"Ut possim laqueum Sathane effugere" The Rhetoric of Hus´s Statements about the Pope and the Articles of his Accusers
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The paper deals with the question if and how the pope is identified with the Antichrist in various Hus´s or pseudo-Hus´s pronouncements which are related to the council in Constance and with the time period that immediately preceded it. The basis is, on one hand, the correspondence of Jan Hus which he wrote in exile, on the other hand, the articles of his accusers and Hus´s last reaction to them – so called Responsum ultimum. I have chosen the correspondence as the unique medium of communication – in the time of the exile, it is the substitute of standard preachings. What is more, it is open and immediate which is not typical of medieval preachings. Officially, De eccelsia plays the main role in the Constance process. However, Hus´s correspondence presents the same topic in another light – this topic has different rhetoric, it is related to the concrete situations, especially to the end of Hus´s life. It is highly detailed and direct and it is not stressed by checking of uninvited audience or readers. So in its own way, it is in contrast to the formal character of the Constance process. On the contrary, the Constance articles are taken out of context and they simplify this very problematic and extensive topic. The aim of this comparison is to explain: the variety of the rhetoric and stylistic tools which were used due to the pragmatics of the texts; the flexibility of the Medieval preaching and some of the unexpected directions it had to take. |
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