Crusaders besiege Prague – Battle of Vitkov Hill, 1420 – Hussite Wars – @HistoryMarche

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🚩 Today we examine the Battle of Vitkov Hill, fought in 1420 outside the city walls of Prague, amidst a series of crusades against the Hussites, who were a Czech proto-Protestant movement. Just one year before, in 1419, the Pope declared a crusade against them, and the Holy Roman Empire organized forces to wipe them out. Easier said than done…

📢 Narrated by David McCallion

🎼 Music:
Epidemic Sounds
Filmstro

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Check out their stores for some awesome miniature pieces!

📚 Sources:
RNDr. et PhDr. Aleš Nováček, Ph.D. – Battles of Vítkov Hill and Vyšehrad https://www.bellum.cz/en/battles-of-vitkov-hill-and-vysehrad.html

Robert Bideleux & Ian Jeffries – A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change https://www.routledge.com/A-History-of-Eastern-Europe-Crisis-and-Change/Bideleux-Jeffries/p/book/9780415366274#

Stephen Turnbull & Angus McBride – The Hussite Wars 1419-36 https://www.ospreypublishing.com/us/hussite-wars-141936-9781841766652/

Thomas A. Fudge – The Crusade Against Heretics in Bohemia, 1418-1437 – Sources and Documents for the Hussite Crusades https://www.routledge.com/The-Crusade-against-Heretics-in-Bohemia-1418-1437-Sources-and-Documents/Fudge/p/book/9781032180199

Diarmaid MacCulloch – A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years https://www.amazon.com/Christianity-First-Three-Thousand-Years/dp/0143118692

#medieval #documentary #history

Dawn breaks on 13 July 1420. The  weary Hussite soldiers atop the   walls lift their heads above the  parapet. Beyond stands a vast army,   poised to choke Prague out of existence. The wily rebel leader, the one-eyed Jan Zizka,   manned the Vitkov Hill with no more than  60 men. The small outpost was meant to  

Secure the road by which supplies could come  from the east. But would his plan work?   Prague has been under siege for a month by  Sigismund, the King of Germany, Hungary,   and Croatia. It seemed only a matter of time  before his massive army encircled the city.  

From a high point to the northwest, Sigismund’s  soldiers HOWL like dogs, taunting the defenders.   They shout “heretics!” and mock the terrible  fate of their former leader, Jan Hus.   THEN, a Hussite prisoner is brought before  the walls. The crusaders tie him to a stake  

And burn him alive in full view of his  compatriots. Their message is clear:   “Heretics will be shown no mercy.” But the prolonged campaign has tested   the resolve of Sigismund’s large multinational  force. Discipline has begun to break down.   Growing impatient, the king decides to  bring matters to a prompt conclusion.  

That night, unable to see, the defenders of Prague  could only hear the foreboding movement of the   massive crusader army, somewhere in the darkness…  No doubt, the main assault was coming…   The next morning, Zizka’s men on Vitkov Hill  awake to see the knights of the imperial army,  

Arrayed in heavy armor and with banners flying  high. They advance up the slope towards the fort,   with thousands more still pouring  over the river to the north.   The moment of Judgment has come… Societal, economic, and cultural   changes in Western and Central Europe  during the High Middle Ages, culminated  

With a crisis that began in mid-14th century. The bubonic plague decimated the continent.   The economic system collapsed. Long-distance  trade was all but extinguished.   Serfs and common people now lacked  even existential security.   The role of the Catholic Church diminished with  the decline of its political power and wealth,  

And its prestige was damaged  during the papal schism.   For all intents and purposes, the pillars  of medieval feudal society were falling.   Attempts at reforming the church and the  wider feudal society were made across Europe,   one of which was the Hussite movement,  formed from the teachings of Jan Hus,  

A theologian and preacher from Bohemia. Starting around the year 1402, Hus condemned the   corruption of the Catholic Church and the Papacy.  He resented the actions of the “Antipope” John   XXIII who, during the Western Schism, proclaimed  “A CRUSADE” in 1411 against a fellow Christian,  

