungsstand reflektierendes und weitere Perspektiven aufzeigendes Handbuch, dass die normalerweise durch das Tschechische gesetzten Rezeptionsmöglichkeiten überwindet und ein breites internationales Publikum mit einem Phänomen vertraut macht, dessen historische Bedeutung weit über die Grenzen Böhmens hinausreicht."

Thomas Krzenck, Leipzig, in ZRGK 107, pp 439-443


  Acknowledgements
  Conventions on the Use of Proper Names
  English Equivalents of Czech Names
  Notes on Contributors

Introduction: Hussite Histories
   Michael Van Dussen and Pavel Soukup


Part 1: Influences



The Early Bohemian Reform
   Olivier Marin

Wyclif in Bohemia
   Stephen E. Lahey

Part 2: Major Figures


Major Hussite Theologians before the Compactata
   Petra Mutlová

Major Figures of Later Hussitism (1437–1471)
   Jindřich Marek


Part 3: Religious Politics



The Apocalyptic Background of Hussite Radicalism
   Pavlína Cermanová

The Utraquist Church after the Compactata
   Blanka Zilynská


Part 4: Theology and Religious Practice



Key Issues in Hussite Theology
   Dušan Coufal

Preaching, the Vernacular, and the Laity
   Pavlína Rychterová

Liturgy, Sacramental Theology, and Music
   David R. Holeton, Pavel Kolář and Eliška Baťová


Part 5: Later Developments



The Unity of Brethren (1458–1496)
   Ota Halama

The Bohemian Reformation and “The” Reformation: Hussites and Protestants in Early Modern Europe
   Phillip Haberkern

 Index
This volume is an essential resource for students and scholars interested in the history, influences, and afterlives of the Hussite movement in its European context.
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