Pavel Kravař
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Pavel Kravař ( – 23 July 1433), or Paul Crawar, Paul Craw, was a
Hussite file:Hussitenkriege.tif, upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century file:The Bohemian Realm during the Hussite Wars.png, upright=1.2, The Lands of the ...
emissary from
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
who was burned at the stake for heresy at
St Andrews St Andrews (; ; , pronounced ʰʲɪʎˈrˠiː.ɪɲ is a town on the east coast of Fife in Scotland, southeast of Dundee and northeast of Edinburgh. St Andrews had a recorded population of 16,800 , making it Fife's fourth-largest settleme ...
in
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
on 23 July 1433. He was the first of a succession of religious reformers who were martyred in the town during the course of the subsequent
Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...
. (The others being: Patrick Hamilton in 1528, Henry Forest in 1533,
George Wishart George Wishart (also Wisehart; c. 15131 March 1546) was a Scottish Protestant Reformer and one of the early Protestant martyrs burned at the stake as a heretic. George Wishart was the son of James and brother of Sir John of Pitarrow ...
in 1546, and Walter Myln in 1558).


Life

Pavel Kravař was probably a native of
Kravaře Kravaře (; ) is a town in Opava District the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 6,700 inhabitants. It is part of the historic Hlučín Region. Administrative division Kravaře consists of three municipal parts (in brack ...
,
Opava District Opava District () is a Districts of the Czech Republic, district in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. Its capital is the city of Opava. Administrative division Opava District is divided into four Districts of the Czech Republic#M ...
,
Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
(then
Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...
), now part of the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
. After studying medicine at the
University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier () is a public university, public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous opera ...
, he graduated as Master of Arts from the
University of Paris The University of Paris (), known Metonymy, metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated wit ...
in 1415. The following year, he entered the Faculty of Arts at the University of Prague, then a hotbed of Hussite activity. Around 1421, with the university now in decline, Pavel Kravař left
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
to become a physician in the service of the Polish King,
Władysław II Jagiełło Jogaila (; 1 June 1434), later Władysław II Jagiełło (),Other names include (; ) (see also Names and titles of Władysław II Jagiełło) was Grand Duke of Lithuania beginning in 1377 and starting in 1386, becoming King of Poland as well. ...
. He probably returned to the Bohemian capital in 1432 prior to undertaking his ill-fated mission to Scotland. His journey to St Andrews, at the time the ecclesiastical centre of Scotland and the location of its only
university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
, was most likely made in a vain attempt to gain allies, hopefully amongst
Lollard Lollardy was a proto-Protestantism, proto-Protestant Christianity, Christian religious movement that was active in England from the mid-14th century until the 16th-century English Reformation. It was initially led by John Wycliffe, a Catholic C ...
sympathisers, for the Hussite cause at the
Council of Basel The Council of Florence is the seventeenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church, held between 1431 and 1445. It was convened in territories under the Holy Roman Empire. Italy became a venue of a Catholic ecumenical council aft ...
, at which reconciliation was sought between the Hussites and the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Pavel Kravař's activities in St Andrews evidently met with the displeasure of the authorities there, particularly
Henry Wardlaw Henry Wardlaw (died 6 April 1440) was a Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish church leader, Bishop of St Andrews and founder of the University of St Andrews. Ancestors He was descended from an ancient Saxon family which came to Scotland with Edgar ...
,
Bishop of St Andrews The Bishop of St. Andrews (, ) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of St Andrews in the Catholic Church and then, from 14 August 1472, as Archbishop of St Andrews (), the Archdiocese of St Andrews. The name St Andrews is not the town or ...
, who accused him of spreading the heretical ideas of
Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 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 Czechs, Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and t ...
and John Wyclif. At his trial he defended himself with skill and courage, but was nevertheless condemned and died, according to
John Knox John Knox ( – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation. He was the founder of the Church of Scotland. Born in Giffordgate, a street in Haddington, East Lot ...
, with a brass ball stuffed in his mouth to prevent him addressing the people. Pavel Kravař's execution is believed to have taken place at the centre of the market square in St Andrews, close to the former location of the
Mercat Cross A mercat cross is the Scots language, Scots name for the market cross found frequently in Scotland, Scottish cities, towns and villages where historically the right to hold a regular market or fair was granted by the monarch, a bishop or ...
which is now marked with a cross of red stones set into the cobbled surface of the roadway. A memorial plaque, with an inscription in English and Czech languages, is located on a building nearby.


See also

*
List of Protestant martyrs of the Scottish Reformation Two people were executed under heresy laws during the reign of James I of Scotland, James I (1406–1437). Protestants were then executed during persecutions against Protestant religious reformers for their Christian denomination#Protestant Re ...


References

* Vyšný, Paul, "A Hussite in Scotland: The Mission of Pavel Kravař to St Andrews in 1433", ''The Scottish Historical Review'', vol. lxxxii, April 2003, pp. 1–19.


Further reading

* Moonan, Lawrence, "Pavel Kravar and some writings once attributed to him", ''Innes Review'', Vol. 27 (1976), pp. 3–23 * Spinka, Matthew, "Paul Kravař and the Lollard-Hussite Relations", in ''Church History'', Vol. 25, No. 1. (Mar., 1956), pp. 16–26.


External links


St Andrews and Central and Eastern EuropeCzech Ambassador's Tribute to Fellow Countryman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kravar, Pavel 1391 births 1433 deaths People from Kravaře Hussite martyrs People executed for heresy Executed Czech people People executed by Stuart Scotland People executed by the Kingdom of Scotland by burning Protestant martyrs of Scotland 15th-century people from Bohemia Czech evangelicals