Pomník Jana Husa / Jan Hus memorial - Jicín (East Bohemia) - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

Depicted memorial, devoted to one of the key medieval church's reformers and symbol of neverending fight for truth - Jan Hus (John Hus), is located in Jicín' centre in street bearing Hus' name (Husova trída / Hus Avenue).

The monument of Master John Hus in Jicín was built in 1872, so it is the oldest Hus monument in the Czech lands. The author of the sandstone monument is the sculptor Antonín Sucharda from Nová Paka. The monument consists of a stone pedestal with a life-size statue of Master John. The appearance of the statue corresponds to the romantic concept of a Protestant preacher: John Hus is dressed in a robe with a wide collar and sleeves, looks up at the sky and raises his right hand slightly upwards, then holds the Bible in his left hand; he has a mortar board on his head, which covers longer curly hair, his face is covered with a beard. On the front of the stone pedestal is carved and inscribed in gold lettering: "Vdecné památce Mistra Jana Husa obcané Jicínska 1872 / Grateful memory of Master John Hus, citizens of Jicín region 1872", in the upper part of the pedestal is the signature of the author, Antonín Sucharda.

Most of the funding for the construction of the monument was obtained from the civic collection, the city of Jicin contributed only a small amount of 20 guldens. The monument was ceremoniously unveiled on July 7, 1872. In the following years, commemorative meetings were held at the monument regularly on the eve of Hus's burning at the stake in Constance. The monument was declared a cultural monument in 1958.

Source: excerpted and translated from Wikipedia and National Heritage Institute portal.

Jan Hus (also John Hus or Jan Huss) was a medieval religious thinker, chancellor of Prague' Charles University and church reformer, born in Southern Bohemia in 1369. He initiated a reform movement based on the ideas of John Wycliffe. His followers became known as Hussites. The Catholic Church did not condone such uprisings, and Hus was excommunicated in 1411 and burned at the stake in Constance on July 6, 1415, having been condemned by the Council of Constance, in an unfair trial.

John Hus, one of Wycliffe’s followers, actively promoted his ideas: that people should be permitted to read the Bible in their own language, and they should oppose the tyranny of the Roman church that threatened anyone possessing a non-Latin Bible with execution. Hus was burned at the stake in 1415, with Wycliffe’s manuscript Bibles used as kindling for the fire. The last words of John Hus were that, “in 100 years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed.” Almost exactly 100 years later, in 1517, Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 Theses of Contention (a list of 95 issues of heretical theology and crimes of the Roman Catholic Church) into the church door at Wittenberg. The prophecy of Hus had come true!"