At the very end of 1381, Princess Anne of Bohemia arrived in England, where, soon after, she married King Richard II and became known as ‘Good Queen Anne’. Her father, Charles IV, was not only a skilled diplomat but also a devout man, and all of his children were educated and well-read. It is very likely that Anne also brought a Bible in Czech (translated from Latin) to England. And it is certain that she had the Gospels in three languages – Latin, German, and Czech.
This fact caught John Wycliffe’s attention, and he used it to support his translation of the Bible into English, which he was completing at the time. He wrote, ‘The noble Queen of England, the Emperor’s sister, had the gospels in three languages. To call her a heretic for this reason would be nothing but devilish pride.’
However, John Wycliffe’s Czech follower, the preacher of God’s Word Jan Hus, was branded a heretic and burned at the stake in Constance in 1415. Yet the fire of that stake ignited the flames of the Reformation throughout the Czech lands. But it was not the first fire of the gospel to set this land ablaze.
Early missionaries
Archaeological excavations confirm the presence of missionaries from Ireland and Scotland in our territory as early as the seventh and eighth centuries. At that time, the land was settled by Slavs, and in the ninth century, a state entity known as Great Moravia emerged across a significant portion of its territory.
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