Jan Hus Day

A national public holiday in the Czech Republic, this day commemorates the martyrdom of Jan Hus in 1415. Jan Hus was a priest, reformer and a Master at Charles University in Prague who advocated reforming the Catholic Church. His followers were known as Hussites. In 1412 he was ex-communicated from the Catholic Church. After being tried for treason, he was found guilty and burned at the stake. One of his last proclamations was that in 100 years another man would rise up who couldn’t be suppressed. Sure enough, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses against the Church on the church door at Whittenburg. Many people mark this day through charitable action.