King Ladislaus of Naples, for providing military  protection to the rival Pope, Gregory XII.   But to raise funds for the enterprise, John  CONVENIENTLY authorized the sale of indulgences   in Bohemia, a process by which a person could make  “A HEFTY DONATION” to the Church and thus limit  

The time they were to spend in Purgatory. Jan Hus travelled throughout Bohemia and   spoke out against this practice. He bitterly  opposed Papal infallibility when Papal decrees   contradicted the Bible. And he promoted  the reformist ideas of John Wycliffe,   a proto-Protestant theologian from England. Hus’ preaching found a ready audience in  

Inner Bohemia, where the society grew  discontent over instability created   by the rivalry between the German-dominated  Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church.   Moreover, Czech nationalism was developing  just as similar notions of nationhood were   evolving in England and France during the  Hundred Years’ War. Spain and Portugal  

Experienced their own national awakenings in  the turmoil of the Reconquista. And Bohemia,   with its long history as an independent duchy, had  similar aspirations to these westerly kingdoms.   Thus, Hus’ actions weakened the authority of  the Catholic Church in Bohemia, no doubt causing  

Anger and provoking accusations of heresy. In 1415, Jan Hus was lured to a church council   in Constance, supposedly under the protection  of King Sigismund. But once there, he was taken   prisoner and burned at the stake. When news spread of his gruesome end,  

It stirred Bohemia into open revolt. For the time being, King Wenceslas of   Bohemia – the childless brother of Sigismund  – had sympathy for the Hussites. Attempting to   pacify the situation, he allowed his lords  and the people to replace Catholic priests  

With their own ministers, as well as the use  of bread and wine in religious services.   Sigismund, however, counselled his brother  against allowing the Hussite heresy to gain   too strong a foothold, warning him that greater  bloodshed would follow once the Hussites felt  

Secure enough to openly defy the throne. Wenceslas tried to play both sides for a   number of years, but matters eventually came to  a head in Prague in the fateful year of 1419.   A Hussite march through the city,  no doubt a show of strength after  

Wenceslas had limited the number of churches  where Hussite priests could hold positions,   devolved into a riot and finally an uprising. After a stone was thrown from atop the Town Hall,   either in the direction of the Sacred Host  carried by the Hussite mob or its leader,  

Jan Zelivsky, the Hussites stormed  the tower and threw a number of   royal officials from one of its high windows. The town’s mayor and a judge, along with a number   of others, were killed in what became known  as the First Defenestration of Prague.  

King Wenceslas was said to have died of  shock at the news, and though this could   be a fanciful embroidery, his near concurrent  demise almost three weeks after the incident,   plunged Bohemia into chaos. The throne was now open to the  

Hardline Sigismund at precisely the moment  that Hussite tensions were at a peak.   Wencelas’s wife, Sophia of Bavaria, attempted  to take control of Prague. But the Hussites,   now under the leadership of an experienced  commander and former captain of Sophia’s own  

Forces – Jan Zizka – resisted her garrison. There was fierce fighting and considerable   damage done to both life and property. Under Sophia’s commander, Cenek of Wartenburg,   the royal army occupied Prague Castle on Hradcany  Hill and then fortified the surrounding area,  

As well as the Charles Bridge and  other crossings on the Vltava.   Proving himself no less capable, Zizka occupied  the fortress of Vysehrad. In an early indication   of the esteem his fellow Czechs felt for his  character and abilities, the garrison handed  

The castle over to him without resistance.  From these strongholds, the fighting in Prague   went on for over a week before a ceasefire was  called and the two sides began negotiations.   The monarchy offered the Hussites freedom to  carry out their rites and religious practices  

In their own manner, but the cost would  be Hussite withdrawal from the city and a   cessation of fighting. Zizka raged when the  Hussite leadership accepted the royal offer   and gave up the fortress at Vysehrad. While the moderate Ultraquist faction of  

The Hussites confirmed the agreement with the  monarchy, Zizka withdrew from Prague and became   military leader of the hardline Tabor faction,  its name coming from the Biblical Mountain   on which an ancient Israeli army mustered  before victory over a Canaanite tribe.  

