Jan Hus a české národní školy v letech 1867–1918

History textbooks of Czech general and municipal schools, as well as teachers’ institutes serve to document how the figure of Jan Hus was interpreted in the Czech educational system from the 1860s up to the declaration of an independent Czechoslovakia. The initially brief and value-neutral statements on Hus (a critic of Church sins whose death sparked the subsequent Hussite rebellion), were later expanded with information on his life, his work at the university and details about the Council in Constance. Jan Hus was later presented in textbooks as an innovator of the Czech language and a great patriot, while emphasis was placed on his exemplary and chaste life, sincere faith and generosity. The explanation of the religious aspects of Hus’ theory and of the Hussite period was neglected due to their complicated nature and due to the delicacy of this topic in the theological, political and national context.