Jerome of Prague was probably born prior to the year 1380 (Smahel 2007), but not before the year 1370 (Betts 1947). From his name it can be assumed that he was born in Prague. It is most likely that both of his parents were Czech because during his later studies he was presumably awarded a scholarship, established by Vojtech Raiikiiv of Jezov, which was reserved for students born from two Czech parents.
With the help of this scholarship, Jerome set out for Oxford in 1399, where he maybe resided in Beam Hall (Young 1923). The purpose of his journey was motivated by the interest of Czech university masters in the theological treatises of John Wyclif (Herold 1985; Smahel 1970). He was becoming acquainted with the English ambience and it is possible that it was in England where he found the model for his geometric depiction of the Holy Trinity, Scutum fidei christianae (Smahel 2003). Here also he started to write a notebook, which an unknown scribe characterized as 'magnum quodam volumen quod agregavit Parisius, Anglie et in aliis studiis, ubi fuit, de materia universalium realium’’ (Sedltik 1915). In March 1401 at the latest Jerome returned to Bohemia, bringing with him copies of Wyclif’s works, especially the Dialogus and the Trialogus (Smahel 2007, 1966b).
There is not much we know about the course of Jerome’s life between his return to Bohemia and April 1404. However, when he was charged at the Council of Constance with defending in Prague the condemned articles of Wyclif, he responded that at that time he was actually in Jerusalem (Hardt 1700). Wyclif’s articles were condemned in Prague in 1403 as well as in 1408 so it is not clear when Jerome’s visit to Jerusalem took place (Smahel 2007; Bartos 1946).
In 1404 we find Jerome in Paris, where he matriculated in April as a bachelor in the faculty of arts, and as a member of the English university nation. He obtained the degree of master in artibus in 1405 (Smahel 1966b). In Paris, he studied, inter alia, Wyclif’s treatises on logic, and dispatched additional books to Prague (Klicman 1898). His stay there ended with his last disputation, which scandalized the audience so much that he was summoned before John Gerson, the university chancellor. Jerome avoided the encounter and instead set out on a journey to Cologne. There he matriculated as a ‘‘respected master’’ in March 1406. The local masters, however, would remember Jerome’s stay at the university still in 1425 when - at the request of the imperial electors - they explicitly condemned his teaching. Their representatives were also present at the Council of Constance, where they accused Jerome of heresy. Thus Jerome’s stay in Cologne must have been rather turbulent, and evidently he was again virtually forced to flee - this time to Heidelberg (Herold 1989). There he matriculated as a master in April 1406 and participated in a disputation, where he performed ‘‘inappropriately and offensively.’’ Inasmuch as he refused to recant his views, his university membership was suspended, and the accusation of holding four heretical or offensive articles against him was submitted to Matthew of Cracow, the Bishop of Worms. Rather than recant, he fled once more, this time to Prague, where he arrived toward the end of 1406. Also here, after meeting the university requirements, he was admitted as master to the faculty of arts (Smahel 2007).
In Prague, Jerome joined the struggle for the privileges of the Czech university nation against the other three German nations. In 1409, Jerome participated in the Prague disputation de quolibet of Matej of Knin, and not only as a philosopher. He also delivered on that occasion The Eulogy on Liberal Arts (Recommendacio arcium liberalium), in which he declared, inter alia, his allegiance to King Wenceslaus IV and defended the Czech nation. Partly thanks to his efforts, Wenceslaus IV was won over to the side of the Czech masters. The result of the struggle included the issuance of the so-called Decree of Kutna Hora in 1409. This edict assigned three votes to the Czech university nation, and only one to the three German nations, and led to the departure of the German masters from Prague. Afterward, Jerome set out on travels, which may be characterized as diplomatic. In 1410 he was in Buda, where he orated before King Sigismund, and then he appeared in Vienna, where he was detained and subjected to a trial by the Inquisition. He managed to escape a heavy penalty by flight, but he incurred an excommunication. Subsequently, he appeared in Prague where, in 1412, he participated in the disputation de quolibet of Michal of Malenice. Thereafter, he set out on a journey to Poland; in March 1413, he was at the court of King Wladislav Jagello in Cracow, and then at the court of the Lithuanian Duke Vitold in White Russia (Smahel 2007, 1966b).
The last journey led Jerome of Prague to Constance, where he was preceded by the church reformer Jan Hus, when the latter wished to defend his own teaching before the conciliar convocation. Jerome appeared in the town on Bodensee on April 4, 1415, but temporarily resided in nearby jjberlingen. As early as April 7, declarations were posted around Constance, in which Jerome asserted the illegitimacy of Hus’ imprisonment, and also requested a certificate of safe conduct and a public hearing. This effort appeared to be impertinent and Jerome tried to flee back to Bohemia on March 9. However, detained near the Bohemian borders, he was returned to Constance on May 23, 1415. There he now encountered enemies dating back to the time of his studies. He was imprisoned, and on September 23, 1415, Jerome distanced himself from Hus (executed in Constance in July 1415) and from Wyclif (posthumously condemned in Constance in May 1415) by declaring their articles as heretical. When, however, John Gerson delivered his oration On Recantation in the Matters of Faith, it dawned on Jerome that - while he avoided the pyre - instead of liberty he won a lifetime imprisonment. Therefore, when summoned before the Council on May 23 and 26, 1416, he delivered an exceptionally powerful speech that dazzled even the Florentine Humanist Poggio Bracciolini. In his statement, Jerome regretted his recantation, by which he mostly harmed his own conscience, and revoked all the accusations he had leveled against Hus and Wyclif. Consequently, the Council at its twenty-first session on May 30, 1416, declared Jerome a heretic, excommunicated him, and handed him over to the secular authorities. The latter proceeded without delay to his execution (Bartos 1956; Smahel 1966a).
World History
