Today is Monday, July 6th, 2020.

On this day in 1415,

Czech Religious Reformer Jan Hoose

was burned at the stake for heresy.

But his martyrdom had a powerful effect.

It fueled a nearly 20-year war between the Pope and Hoose's followers in Bohemia, which is now the Czech Republic.

Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original.

Due to the graphic nature of today's crimes, listener discretion is advised.

Today we're covering the condemnation and martyrdom of Jan Hoose.

Let's go back to the morning of July 6, 1415 to Constance, now in Germany, but then a part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Jan Hoose, an estimated 45 years old, was in poor health by the time he arrived to be sentenced.

For over two months, his food had been strictly rationed and his limbs bound by heavy chains.

He looked frail and weak as he stood listening to the Catholic Mass and liturgy that preceded his condemnation.

However, despite the grave events that lay ahead, Jan Hoose did not make any motions to beg for mercy.

He was firm in his beliefs.

Throughout his life as a philosopher, educator, reformer, and priest,

he sought to call attention to ethical abuses occurring within the church

for the greater good of all Catholics.

Arguably, the trouble began back in 1410 when Hoose was formally excommunicated by his local

Archbishop in Prague, but continued to preach. By 1412, Hous's excommunication had forced him out of

Prague and into relative exile, where he continued to write about his beliefs and gain followers.

Nearly two years on the outskirts of clerical and academic life followed, until the fateful

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