MarginaliaThe paper wyth the inscription set vpon Husses head.thy soule vnto the deuill. But I, sayd Iohn Hus (liftyng his eyes vp towardes the heauens) do commit my spirit into thy handes: O Lord Iesu Christ, vnto thee I commend my spirite which thou hast redeemed. These cōtumelious opprobries thus ended, the Byshops turnyng themselues towardes the Emperour, sayd: This most sacred Synode of Constance, leaueth now Iohn Hus, which hath no more any office, or to do in the church of God, vnto the ciuill iudgement and power. Then the Emperour commaunded Lodouicus Duke of Bauaria, whiche stode before him in his robes, holdyng the golden apple with the crosse in his hand, that he should receiue I. Hus of the Byshops, and deliuer him vnto them which should do the executiō. MarginaliaThe protestation of I. Hus as he was lead to the place of execution.By whom as he was led vnto the place of executiō, before the Church doores he saw his bookes burning, whereat he smiled and laughed. And all men that he passed by, he exhorted, not to thinke that he should dye for any errour or heresie, but onely for the hatred and ill will of his aduersaries, which had charged hym with most false and vniust crime. All the whole Citie in a maner beyng in armour, followed him.

The place appointed for the execution, was before the gate Gotlevian, betwene the gardens and the gates of the suburbes. When as Iohn Hus was come thether, knelyng downe vpon his knees, and liftyng his eyes vp vnto heauē, he prayed and sayd certaine Psalmes, and specially the. li. and. xxxi. Psalmes. And they which stood by, heard him oftē tymes in his prayer with a merye and cherefull countenance repeate this verse: Into thy handes, O Lord, I commend my spirite. &c. MarginaliaThe prayers of I. Hus well liked of the people.Which thyng when the lay people beheld whiche stode next vnto him, they sayd: what he hath done afore, we know not, but now we see and heare that he doth speake and pray very deuoutly and godly. Other some wished that hee had a Confessor. There was a certaine Priest by, sittyng a horsbacke in a greene gowne drawen about with red silke, which sayd, he ought not to be heard, because he is an hereticke. Yet notwithstandyng whilest he was in prison, he was both confessed, and also absolued by a certain Doctour, a Monke, as Hus himselfe doth witnes in a certaine Epistle which he wrote vnto his frendes out of prison. MarginaliaEx epist. Ioan. Hus. 31.Thus Christ raigneth vnknowē vnto the world, euen in the myddest of his enemyes. In the meane tyme whilest he prayed, as he bowed his neck: backward to looke vpward vnto heauen, MarginaliaThe paper with deuills fell from his head.the crowne of paper fell ofMarginaliaAt the prayer of Hus the paper with deuils fell downe.from his head vpon the ground. Th? one of the souldiours takyng it vp agayne sayd: let vs put it agayne vpon his head, that he may be burned with hys maisters the deuils whom he hath serued.

Commentary on the Woodcuts     Close

This is one of the five large woodcuts illustrating the period from Wyclif to Luther. The iconography of the famous Bohemian martyrs who died at the Council of Constance was well-established by the time the illustrators of Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs' went to work. Already in the fifteenth century features of the two heretics at the stake depicted in copies of Ulrich Richental's German chronicle included characteristics that carried over into later printed works, Foxe's included. Hus was delineated with short bunched hair sticking out of his humiliating martyr's hat, painted with devilish figures (or labelled 'heresiarcha'). These features carried over into the woodcut in Flacius Illyricus's work on the two martyrs which Foxe used extensively. The neat bundles of wood (asparagus-like in their appearance) that are already catching fire round the two chained men, might seem echoed in the bound bunches of fuel, still unlit, in the prepared fires in Foxe's work. More obvious suggestions of probable borrowing are the chain round Hus's neck and the square stake, the fetter on his left ankle (all distinctive details in Flacius), and the helmeted officials -- all specific to these illustrations. Continental influences seem clear. Hus and Jerome of Prague were singled out for pictorial attention from the first edition onwards, and their woodcuts seem significant reflections of these European sources. Both this, and the following large woodcut of Jerome of Prague, spread acrosss the whole page of the 1563 edition into the margins beyond the columns of text. CUL copy: This image is an example of unnecessary embellishment of details. The figures on Hus's 'crown of paper', the bridles of the horses, and the belts and hands of the men encouraging the flames are all detailed with black ink. The paint has not obscured these details so they look stark and somewhat distracting. Hus is dressed in white. His 'crown of paper' is white with black details. WREN copy: note that the black detailing added to this copy is poorly executed, particularly on the bridles on the horses on the left.

When as by the cōmaundement of the tormentours, he was risen vp from the place of his prayer, with a loud voyce he sayd: Lord Iesu Christ assiste and helpe me, that with a constant and pacient mynde, by thy most gracious helpe, I may beare and suffer this cruell & ignominious death, wherunto I am condemned for the preachyng of thy most holy Gospell and word. Then as before, he declared the cause of his death vnto the people. MarginaliaIohn Hus fastened to the stake.In the meane season the hangmā stripped him of his garmentes, and turnyng his handes behynde his backe, tyed him fast vnto the stake with ropes that were made wet. And where as by chaunce he was turned towardes the East, certaine cried out that he should not looke towards the East, for he was an heretike: MarginaliaIohn Hus turned toward the west.so he was turned towardes the west. Then was his necke tyed with a chayne vnto the stake, the which chayne when he beheld, smilyng he sayd, that he would willyngly receiue the same chayne for Iesu Christes sake, whom he knew was boūd with a farre worse chayne. Vnder his feete they set two fagots, admixing straw withall, and so likewise from the feete vp to the chin, he was inclosed in rounde about with wood. MarginaliaPardon offered agayne to I. Hus.But before the wood was set on fire, Ludouicus Duke of Bauaria, with an other Gentlemā with hym, which was the sonne of Clement, came and exhorted Iohn Hus, that he would yet be myndefull of his safegard, and renounce his errours. To whom he sayid, what errour should I renoūce, when as I know my selfe gilty of none? For, as for those thinges which are falsly alledged agaynst me, I know that I neuer did somuch as once thincke them, much lesse preach them. For this was the principall end and purpose of my doctrine, that I might teach all men penance and remissiō