HUS London: CHARLES H

THE DAWN OF THE REFORMATION BY HERBERT B. WORKMAN, MA. VOL. II THE AGE OF HUS London: CHARLES H. KELLY 2, CASTLE ST., CITY RD.; AND 26, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 1902 OCR and formatting by William H. Gross www.onthewing.org Nov 2016 Page breaks have been adjusted for readability (widow/orphan) 1 PREFACE I HAVE entitled this little volume The Age of Hus. The name in itself implies a certain changed outlook of the centuries. To the men of his own day, save in Bohemia, Hus was far from being the prominent figure that he is today. They would have called it The Age of Gerson, or rather, The Age of the Schism. To us Hus is of importance, not only for his own sake, but as the representative of the new spirit of 'I consecration to Truth, as distinct from Authority, which, more than anything else, was destined to sweep away Medievalism. For Hus, as for his master, Wyclif, the foundations of Truth lay in its appeal to the individual consciousness. For good or ill this idea now dominates no small portion of the Western World. For this reason, also, Wyclif and Hus may rightly be regarded as standing in the Dawn of the Reformation. vi PREFACE In publishing this second volume I am conscious of the great disadvantage under which I labour in covering ground that in part the late Bishop Creighton has made luminous for us, in a work whose learning is only excelled by its rare judgment. I may, however, claim that my volume, whatever its merits or defects, is in nowise an abbreviation of his. I have made my own independent study of the sources I have enumerated, oftentimes, alas! inadequate and meagre, and endeavoured to form my conclusions before ascertaining the views of Creighton. In the case of Constance, I am bound to confess that the Bishop's account leaves little to add or subtract. When Finke's great work is finished, it is probable that a number of details will need revising, but Creighton's rare judgment is nowhere seen at better advantage than in the way in which he unravels the political complexities of the Council. Sundry sources, edited by Finke, too late for the Bishop to use, save in an occasional note, will be found freely quoted in my pages. I have, in fact, wherever possible, quoted them in preference to the older sources, not because of their greater value, but because they are as yet unfamiliar to English readers. In the case of Hus, Bishop Creighton's chapters are more abbreviated. Here, I think, I may fairly claim to have written more fully and critically. PREFACE vii If in the previous chapters I owe most to Erler and Finke, for the Bohemian Reformer, I must acknowledge my debt to Palacky and Loserth. If I were a critic of my own volume I should point out that the work is incomplete, even judging it merely by the narrow limits to which it aspires. One important factor in the Dawn of the Reformation is neglected. I allude to the influence of the Mystics. I had intended, at one time, to devote a chapter to them, and the solvent force they exercised upon medieval faith. But I found that a chapter would not suffice. Perhaps at some future date I may attempt the task. If so, as things are at present, the' study must be its own reward. A critic might also claim that I have no right to close the volume with Constance. Divisions of time are generally arbitrary; but, on the whole, Constance' seems to me the real end of an epoch. Any other term has the greater defect of making a gap between two things which were essentially continuous, the New Learning and the Reformation. The reader will note at a glance that I have given copious references and bibliography. I have done this for a double reason. In the first place, I have striven to make the volume of service to the young student as an introduction to the study of the original sources. viii PREFACE But without abundant references, Hardt or Mansi will deter all save the adventurous. My second reason is this. In the case of Constance, and of the earlier ministry of Hus, our judgment must be determined, not so much by broad principles, as by our knowledge of a mass of little details, 2 often, in fact, the chronological sequence of these details. For these details, therefore, I have striven to give the exactest references. In the case of Hus, I have pointed out several matters over which we are still in the dark Some detail — some gossip, perhaps — that would have explained an event is now lost, and we are driven to make bricks without straw out of official records and the like. Without "human cement" these form poor material at best. Ecclesiastical historians, again, have often erred, from overlooking the exceeding complexity both of motives and events. There is one matter to which it ought not to be needful to refer. I have given no references to works which I have not myself used, except in one or two cases specially indicated. Judging from the number of misleading references which I have come across in my reading, I fear that some writers, especially of the cheaper and more popular works, oftentimes obtain their references, like we buy our hats, ready made, nor do they always fit. PREFACE ix The present craze for books without references is also largely responsible for the number of blunders which are handed on, like heirlooms, from generation to generation. Of the defects and limitations of this present volume no one is more conscious than myself. In such a theme compression is not the least difficulty. I should have found it easier to expand the present volume into one of double or even treble its size. But I am encouraged by the generous way in which critics have overlooked my previous shortcomings. I should be glad if my readers would forward to me any mistakes they may discover, whether due to the 'printer — that convenient refuge! — or to what Dr. Johnson rightly named "Ignorance, Madam, sheer ignorance." There are two matters, not strictly flowing from my text, on which I should like to add a word. In the Preface to my Age of Wyclif I made reference to the deplorable condition of our public libraries from the standpoint of a student of history. I think I know now all the public libraries of our country. I could a tale unfold. As I have written my pages, and given references to Palacky, Hardt, Mansi, and the rest, I have realised how useless such references are for the resident in Liverpool, Birmingham, Belfast, Bristol, and other large towns. x PREFACE In one of these towns I recently searched in vain, not for Palacky's Documenta — that were too much to expect — but for Wilkins' Concilia! One of the best libraries in the country is Birmingham, the management of which in some respects deserves all praise. But the reader in that city will search in vain for Mansi, or Hardt, or Palacky, or even the Monumenta Hussii, let alone other books which it were not reasonable perhaps to expect our free libraries to supply. The shelves of our libraries are filled up with ephemeral literature; the encouragement of serious study seems the last consideration. Popular reading is an excellent thing, but, after all, cities like Liverpool and Birmingham — claimants now for University rank — should not drive the student of history in despair to London. Our millionaires, again, might copy with advantage the example set by their rivals in America. Librarians and millionaires would probably reply that if they provided these costly works of reference, little use would be made of them. Unfortunately, at present that is true. But the vicious circle cannot last for ever; and the study of Church History will not always be looked upon as a dead and useless, though perhaps harmless, eccentricity. PREFACE xi I wish that I could see signs of its revival in the Nonconformist Churches. In Biblical literature Nonconformists and the Scotch Presbyterians have done excellent work. Surely the scientific study of the Dispensation of the Holy Spirit is not without its value. A theology of the Holy Spirit is the great need of the age. But such a theology cannot be constructed by mere a priori 3 reasoning. A study of the conditions under which He has worked, and of the continuity of life of which He has been, under different forms and in diverse manners, the Lord and Giver, must lie at the very foundation of any doctrine of the Holy Spirit. But of the formation of such a theology, alas! I see few signs at present, either in the Anglican or non-Episcopalian Churches. The gain to spiritual life from a deeper study of Church History would be very great. For the history of the Church is not the dull record of strife, decay, and evolution. Rather it should be a means of grace, the emphasis not so much of the things wherein we differ or have erred, as of that essential oneness of all good men in whatsoever things are lovely and of good report. We all need to widen our spiritual outlook. xii PREFACE In these days of the decay of experiential religion we plead for a revival of spiritual biography, a Plutarch's Lives of the Church, a New Acts of the Apostles, a Continuation of the Eleventh of Hebrews, a series of studies in the soul-history of the great saints, whose differences are, after all, not so important as their agreements: — I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY CATHOLIC CHURCH, THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.

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