Jacob of Mies

(Jacobus de Misa, also called, on account of his small stature, Jacobellus, i.e. Jacob the Short), one of the most prominent figures in the polemical controversy 'inaugurated by Huss, was born about the second half of the 14th century, at Misa, in Bohemia. He was educated at the University of Prague, and then became priest at Trina, and ultimately at Prague. At the instigation of Petrus Dresdensis, the Waldensian, he was led to inquire into the antiquity of the Roman Catholic mode of administering the sacrament, and, after a careful study of the writings of the early Church, became convinced that the Roman Church had no right or authority to deprive the laity of the cup, and by his tongue and by his pen he preached against the malpractice, himself also deviating from the usage, and administering the cup to the laity. Excommunicated by the archbishop of Prague, he challenged the university authorities to refute his arguments; and further defended his course by his pen: Vindiciae seu Replicatt. contra Andreas Brodam. The approbation which his course received from the people seemed rather serious to the Council of Constance, just then in session, and every effort was made to refute Jacob of Mies. But soon Huss also came forward, and declared that the early fathers had been taught by the disciples that Christ desired both the wine and the bread to be given to the laity, and when arraigned as a heretic before the bar of the council, he still continued to reiterate his former statements (compare Iist. et Monum. J. Hus atque Hieron. Pragensis, Norimb. 1715, i, 52 sq.; V. d. Hardt, Magnum ecumenicum Constantiense Concilium, etc., 4:291). Jacob of Mies, thus encouraged by the attitude of Huss, a classmate of his at the university, more vigorously than ever defended his position, and sought further to prove the accuracy of his statements in Demonstratio per testimonia Scripturce patrum atgue doctorum communicationem calicis in plebe Christiana esse necessaritm, (in V. d. Hardt, 3:804 sq.). Of course his opponents could not long continue in silence, and they naturally, though awkwardly enough, endeavored to refute him by proofs from the Bible and the Church fathers. Perhaps the most able, i.e. the most ridiculous of all, and the most vehement of the opposition documents, was an anonymous Epistola Elenchtica (in V. d. Hardt). There were even some who attempted to prove that the deprivation of the cup had its sanction in the Old-Test. Scriptures! Thereupon the council convened at Constance (the 13th session, June 15,1415) again condemned the course of Jacob of Mies, although it- virtually admitted all that he claimed for the laity (see Gieseler, Kirchen Gesch. II, 2, 227 sq., in the 4th edit.). Jacob again defended his course by an Apologia pro communione plebis, which was replied to by the celebrated Gerson in his Cone. publ. causan J. de Misa et Bohemorum quod commusionis laicalis sub utraque specie necessitatem uberius discutiendi. Notwithstanding the frequent denunciations of his course, he continued to hold his parish, and even took up his pen in behalf of many other peculiar doctrines of the Romanists. Thus he opposed the Waldensians on the doctrine of purgatory and the mass, in De purgatorio anime post mortem (in Walch, Monume. needii evi, 1, fasc. 3, p. 1 sq.). He also wrote De juramento, de antichristo, and prepared a translation of the works of Wycliffe. He died at Prague, Aug. 9,1429. The result of the controversy on the cup resulted, as is well known, in a triumph for Jacob of Mies and for Huss. See Martini, Diss. de J. de Misa. etc., primo Eucharist. Calicis per eccles. Boh. vindice (Altdorf, 1753, 4to); Spittler, Gesch. d. Kelchs i. heil. Abendmahl, p. 49 sq.; Schröckh, Kirchengesch. 33, 332 sq.; Herzog, Real-Encyklopadie, 6, 394 sq.; Gillett, Life of Huss (1871, 2 vols. 8vo). (J. H.W.)