The Hussite Revolution according to Wawrzyniec z Březové

Abstract

Wawrzyniec z Březové is distinguished among observers and chroniclers of Hussitism, and his chronicles are the best source of information relating to the first phase of the Hussite revolution. Wawrzyniec writes of the years 1414–1421, but his main focus is on the years 1419–1421. He starts with the inauguration of giving communion in two kinds, which was a result of the work of Jakoubek ze Stříbra in 1414. The world of this penetrating observer and thinking man is not black and white. The inevitable companion of revolution – fear – is clear in the pages of Wawrzyniec’s account. Indeed, it accompanies all the phases of these tempestuous events.