Milic of Kremsier

views updated

Milic of Kremsier (mē´lēch, krām´zēr), d. 1374, Bohemian reformer. He was a Roman Catholic priest. In 1363 he began a career of preaching in Moravia as well as in Prague. Believing that the end of the world was near, he went to Rome in 1367 to urge the remedying of abuses in the church. He was imprisoned by the Inquisition and there wrote Libellus de Antichristo. Released by Pope Urban V, Milic continued (1369–72) his preaching in Prague. He later acquitted himself of heresy charges before the pope at Avignon. He was the author of devotional writings in both Latin and Czech. As one of the most influential preachers in Bohemia, he has been called a precursor of John Huss, but there is no question of Milic's doctrinal orthodoxy.