Jan Hus in English Language Historiography, 1863-2013

Abstract

This historiographical article seeks to delineate the main sources and trajectories of interpretation over a 150-year period that has shaped the understanding of Jan Hus in the Anglophone world. The article also assesses the scholarly value of the major writings that have appeared. The evaluation is intentionally limited to books written wholly or largely about Hus while recognizing that a handful of scholars have made serious or important contributions in ways other than producing a monograph. The author argues there is a serious lack of historiographical awareness in the English-speaking world around the figure of Jan Hus that has been apparent during the many international symposia and other events marking the six-hundredth anniversary of his death in 2015. This article, building on the seminal work of Jarold K. Zeman in the 1970s, identifies the existing historiographical traditions, recent developments and advances, and the major textual contributions, and offers an opinion on the future of Jan Hus studies.