Milíc z Kromeríže Jan

(or Jan Milic of Kroměříže, or John MilíČ). Date of birth unknown; died Aug. 1, 1374, in Avignon. Czech preacher, representative of the burghers’ opposition; predecessor of J. Hus.

From 1358 to 1362, Milíč served in the royal chancellery, and in 1362 was made a canon. In 1363 he renounced his post and its revenues and privileges to become an ascetic priest. In impassioned sermons, delivered mainly in Czech, Milíč exposed the parasitism, greed, simony, and decayed morals of the clergy, especially the monks. He proposed that the monasteries be closed and urged secularization of church property and general reform of the church. Yet he believed that it was possible to combat such evil without breaking with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. MiliS was repeatedly persecuted and in 1374 was imprisoned in a dungeon in Avignon.