PÁLEČ, ŠTĚPÁN. - Theologian, b. between 1360 and 1370 at Větší Páleč in Bohemia, d. 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 of the University. P. was a friend of Hus (v.) and together with him took an interest in the writings of Wycliffe, but rather for his reforming tendencies than for his dogmatic doctrines. When in 1412 Hus attacked the bulls of indulgences, published by Pope John XXIII, P. firmly defended them. From that period date his principal works: Tractatus gloriosus, Replicatio contra Quidamistas, De Ecclesia, Antihus. In 1414 P. went to the Council of Constance, where he was the principal opponent of Hus, but also a fervent supporter of ecclesiastical reforms. Being unable to return to his homeland because of the Hussite wars, P. went to Poland, where he taught at the University of Kraków and fought the infiltrations of the Hussite movement. The year and place of P.'s death are not known; the last notice of him is from 1422. As a theologian P. particularly defended the cult of images and of the saints, indulgences, the efficacy of the Sacraments, the dogmatic value of sacred tradition, the hierarchical constitution of the Church with the Papacy, although in the end he showed himself favorable to conciliarism.
Bibliography2 works
Giuseppe Olär