He was a prominent Czech preacher and writer. He was the classmate of Jan Hus and the first man to publicly receive Communion under both kinds (Holy Communion under both kinds, with Host and wine, Christ’s flesh and blood). He is also renowned as a master of compromise.
He completed his bachelor degree in 1397 and later his master’s degree. He taught at the university and later became an ardent partisan of Hus. Following the latter’s death, he contributed to the creation of a Hussite dogmatic and political program, the “Four Articles of Prague”, where the Communion under
both kinds was a major point. In 1419 he replaced Hus as a preacher in the Bethlehem Chapel. Mies supported the moderate Hussite branch in Prague, although his opinions were often slightly more radical. His viewpoint, that the armed defense of God’s Word is legitimate, led numerous Taborites to believe that he gave his benediction to military operations. In the early 1420’s he opposed the extremist stand of Jan Zelivsky, which caused his short exile. He also came into arguments with Petr Chelcicky, because of his highly peculiar fusion of radicalism and moderation.
