Origins of the Hussite Uprising: The Chronicle of Laurence of Březová (1414 –1421) (Routledge Medieval Translations)

299 Pages·2020·5.504 MB·English

by  Thomas A. Fudge

ORIGINS OF THE HUSSITE UPRISING
The Hussite Chronicle is the most important single narrative source for the events of
the early Hussite movement. The author is Laurence of Březová (c.1370–c.1437),
a member of the Czech lower nobility and a supporter of the Hussite creed. The
movement arose as an initiative for religious and social reform in fifteenth-cen-
tury Bohemia and was energized by the burning of the priest Jan Hus in 1415.
Church and empire attempted to suppress the movement and raised five crusades
against the dissenters. The chronicle offers to history and scholarship a nuanced
understanding of what can be regarded as an essential component for a proper
understanding of late medieval religion. It is also a considered account of aspects
of the later crusades. This is the first English-language translation of the chronicle.
Thomas A. Fudge is Professor of Medieval History at the University of New
England, Australia. His current research is broadly focused on medieval heresy in
the later Middle Ages, and the history and religion of fifteenth-century Hussites.
ROUTLEDGE MEDIEVAL TRANSLATIONS
In the same series:
Guta Law and Guta Saga edited by Christine I. Peel
The Danish Medieval Laws edited by Ditlev Tamm and Helle Vogt
Selections from Ṣubḥ al-A’shā by al-Qalqashandi, Clerk of the Mamluk Court
edited by Tarek Galal Abedlhamid and Heba El-Toudy
The Liber legis Scaniae edited by Ditlev Tamm
ORIGINS OF THE
HUSSITE UPRISING
The Chronicle of Laurence of Březová
(1414–1421)
Thomas A. Fudge
First published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Thomas A. Fudge
The right of Thomas A. Fudge to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
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registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Vavřinec, z Březové, approximately 1365-approximately 1438,
author. | Fudge, Thomas A., translator, writer of introduction.
Title: Origins of the Hussite uprising : the chronicle of Laurence of
Březová (1414-1421) / Thomas A. Fudge.
Other titles: Chronicon. English
Description: Abingdon, Oxon : Routledge, 2020. | Series: Routledge Medieval
Translations | Includes bibliographical references and index. | In English;
translated
from Latin and Old Czech.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019048098 (print) | LCCN 2019048099 (ebook) | ISBN
9780367438111 (hbk) | ISBN 9781003005964 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Hussites–Early works to 1800. | Bohemia (Czech
Republic)–History–Hussite Wars, 1419-1436. | Hussites–Czech
Republic–Bohemia–History. | Bohemia (Czech Republic)–Church history.
Classification: LCC DB2105 .V38 2020 (print) | LCC DB2105 (ebook) | DDC
943.7/0224–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019048098
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019048099
ISBN: 978-0-367-43811-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-00596-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
In Memory of Bob Scribner

CONTENTS
List of figures and maps viii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xii
List of abbreviations xiv
Introduction: text and context of the Hussite Chronicle 1
The chronicle of Laurence of Březová 49
Bibliography 257
Index 271
vii
FIGURES AND MAPS
Figures
1 Hussite Chronicle: Prague, National Library MS I D 10, fol. 265r 15
2 Laurence of Březová chronicle: a stemma 18
3 Hussite Chronicle: Prague, National Library MS XI D 8, fol. 99v 20
4 Hussite Chronicle: Copenhagen, Kongelige Bibliothek/Royal
Danish Library, MS Thott 688 2°, p. 20 22
Maps
1 Bohemia and Moravia during the Hussite movement 1415–1437 48
2 Constance during the council 54
3 Prague at the end of the Middle Ages 70
viii
PREFACE
I spent much of 1991 and 1992 in the Czech Republic undertaking research in
various libraries and archives with excursions here and there across Europe. In
the summer of 1991, I stayed in Brno with a family whose name I have now
forgotten. One evening over drinks and nibbles under Moravian skies and in the
company of a few other friends from the area, the conversation naturally turned
to the topic of my research program and their curiosity about a foreigner’s interest
in aspects of their national history. I can now recall only bits and pieces of that
exchange punctuated by a repeated query: do you really find Hussites interesting?
The next day the lady of the house presented me with a brand new copy of the
1979 Czech edition of the Hussite Chronicle including a pristine dust jacket. The
Hussite Chronicle is de rigueur for all those interested in the early history of the
Hussite adventure. Its narrative presents a firm riposte to the crushing weight of
neglect too often borne by Hussite history. The volume is still on my crowded
bookshelves. For several weeks after accepting the Brno gift, and whilst riding
trains between one archive and another between Prague and Rome, Basel and
Kraków, I whiled away the time looking at the pages. The compelling images and
riveting depictions of a rich historical narrative were virtually unknown by most
medievalists. I did not suspect all those years ago that three decades later I would
bring an edition of this important work to an Anglophone audience.
After the onerous task of producing nearly 400 pages of Hussite texts in transla-
tion two decades ago and being painfully aware of my deficiencies in attempting to
transform medieval texts into modern English, I determined sensibly never again
to engage in such a monumental task, one that took me well outside the scope of
my intellectual abilities. I was not a skilled translator then and my abilities have
not improved over the past 20 years and may even have deteriorated. Despite the
clear limitations of the 2002 volume, I have been surprised as well as heartened
to learn how widespread the use of that collection has been and pleased to think
it has helped a new generation of students gain some acquaintance with Hus-
sites. Some of those who found that collection interesting and stimulating have
gone on to make their own contributions to scholarship. Still, over the years there
has continued to be much lamentation in the Anglophone world among medie-
valists and teachers of medieval history, especially among those who recognize
ix