1. The Game’s Title
I’m wondering why the game is titled “Kingdom Come: Deliverance”…
And is it the title of only Act I or of all three Acts, while Act I is subtitled, say, “Prologue”?
And what do you think that Acts II and III will be about – the Hussite wars?
(@warhorse, what do you plan for Acts II and III to be about?)
As far as I know, some even regard him as one of the Fathers of the Czech Nation, alongside Charles IV, HRE (1316–78), František Palacký (1798–1876) and Tomáš G. Masaryk (1850–1937).
2. A Bit of Recent Czech History
"[I]n the crucial years between 1935 and 1938 – the years of increasing tensions between the German minority and the central government – the Communist Party presented itself not as a party of revolution, but as a party that would defend the Czech nation and its independence.
"[Zdeněk] Nejedlý's final concept found its expression in a pamphlet which he published in 1946 with the title «Communists, the Heirs of the Great Traditions of the Czech Nation.» The bearers of the Czech national traditions have always been the people, is his statement; never the aristocracy nor the Church. That was especially true for Hussite times when the people under the leadership of Hus and his successors rose against feudal lords and the king. The crisis of the Czech nation after the Battle of White Mountain was not only a national one, as Palacký or others stated, but was primarily a social one, because feudalism was reinstalled, bringing suffering to the peasants and the poor – those who truly stood for the Czech nation. [...]
"In this way, the communist Nejedlý could adapt Palacký's concept of Czech history without changing its foundations. Also for Nejedlý the Hussite period was the culmination of Czech history, especially Tábor and its radical democratic spirit. Conversely, the period of re-Catholicisation was the lowest point in Czech history because it saw the oppression by the ruling classes of mainly German-speaking nobility and the Roman Catholic Church. He only added an extra argument to the concept of Palacký, that is, that the real struggle was not about religious issues, but about social justice. The Hussite period is a central period in Czech history because Tábor came so close to communist values. In a sense, Nejedlý managed to highjack Palacký's concept of Czech history – which had become the foundation for the new Czechoslovakia – for the purpose of legitimising communist rule.
"Hus, therefore, was not seen so much as a religious person: today he might have marched in the streets with the communists instead of preaching from the pulpit. [...]
"Entirely in the spirit of the pamphlet of 1946, Hus was presented as a revolutionary who fought against the Church and the aristocracy. [...]
"Hus was not a filthy heretic of early Christianity, nor a silent medieval sectarian, nor a learned reformer behind an university chair. Hus is the first revolutionary of modern times. Therefore, the results of his appearance were entirely different. No one of his predecessors invoked a revolution. Hus did. And one that shocked the whole world of his time and which continues to shock even after half a millennium. [...]
"Hus was not just a source of new religious insights, but also the propagator of a new social order very similar to the socialist order. In the ideological eyes of the former historian, now politician, Zdeněk Nejedlý, Jan Hus was a communist 'avant la lettre'. [...]
Continued:
"[C]ommunists were rather successful in their campaign to show that they were a part of what Nejedlý called the best Czech traditions, including Jan Hus and the Táborite movement. They managed to use Hussite history for legitimating their claim on power. The three historical films of Otakar Vávra about the Hussite movement (Jan Hus, Jan Žižka and Proti všem) from the years 1954 to 1957 – and, perhaps, more important, their continuing popularity – are a symbol and affirmation of the success of this effort."
And now, the historical game Kingdom Come: Deliverance…? (@warhorse)
Citation: Morée, Peter. “Not Preaching From the Pulpit, But Marching in the Streets: The Communist Use of Jan Hus.” Trans. Zdeněk V. David. In The Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice. Vol. 6. Ed. Zdeněk V. David and David R. Holeton (Prague, 2007), 283-296. Availabe from: http://www.brrp.org. Accessed 20 May 2016.
See also:
• Pope Apologises for Church Sins | BBC News (12 March 2000)
"«We are asking pardon for the divisions among Christians, for the use of violence that some have committed in the service of truth, and for attitudes of mistrust and hostility assumed toward followers of other religions,» said Pope John Paul II"
• Pope Francis Takes Significant Step Forward with Jan Hus Comments | Radio Prague (15 June 2015)
"The pope said that Hus' burning at the stake after refusing to recant his alleged heresy was an injury to the [Roman Catholic] Church itself and the Church should ask forgiveness for it, like all the acts in history when killings had been committed in the name of God. He referred specifically to the Thirty Years War [1618–48] which in particular devastated the Czech lands and much of the rest of Europe in the 17th century."
I remember Dan Vavra saying that WH deliberately choose a lesser known period of our history (overshadowed by the Hussite wars), so that they can write the story without being totally constrained by existing historical sources.