HUS, JAN (1372/3–1415), also known as John Huss, was a Czech reformer of the Christian church. Hus was called John of Husinec after the village in southern Bohemia in which he was born of peasant parents. During his university years, he shortened his name to Hus. After earning a master's degree, in 1398 Hus became a member of the faculty of liberal arts at the University of Prague. He was ordained a priest in 1400, served as dean of the faculty from 1401 to 1402, and matriculated in the faculty of theology to work toward the degree of doctor of theology. Because of his subsequent activities and the controversies that developed around him, Hus never completed the degree.

In 1402 Hus was appointed preacher at Bethlehem Chapel in Prague, where sermons were delivered in Czech rather than Latin. He became a leader in the national Czech reform movement, which emphasized moral reform...