when reading his eloquent denunciations of the grasping extortions of the papal see, not to remember that he also had availed himself of the advantages which resulted from the system of papal benefices. It must indeed be admitted that this was no exceptional deed on the part of Matthew, and that he was driven to it by sheer want of means. Perhaps “his poverty but not his will consented.” Both the life and the writings of Janov teem with contradictions. As Dr. Kybal has truly said of his works, we find in them entire submission to the church, and on the other hand haughty self-confidence and audacious criticism of the ecclesiastical system, sometimes timidity, sometimes the free expression of extreme views, sometimes consciousness of the importance of the hierarchy, of which Matthew himself formed part, and conservative views, at other times openly expressed popular and democratic opinions. Such a man could never be revered by the people as were Milic and Hus.
Yet it would be very erroneous to underrate the importance of Matthew in connection with the Hussite movement. He was by far the most learned of the forerunners of Hus, and as a thorough scholarly theologian he greatly influenced the masters of the University of Prague, who by the vicissitudes of civil war became, soon after the death of Hus, the supreme arbitrators on religious matters in Bohemia. Chief among the pupils of Janov was Master Jacobellus of Stribro, the originator of utraquism. Jacobellus entirely adopted Janov’s views regarding the advent of Antichrist, and he has in his work on that subject incorporated large parts of Janov’s treatise, though, as was then frequently done, he omitted to mention the name of the writer from whom he borrowed.[1] It was formerly also believed that Jacobellus derived from Janov his doctrine of utraquism or communion in the two kinds.
- ↑ Dr. Kybal has published an interesting article on the connection between Matthew of Janov and Jacobellus of Stribro in the Cesky Casopis Historicky (Bohemian Historical Review, vol. xi.).
