its features have mainly historical interest today. But the
central belief of the early humanists that the human per-
sonality is worth cultivating and developing to its fullest
extent for its own sake is a continuing inspiration.
Further reading: Arthur G. Dickens, The Age of Hu-
manism and Reformation: Europe in the Fourteenth, Fifteenth
and Sixteenth Centuries (Eaglewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice
Hall, 1972); Samuel Dresden, Humanism in the Renaissance
(London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1968); Anthony
Grafton, Bring Out Your Dead: The Past as Revelation
(Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002); Jill
Kraye (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Hu-
manism (Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press,
1996); Robert L. R. Mandrou, From Humanism to Science,
1480 to 1700, transl. Brian Pearce (Harmondsworth, U.K.:
Penguin, 1978); Charles G. Nauert Jr, Humanism and the
Culture of Renaissance Europe (Cambridge, U.K.: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1995); Charles E. Trinkaus, The
Scope of Renaissance Humanism (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Uni-
versity of Michigan Press, 1983) ENGLAND: Roberto
Weiss, Humanism in England during the Fifteenth Century
(Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell, 3rd ed. 1967) FRANCE: Werner
L. Gundersheimer (ed.), French Humanism, 1470–1600
(London: Macmillan, 1969) ITALY: Peter Godman, From
Poliziano to Machiavelli (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton Uni-
versity Press, 1998); Lauro Martines, The Social World of
the Florentine Humanists, 1390–1460 (London: Routledge
& Kegan Paul, 1963); Charles E. Trinkaus, In Our Image
and Likeness: Humanity and Divinity in Italian Humanist
Thought, 2 vols (Chicago, Ill.: Chicago University Press
and London: Constable, 1970; new ed. Notre Dame, Ind.:
University of Notre Dame Press, 1995).
Hurtado de Mendoza, Diego de (1503–1575) Spanish
diplomat, humanist, poet, and historian
Born to a noble family at Granada and a descendant of
SANTILLANA, he received an excellent humanist education,
learning Hebrew and Arabic as well as the classical lan-
guages. After serving with the Spanish forces at the battles
of PAVIA(1525) and Tunis (1535), he entered on a distin-
guished diplomatic career. An early mission on behalf of
Emperor CHARLES Vwas his vain attempt to negotiate a
marriage between Henry VIII of England and Christina,
duchess of Milan. As ambassador in Venice (1539) he was
able to indulge his bibliophil interests: he sponsored the
recovery of 300 Greek manuscripts from Greece and
Mount Athos and was a patron of the ALDINE PRESS. Al-
though he represented Spain at the Council of TRENTand
at Rome (1547–54), he was recalled to Spain in 1555 on
the accession of Philip II, who eventually dismissed him
from court (1568). He returned to Granada and partici-
pated in suppressing a Moorish rebellion there, in the
Alpujarras (1568–71). This forms the subject of La guerra
de Granada (published 1610, 1627, 1630, in various ver-
sions), the first objective military history written in Span-
ish. Modeled on Sallust, the work is remarkable for its
brilliant style and its impartiality. As a poet, Hurtado de
Mendoza practiced the Italian meters introduced by
BOSCÁNand his own contemporary, GARCILASO DE LA VEGA.
His poems were published in Obras (1610). At one time he
was believed to be the author of LAZARILLO DE TORMES. At
his death his manuscript collection was added to that of
the Escorial.Huss, Jan (John Hus) (1369–1415) Czech theologian and
religious reformer
Together with Jerome of Prague (c. 1370–1416), Huss ini-
tiated the reform movement that led to the creation of a
strong national Church in Bohemia by the mid-15th cen-
tury. Huss, who was rector of Prague University from
1403, first came to prominence as a keen defender of the
radical English theologian John WYCLIF. As part of a grow-
ing movement that sought greater religious egalitarianism,
Huss included in his demands vernacular translations of
the Bible, lay communion, and a reduction of clerical
power. Opposition to Huss was aroused not only because
of the possible heresy in his teachings but also because he
became the hero of the Czech nationalist movement. In
1408 Archbishop Zbyneck of Prague suspended him from
his teaching office and in 1411 he was excommunicated
by Pope John XXIII. Taking refuge in southern Bohemia,
he wrote a major treatise De ecclesia (1413), which was to
be used as the chief pretext for his condemnation by the
Council of CONSTANCE. He attended the council under a
false promise of safe conduct from Emperor Sigismund
and was burned as a heretic upon its decision in July 1415.
Whether the charge of heresy could be substantiated
is debatable, especially since he rejected many of the more
obviously heretical Wycliffite claims. His execution, to-
gether with that of Jerome the following year, proved dis-
astrous for the orthodox party, since it ensured a
successful radical HUSSITErevolution in Bohemia and the
spread of Hussite doctrine throughout Europe.
Further reading: Matthew Spinka, John Huss: A Biog-
raphy (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1968).Hussites Followers of the Czech reformer Jan HUSS. The
main demands of the early Hussites, which owed much to
the teaching of John WYCLIF, were: communion in both
kinds for the laity (i.e. reception of both bread and wine at
the Eucharist, a doctrine known as Utraquism); the ex-
propriation of Church property—many Czechs believed
that the region had been impoverished by the Church;
freedom to preach from the Scriptures; and civil punish-
ment of serious sinners. These aims were enshrined in the
Four Articles of Prague (1420), drawn up by Jakoubek of
Stríbro, successor to Huss at the Bethlehem Chapel in
Prague.
The demands for religious reform were closely linked
to political aspirations, with anger at the executions ofHHuussssiitteess 2 24477