after his destitution by the council, secretly left Constance on March 20, 1415, Hus became the prisoner of Sigismund, who had full power to set him free. The Emperor, however, instead of doing so placed Hus in the custody of the Bishop of Constance, who imprisoned him in his castle of Gottlieben. He was here treated with far greater cruelty than at Constance. The frequent steps taken by the Bohemian nobles then present at Constance to obtain the liberation of Hus were also ineffectual. Yet they had at least that result, that the forms of justice were to a certain extent observed, and that Hus was not condemned entirely without trial. Hus, who had been conducted back to Constance early in June, first appeared before the Council on June 5. His trial continued on June 7 and 8. He was, however, never allowed freely to express his views and was treated with great unfairness and brutality. Many of the accusations were utterly absurd,[1] but others, for instance, that he rejected papal authority and recognized that of the Holy Scriptures only, he himself admitted. He wished to argue this and other propositions, but the Council refused him permission to do so, and insisted on a complete and general retractation of all the heretical doctrines which had been attributed to him. This he refused, preferring to die rather than retract with his lips opinions that he held in his heart.
After June 8, some time was allowed to elapse, as attempts were still made to induce Hus to retract his opinions. When this appeared impossible he was on July 6 brought before the Council and for the last time called on to recant. On his refusal the Council immediately declared him a recusant heretic. This, according to the barbarous laws of the time, entailed death by burning. Hus was given over to the magistrates of Constance, who caused him to be led directly from the cathedral, where the Council held its sittings, to a meadow half-a-mile from the city walls. The cruel sentence was then immediately carried out. When the fire had already been kindled and Hus was surrounded by the flames, his loud prayers could still be heard. His sufferings happily did not last long, as a strong gust of wind suddenly blew the smoke in his face, and he
- ↑ For instance, that Hus had denied that there were only three Persons in the Godhead, and maintained that there was a fourth, namely, John Hus.
