(sold for $133.0)

1715, Bohemia, John Hus. Medallic Silver Show Thaler Coin. A nice old cast!

Medallist: Christian Wermuth   Mint year: 1715 (here a nice old cast!)  Denomination: Thaler (a so-called Hus-Thaler) Reference: Don. 3453, Belli 512, Schnell 42n, Whit. 5. R! Condition: Tooling mark at 12 o'clock (where a suspension loop was removed), minor deposits and scratches, otherwisee a nice old XF cast! Weight: 22.72gm (the usual weight for this showthaler type!) Diameter: 42mm Material: Silver

Obverse: Bust of John hus, wearing coat and cap right, splitting legend (IOA-HVS) in fields. Legend: * CREDO . VNAM . ESSE . ECCLESIAM . SANCTAM . CATOLICAM

Reverse: Scene of the execution of John Hus, which shows him at the stake, splitting legends (CON-DEM/NA-TVR.). Legend: * CENTVM . REVOLVTIS . ANNIS . DEO . RESPONDEBITIS . ET . MIH Inner Legend: ANNO . A . CHRIST . NA - TO . 1415 . IO . HVS .

Hus was a key contributor to Protestantism, whose teachings had a strong influence on the states of Europe and on Martin Luther himself. The Hussite Wars resulted in the Basel Compacts which allowed for a reformed church in   the Kingdom of Bohemia—almost a century before such developments would   take place in the Lutheran Reformation. The Unitas Fratrum (or Moravian Church) considers itself a spiritual heir to many of Hus' followers. Hus' extensive writings earn him a prominent place in Czech literary   history. He is also responsible for introducing the use of diacritics (especially the hácek) into Czech spelling in order to represent each sound by a single symbol. Today, the Jan Hus Memorial can be seen at the Prague Old Town Square (Czech Staromestské námestí).

In New York City, a church in Brooklyn (located at 153 Ocean Avenue), and a church and a theatre in Manhattan (located at 351 East 74th Street) are named for Hus: respectively the John Hus Moravian Church, the Jan Hus Presbyterian Church and the Jan Hus Playhouse. Although the Manhattan's church and theatre   share a single building and management, the Playhouse's productions are   usually non-religious or non-denominational.

A statue to Jan Hus was erected in the Union Cemetery in Bohemia, New York (on Long Island)   by Czech immigrants to the New York area in 1893. The statue was the   first memorial in the United States to honour a foreign-born person.

Jan Hus (1369 – 6 July 1415), often referred to in English as John Hus or John Huss, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague. After John Wycliffe, the theorist of ecclesiastical Reformation, he was, before Luther, Calvin and Zwingli, the first actual Church reformer.

He is famed for having been burned at the stake for heresy against the doctrines of the Catholic Church, including those on ecclesiology (the branch of theology concerned with the nature, constitution and functions of the Church), the Eucharist,   and other theological topics. Hus was a key predecessor to the   Protestant movement of the sixteenth century, and his teachings had a   strong influence on the states of Europe, most immediately in the   approval for the existence of a reformist Bohemian religious denomination, and, more than a century later, on Martin Luther himself.

Between 1420 and 1431, the Hussite forces defeated five consecutive papal crusades against followers of Hus. Their defence and rebellion against Roman Catholics became known as the Hussite Wars. A century later, as many as 90% of inhabitants of the Czech lands were non-Catholic and followed the teachings of Hus and his successors.

On 5 June 1415, he was tried for the first time, and for that purpose was transferred to a Franciscan monastery,   where he spent the last weeks of his life. He declared himself willing   to recant if his errors should be proven to him from the Bible. Hus   conceded his veneration of Wycliffe, and said that he could only wish   his soul might some time attain unto that place where Wycliffe's was. On   the other hand, he denied having defended Wycliffe's doctrine of The Lord's Supper or the forty-five articles; he had only opposed their summary   condemnation. King Wenceslaus admonished him to deliver himself up to   the mercy of the Council, as he did not desire to protect a heretic.

At the last trial, on 8 June 1415, there were read to him thirty-nine   sentences, twenty-six of which had been excerpted from his book on the   Church, seven from his treatise against Pálec, and six from that against   Stanislav ze Znojma. The danger of some of these doctrines to worldly   power was explained to the emperor to incite him against Hus. Hus again declared himself willing to submit   if he could be convinced of errors. He desired only a fair trial and   more time to explain the reasons for his views. If his reasons and Bible texts did not suffice, he would be glad to be instructed. This   declaration was considered an unconditional surrender, and he was asked   to confess:

 
1. that he had erred in the theses which he had hitherto maintained;
 
2. that he renounced them for the future;
 
3. that he recanted them; and
 
4. that he declared the opposite of these sentences.

He asked to be exempted from recanting doctrines which he had never   taught; others, which the assembly considered erroneous, he was not   willing to revoke; to act differently would be against his conscience.   These words found no favourable reception. After the trial on 8 June,   several other attempts were purportedly made to induce him to recant,   which he resisted.

The condemnation took place on 6 July 1415, in the presence of the assembly of the Council in the Cathedral. After the High Mass and Liturgy, Hus was led into the church. The Bishop of Lodi delivered an oration on the duty of eradicating heresy; then some   theses of Hus and Wycliffe and a report of his trial were read.

An Italian prelate pronounced the sentence of condemnation upon Hus and   his writings. Hus protested, saying that even at this hour he did not   wish anything, but to be convinced from Holy Scripture.   He fell upon his knees and asked God with a low voice to forgive all   his enemies. Then followed his degradation — he was enrobed in priestly   vestments and again asked to recant; again he refused. With curses his   ornaments were taken from him, his priestly tonsure was destroyed, and the sentence was pronounced that the Church had   deprived him of all rights and delivered him to the secular powers. Then   a high paper hat was put upon his head, with the inscription   "Haeresiarcha" (meaning the leader of a heretical movement). Hus was led   away to the stake under a strong guard of armed men. At the place of   execution he knelt down, spread out his hands, and prayed aloud. Some of   the people asked that a confessor should be given to him, but one priest exclaimed that a heretic should neither be heard nor given a confessor.

The executioners undressed Hus and tied his hands behind his back   with ropes, and bound his neck with a chain to a stake around which wood   and straw had been piled up so that it covered him to the neck. At the   last moment, the imperial marshal, Von Pappenheim, in the presence of   the Count Palatine, asked him to recant and thus save his own life, but Hus declined with the words "God   is my witness that the things charged against me I never preached. In   the same truth of the Gospel which I have written, taught, and preached,   drawing upon the sayings and positions of the holy doctors, I am ready   to die today." He was then burned at the stake, and his ashes thrown into the Rhine.

Anecdotally, it has been claimed that the executioners had some   problems scaling up the fire. An old woman came closer to the bonfire   and threw a relatively small amount of brushwood on it. Hus, seeing it,   then said, "Sancta Simplicitas!" (Holy Simplicity!) This sentence's   Czech equivalent ("svatá prostota!", or, in vocative form "svatá   prostoto!") is still used to comment upon a stupid action.

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