Through the structural system forming around Prague and Bohemia at large, it comes as little surprise that they would function as a center for heretical thought in the fourteenth and fifteenth century. Prague, being at the intersection of Italy and Germany made it an ideal location for merchants, and as a result, economic activity. As such, it became of great interest to surrounding people, whether religious, intellectual, or otherwise. King Charles IV helped amplify this reality by fostering Prague as a thriving cultural and economic center. His collection of relics made Prague a place of interest and drew more religious attention. Deane outlines 3 major steps towards the eventual rise of the Hussites through his actions: (1) He established Charles University [1348]; (2) He fostered close relations with the Pope of France and opened the Bohemian Church; (3) He invited the Austrian cleric, Conrad Waldhauser, to preach in Prague. Charles University, the first university in the Holy Roman Empire and central Europe, would eventually become a center for religious dissension and debate as the tensions between German and Bohemian intellectuals would create a schism. These tensions weren’t merely over religious interpretation: The university was comprised of 75% Germans and sought to keep the ratio that way. In this sense, it made the Czech speaking intellectuals united against the German presence. These linguistic tensions would only build and strengthen the Czech identity. As for the relations with the Pope of France, this served as a slap to the face of the Roman Catholic Church, not recognizing their apostolic authority. Finally, Conrad Waldhauser was able sow the seeds of doubt in the church amongst the people of Prague, drawing attention to the wealthiness of the church, the hypocritical behavior of priests, and the importance of apostolic purity. These ideas, while not new, fostered a growing population of dissenters. Waldhauser was followed by more preachers [Jan Milic and Matthew of Janov, for example] who further cemented doubt in the people of Prague and called for reform. Charles University also became a center for these ideas among the Czech speaking intellectuals. Then, upon Princess Anne’s marriage to King Richard II in 1382, the two regions became connected and the words/thoughts of Wyclif were able to penetrate society.

On Simony was were Jan Hus was able to form his complaints about the church. It addresses how the church was improperly profiting off of its followers: “‘He overturned the tables of the money-changers, as well as of the sellers of doves.’ What else can be understood by the tables of the money-changers but the alters which are converted by the covetousness of the priests into the tables of money-changers?” He rejected the church’s practice of simony as being against the word of God. The Council of Constance served as the church’s response, which found Jan Hus as the figurehead of a form of religion he didn’t necessarily agree with. His own reluctance to separate himself from the more extreme sides of religious thought in Prague led him to be lumped in with their beliefs, as well as those of Wyclif. Hus was more than his thoughts: He was symbolic of resistance against the church and threatened their very authority through his questioning. “Further it is stated that the said John Hus obsti