Editing Pope Martin V (section)

===Hussite Wars===
By 1415 [[Bohemia]] was in turmoil and the subject of much discussion at the Council of Constance. Adherents of [[Jan Hus]], who had been previously [[Death by burning|burned at the stake]] as a [[Heresy|heretic]] by the council, adopted the practice of [[Communion under both kinds]]. The Council sent letters to the civil and ecclesiastical authorities in Bohemia, insisting they deal with the heresy. Bohemian and Moravian nobles responded that the sentence on Hus was unjust and insulting to their country, and promised to protect priests against episcopal prosecutions for heresy. 

{{langx|nl|[[:nl:Begarden|Beghards]]}}—community-gathered semi-religious laymen, generally tradesmen, bound if by vow, only temporary ones of chastity and obedience (but not poverty)<ref name=EB_Beghard>{{cite encyclopedia | author = Barzun, Jacques & Sørensen, Marie-Louise Stig | date = January 17, 2025 | chapter = Devotional Life [in History of Europe: The Middle Ages] | title = Encyclopædia Britannica | edition = online | location =  Chicago, IL | publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica | url = https://www.britannica.com/topic/Beghards | access-date = 16 March 2025 | quote = <small>During the 13th and 14th centuries, devotional movements arose that were neither monastic nor clerical in any other sense. The most notable of these was the Beguines, an order of devout women (and occasionally, but more rarely, men, who lived in all-male communities and were called Beghards) who lived together in devotional communities within towns, especially in the Low Countries and the Rhineland, followed no rule, and took no vow. They worked in the towns but lived collectively and might leave for marriage or another form of life at any time. Some of the most important devotional literature of the period was written by and for Beguines.</small> }}</ref>—arrived in Bohemia, attracted by its reputation for religious liberty.<ref name=Wilhelm>{{cite encyclopedia | author = Wilhelm, J. | year = 1910 | chapter = Hussites | title = The Catholic Encyclopedia | volume = 7 | location =  New York, NY | publisher = Robert Appleton Co. | url = https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07585a.htm | access-date = 17 March 2025}}</ref> Prague was placed under interdict for sheltering the excommunicated {{langx|cs|[[:cs:Jan z Jesenice|Jan of Jesenice]]}}.  

In 1419 [[Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia|King Wenceslaus IV]], who had resisted what he considered interference in his kingdom, commanded that all ejected Catholic beneficiaries should be reinstated in their offices and revenues. Prague prepared for armed resistance. [[Jan Želivský]], an extreme anti-Catholic preacher of Prague, led a procession to the town hall, where under the leadership of [[Jan Žižka|Jan Žižka of Trocnov]], a noble of southern Bohemia, the building was stormed and people found inside were thrown out of the windows on to the spears and swords of the processionists, and hacked to pieces. In Kuttenberg, hundreds of captured [[Hussite Wars|Hussites]] were thrown by the miners into the shafts of disused silver mines. King Wenceslaus swore death to all the rebels, but died of a stroke in August, 1419. The next months were marked by deeds of violence; many citizens, especially Germans, had to flee.<ref name=Wilhelm/>

Wenceslaus was succeeded by his brother [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund, King of the Romans and King of Hungary]], who prepared to restore order. On 1 March 1420, Pope Martin V issued a Bull inviting all Christians to unite in a crusade against the Wycliffites ([[Lollardy|Lollards]]), Hussites, and other heretics.<ref name=Wilhelm/> In 1428, the pope commanded that the remains of [[John Wycliffe|Wycliffe]], who was posthumously declared a heretic in 1415, be dug up and burned. The crusades against the Lollards, however, were ultimately unsuccessful.