Matej Z Janova
Matĕj Z Janova
Born between 1350 and 1355; died Nov. 30, 1393, in Prague. Czech thinker; representative of the early Reformation movement; ideological predecessor of J. Hus.
Matĕj was educated in the 1370’s at the universities of Prague and Paris (hence the nickname Matĕj of Paris). He assailed the Catholic clergy, urging that the church be stripped of its wealth and political power, the monasteries be dissolved, and the monks be forced to work. He spoke in defense of the common people, whom he considered unjustly oppressed.