PÁLEČ, ŠTĚPÁN. - Theologian, born between 1360 and 1370 at Větší Páleč in Bohemia, died after 1422 in Poland.
At the University of Prague he took his degree in Arts (1390) and also that in Theology (1410). In 1400 he held the office of rector of the University. In 1408 P. went to Italy as a member of the embassy of King Wenceslaus IV to the Council of Pisa. Imprisoned by the legate B. Cossa, he was released only after the intervention of the King and the University. P. CHUS (v.) and, together with him, took an interest in the writings of Wicklef, though more because of his reforming tendencies than because of his dogmatic doctrines. When, in 1412, Hus attacked the bulls of indulgence issued by Pope John XXIII, P. firmly defended them. His principal works date from that period: Tractatus gloriosus, Replicatio contra Quidamistas, De Ecclesia, Antihus. In 1414 P. went to the Council of Constance, where he was Hus’s chief opponent, but also an ardent supporter of ecclesiastical reforms. Unable to return to his homeland because of the Hussite wars, P. went to Poland, where he taught at the University of Cracow and fought against the infiltration of the Hussite movement. The year and place of P.’s death are unknown; the last information concerning him dates from 1422. As a theologian, P. particularly defended the cult of images and saints, indulgences, the efficacy of the Sacraments, the dogmatic value of sacred tradition, and the hierarchical constitution of the Church with the Papacy, although in the end he showed himself favorable to conciliarism.