r/TheHussiteWars

In July of 1419, a curious event in Prague helped to fan the flames of the Hussite Wars. A large crowd of Hussites, led by the radical preacher Jan Zelivsky were on procession near the New Town Hall. Tensions were high after Catholic authorities continued to suppress Hussite preachers despite agreements for religious tolerance.

According to contemporary accounts, after a confrontation (and possibly after a stone was thrown at Zelivsky from the building), the crowd stormed the town hall. They threw the Catholic mayor, judges, and several councillors out of the windows, straight onto the pikes and pitchforks of the crowd below, those who survived the fall were finished off with anything that was available.

The defenestration would go on to have far reaching consequences. King Wenceslaus IV, already ill, reportedly died of shock shortly after hearing the news. His death created a dangerous power vacuum, especially as the unpopular Sigismund of Luxembourg (the same one I mentioned in my previous post) tried to claim the Bohemian throne. Within months, much of Bohemia rose in support of the Hussite cause thus setting the stage for the first papal crusade in 1420.

The defenestration became a powerful symbol of Hussite resistance, so much so that a second defenestration occurred in Prague in 1618, helping to trigger the Thirty Years War. Interestingly enough, Prague wasn't the first city to throw her officials out of windows, a year earlier in Vratislav (Wrocław today) a similar event occurred where disgruntled craftsmen tossed the city's officials out of the windows of city hall, though the circumstances were not religious but economical.

The Hussite Wars did not begin on the battlefield, with the (illegal) burning of a single preacher in 1415 in Konstanz.

Jan Hus, a popular Czech preacher and university master in Prague, had been openly criticizing corruption in the Catholic Church. He called for reform, emphasized the authority of the Bible over Church traditions, and preached in the Czech language so ordinary people could understand. His ideas gained massive support in Bohemia. It is worth noting here that much like Martin Luther, Jan Hus was never intent on breaking away from the church, he only clamoured for much needed reform.

In 1414, Hus was invited to the Council of Constance (Konstanz) under an official imperial guarantee of safe conduct (known as an Iron Letter) made by the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund himself to discuss and defend his views. Instead, he was arrested in arrival in Sigismund's orders, tried for heresy, and burned at the stake on July 6, 1415. The news of his death caused understandable outrage across Bohemia. Many saw it not only as an attack on a righteous man trying to preach his (popular) views on the church but also many people throughout the entirety of the Holy Roman Empire saw Sigismund's actions as u derhanded and unbecoming of an Emperor.

When King Wenceslaus IV died in 1419 and the new king of Bohemia Sigismund (the same Emperor that had approved Hus’s execution) tried to take the throne, tensions exploded. Hussite supporters in Prague threw Catholic officials from windows in the First Defenestration of Prague, marking the start of open revolt.

What began as a religious protest rapidly turned into a national and military conflict. The Hussites united around the demand that the Church must reform, and that they would defend their beliefs by force if necessary. This led to nearly fifteen years of warfare against five papal crusades.

According to legend, Hus' last words were ones of prophecy: "You are now going to burn a goose but in a century you will have a swan which you can neither roast nor boil." The prophecy lies in that "Hus" means "goose" in the Czech language, and in that just over 100 years later, in 1517, Martin Luther, often symbolized by a swan, posted his Ninety-Five Theses, thus launching the Protestant Reformation.

I had an interesting thought recently.

Imagine, if you will, that you're a regular farmer or townsman in XV century Bohemia or Silesia. Word comes down that a big army is marching your way, probably to pillage, burn, and kill. Historically, it was usually a straightforward affair, what with foreign banners, a different language, sometimes even a different religion or straight up pagans all with their own religious symbolism and whatnot. All of this amounted to a pretty clear "us vs them" dynamic.

Then the Hussites show up.

These guys are marching under crosses, flying banners with saints and religious icons, and carrying monstrances (those fancy gold things with the Eucharist) like they're on a holy procession. They're singing hymns, chanting prayers to the same God you pray to, and claiming they're the true defenders of Christianity against a corrupt Church. That Rome is the seat of the anti-christ and the pope is the devil himself.

And it wasn't some invading horde from afar too, it was your neighbors/countrymen, fellow Bohemians (and sympathizers), who spoke your language, worshipped in mostly the same tradition, but now they're rolling up in war wagons blasting handgonnes and bashing skulls with modified farming flails all the while equipped with the most Catholic looking gear imaginable. So now, not only are you confused as to whose the enemy, you're also starting to question whether what you and your family believe is even the right thing.

For the average person it had to be so confusing. As in: "Wait, are these the good guys or the bad guys? They're heretics but they're carrying the body of Christ into battle? They're singing the same songs as us while burning the bishop's lands?"

It blurred the usual lines of holy war in a way that earlier crusades against Muslims or pagans never did. No exotic enemy, just fellow Christians who decided the Church had gone off the rails and were ready to fight the Emperor and multiple popes over it.

Kinda sheds some light on why the whole conflict was so brutal and messy. When the "enemy" looks, sounds, and prays like you, it's bound to get convoluted fast.

Anyone else find the psychological/cultural side of the Hussite Wars fascinating?

One of the most distinctive and effective innovations of the Hussite Wars was the wagenburg (wagon fort).

What began as a practical defensive measure evolved into a revolutionary tactical system that allowed Armies comprised largely of peasants and town militias to defeat heavily armored knights, who were trained in the ways of war since childhood.

A wagenburg was formed by arranging supply wagons into a large fortified circle or rectangle, often chained together for stability. Gaps between the wagons were protected with wooden pavise shields or smaller carts. This created a mobile fortress that shielded soldiers, horses, and artillery from enemy attacks. From behind this cover, Hussite infantry, crossbowmen, and gunners could fire effectively while remaining relatively safe.

The tactic combined strong defense with the ability to launch sudden counterattacks once the enemy was disorganized. The formation could be assembled or taken down relatively quickly, giving the Hussites mobility that their opponents often lacked. The psychological impact was significant, the sight of hundreds of war wagons advancing across the countryside was unfamiliar and intimidating to most European armies of the time.

The innovation worked particularly well because it neutralized the main strength of the Catholic crusaders, heavy cavalry charges, which turned into a huge mess once the charging knights met with Hussite gunpowder and pikes.

Jan Žižka of Trocnov (1360 -1424) is regarded as one of the most innovative and successful military commanders of the Late Middle Ages. A minor Bohemian noble with long military experience, he became the leading general of the early Hussite armies.

Despite losing an eye years earlier (and later becoming fully blind), Žižka transformed mostly peasant and town militias into a disciplined force. He perfected the wagenburg tactics and combined them with artillery, infantry, and aggressive counterattacks. This allowed the Hussites to defeat multiple larger and better equipped crusading armies.

A strict disciplinarian and supporter of the radical Taborites, Žižka died of plague in 1424, but his tactics and trained forces continued to secure victories for years afterward. The Hussites would go on to be led by Prokop the Great, for whom I plan another post.

His legacy remains one of the greatest underdog military stories in European history, sadly he seems to be a very niche commander and not many people (that aren't that much into history) have heard of him.

This is a rare and embellished version of a firearms that would have been typically found in a Hussite arsenal.

While the premise that these little cannons were as dangerous for you as they were for the enemy is largely exaggerated, they weren't exactly the safest thing in the world.

Either way this would be a scary weapon, even without the extra spikes for clubbing people.