Young Martin Against the Indulgences

Saint John of Nepomuk is said by legend to have preached here. Very important in our history was the work here of the eloquent Austrian Konrad Waldhauser, buried in 1369 in the graveyard of this church, and of his Czech successor, the zealous Jan Milíč of Kroměříž; their zeal for the reform of abuses won followers, among whom Jan Hus stood out. In 1412 Hus nailed a paper against indulgences to the gate and invited disputation at the Carolinum. In the same year a youth named Martin loudly contradicted the preachers of indulgences here in the church — and he was one of the three young men who were beheaded soon afterwards.