The Decree of Kutná Hora ( cs, Dekret Kutnohorský) or Decree of Kuttenberg (german: Kuttenberger Dekret) was issued on 18 January 1409 in

Kutná Hora Kutná Hora (; medieval Czech: ''Hory Kutné''; german: Kuttenberg) is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. The centre of Kutná Hora, including the Sedlec Abbey and its ossuary, was design ...

(''Kuttenberg''),

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

, by King

Wenceslaus IV Wenceslaus IV (also ''Wenceslas''; cs, Václav; german: Wenzel, nicknamed "the Idle"; 26 February 136116 August 1419), also known as Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, was King of Bohemia from 1378 until his death and King of Germany from 1376 until he ...

to give members of the

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by th ...

a decisive voice in the affairs of the

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , under ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. Since the university was founded by King Charles IV in 1348, the ''

studium generale is the old customary name for a medieval university in medieval Europe. Overview There is no official definition for the term . The term ' first appeared at the beginning of the 13th century out of customary usage, and meant a place where stud ...

'' was divided among Bohemian (including

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-speaking inhabitants), Bavarian,

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

, and Polish "nations". From 1403 onwards, the religious Lollard movement and the doctrines of the

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

theologian

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...

led to controversy at the Prague University. The Bohemian reformers around

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the insp ...

wanted to teach this new doctrine, but most

masters and professors voted against the new "

heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important relig ...

" thinking. Auszug aus Prag 1409

In anticipation of the Council of Pisa, the three "foreign" nations (Poland, Bavaria and Saxony) at the university opposed the request of Wenceslaus to take a neutral attitude between the two rival popes in the Western Schism. Wenceslaus himself hoped for support of a new Pope to regain the German kingship after his deposition by Rupert of the Palatinate nine years before. However, King Rupert, relying on the support of Pope Gregory XII and the

archbishop

Zbyněk Zajíc of Hazmburk Zbyněk Zajíc of Hazmburk or of Hasenburg ( cs, Zbyněk Zajíc z Hazmburka; c. 1376 – 28 September 1411) was a Czech nobleman, and an important representative of the Roman Catholic Church in the Crown of Bohemia. He was the 5th Archbishop of P ...

, pressured German teachers and students not to side with his Bohemian rival. A delegation led by

Jerome of Prague Jerome of Prague ( cs, Jeroným Pražský; la, Hieronymus Pragensis; 1379 – 30 May 1416) was a Czech scholastic philosopher, theologian, reformer, and professor. Jerome was one of the chief followers of Jan Hus and was burned for heresy ...

went to Wenceslaus' court staying at the

royal city Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ...

of Kutná Hora (according to other sources at Točník Castle), where the king promised to change the constitution of the university. On 18 January 1409, he had the statutes amended: with his decree, he gave the Bohemian nation three votes and one vote each to the other three nations. Shortly after that, Hus himself became rector of the university, succeeding Johannes Hoffmann von Schweidnitz. As another result of the Decree of Kutná Hora, numerous German academics (about 80 percent of the teaching staff) and their students left the university. This exodus resulted in the foundation of the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

in the Margravate of Meissen, among others, and led to a considerable isolation of the Prague university. In 1417 the university officially adopted the Hussite confession and henceforth, Utraquist scholars taught and studied here. The rising influence of this doctrine and the execution of Jan Hus in 1415 culminated in the outbreak of the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, Eur ...

External links

Decree of Kutná Hora wording
{{DEFAULTSORT:Decree Of Kutna Hora 1409 in Europe History of Prague Leipzig University Charles University