Reformation Tour—Day 5

Decin Castle

Following the death of Jan Hus, the Hussite movement continued to gain strength spreading into other parts of Bohemia (now the Czech Republic).

The Hussites were the majority in Prague and in Bohemia for nearly two hundred years after Hus.

Sometimes those who are His are many and sometimes they are few, but whenever they are, they are the light of the world. It is easy to get lost in all the activity like the Thirty Years War, or the French Wars of Religion, but not if we look for the light.

There were other lights after Hus and before Luther both outside and within the Catholic Church. They include Jerome of PragueThomas ConecteSavanorola,  and Cardinal Andrew, archbishop of Crayn, who opposed corruption under Pope Sixtus IV, and who said prophetically, “The Most High will find other means, which are at present unknown to us, although they may be at our very doors, to bring back the Church to its pristine condition.”

The Hussites were the forerunners of protestantism in Europe and paved the way for the man we will study on the next leg of our tour, who fulfilled Cardinal Andrew’s prophetic words.

We left Prague by bus and journeyed for ninety minutes to Decin on the border of the Czech Republic and Germany, where we boarded the ship that would be our home for the next six days. Decin is a microcosm of Bohomia’s path following Hus. After Hus’s death this town and the surrounding region became Protestant until the Battle of White Mountain in 1620, when the Catholic Habsburgs reasserted control over it.

The Elbe River was very low when we arrived in Prague which threatened part of our trip on the Elbe because of the low river level, but it rained for two days, and by the time we arrived all was well. We were still surprised at how small the river is; it looks more like a large creek. When we went through our safety orientation—a staple of every cruise—our captain demonstrated how to put on our life vest and blow the whistle, I whispered to The Wife, “Should I ask, ‘If we end up in the water, should I whistle for help or just walk to shore?'”

Until tomorrow. GS
 

 

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