Beginning with the history of Bohemia at the close of the fourteenth century, E. H. Gillett briefly documents the general religious atmosphere and the lives of Huss’ predecessors. From there, Gillett shows that on the great chessboard of European history, monarchs might be merely pawns, like Wenzel of Bohemia, or Charles VI of France. The real kings were the men of thought—pamphleteers, like Ullerston, Gerson, and Clemenges, or reformers, like Wycliffe, Janow, Jacobel, and Huss. It is true that the great reform movement, of which Huss was the leader, was, after a most desperate and prolonged struggle, crushed out—not, however, without leaving behind its important results. Huss and fellow reformers, such as Jerome of Prague, were burned at the stake for their ideas, but their ideas had taken root in the nation’s heart. The attention of Europe—of emperors, kings, popes, and councils—was riveted, for almost an entire generation, upon the progress and prospects of the movement originated by Huss at Prague. E. H. Gillett’s exceptional Life and Times of John Huss documents this epoch of Reformation history, culling together a mass of historical documents into a single, important narrative. Volume one spans from 1347 to 1415.