He established a base in the town of Pilsen  and began to organize his forces, while the   Royalist side launched a campaign against  Hussite centers around the countryside.   Zizka led an army consisting largely of working  men, farmers and craftsmen, with some merchants  

And lower nobility. This was in stark contrast  to the experienced mercenaries, knights, and   men-at-arms that filled the Royalist ranks. Recognizing that his recruits lacked   the same level of military training and  capabilities, Zizka adapted his tactics.   He began mounting guns on reinforced wagons,  inadvertently anticipating the invention of  

The modern tank by some five centuries. With many farmers in his army arriving in   their carts, he had no shortage of carpenters who  could modify these vehicles, adding firing holes   on-and-below the carts. This provided his men hard  cover, from where they could shoot their firearms  

And crossbows at the advancing enemy. Roof covers provided protection against   enemy arrows and crossbow bolts. Most importantly, Zizka would train   his army to form a wagon fort in the field,  making it harder for the Royalist cavalry to  

Overwhelm them as they would’ve have been able to  do if the rebels were formed on foot in regular   formations or behind hand-held shields. These firearm and wagon tactics proved their   value when a Royalist force attacked his small  army while it had the castle of Nekmar under  

Siege. With just five wagons, Zizka was able  to fight off the Royalists and withdraw back   to the relative security of Pilsen. When Royalist raids began to encroach to   the south, into the Pilsen area, Zizka made the  decision to withdraw again and continue to build  

His army. This time, his destination was the  newly established Hussite fortress at Hradiste,   which they had renamed Tabor. While moving toward the new base,   Zizka’s small force of a few hundred was attacked  by a mounted Royalist army about twice its number.  

The Royalists chose the moment for their attack  badly, as they had allowed Zizka to pick the   terrain after he had sighted the approaching  knights soon after crossing the Orava River.   The ground on which he made his stand was a boggy  area to the southeast of Sudomer. Zizka used a dam  

That had been constructed for fishponds to protect  one of his flanks, and then set up his war wagons   between two lakes, limiting the maneuverability  of the mounted enemy still further.   Almost immediately, the Royalists’ heavy, armored  horses became bogged down in waterlogged marsh,  

But they managed to destroy three  of the twelve of Zizka’s wagons.   Nevertheless, Zizka’s tactics won out, and  his men were first able to halt the now   slow-moving cavalry. Many Royalists were   cut down in a hail of shot. Eventually, Zizka launched a counterattack,  

On foot. Armed with flails, spears, and other  melee weapons, the Hussites brought the fight   to the mounted knights. Being on foot, they  found it easier to move through the morass.   The Royalist force endured very heavy casualties  and those that were not killed fled the field.  

In spite of the losses Zizka suffered, Sudomer  transformed him from a diehard outlaw into the   hero of the Bohemian Hussites. His ranks swelled  rapidly over the months that followed.   He set to work making Tabor an impregnable  redoubt, building a double wall and ordering  

More of the Hussite “pipe guns” and heavier  howitzer style guns. The Hussites became the   first force in European history to  field large contingents of firearms,   and this gave their otherwise disadvantageous  position an edge in the ongoing war.  

The success at Sudomer was fortunately timed.  For Pope Martin V had proclaimed a crusade   against the Hussites, earlier that month, and  his papal bull Omnium Plasmatoris Domini was   read before the Imperial Diet at Breslau. Sigismund immediately took command of the  

Expedition, and recruits from across Europe  began making their way to his assembly point,   the Lower Silesian town of Swidnica. From there, they moved south in late   April. Estimated size of the crusader host  varies widely from the conservative 30,000   to the unrealistic 100,000 men, with the  number most often given being between 50  

And 60,000 troops, including camp followers. In contrast, numbering between 12 and 30,000,   the Hussites could not hope to match  this force in size, though they were   somewhat buoyed by the defection of Cenak of  Wartenburg to their cause. Cenak attempted to  

Besiege Prague Castle district, but it was to  no avail as Sigismund’s would soon arrive.   The united Ultraquists and Taborites  still remaining in the city were   now under siege themselves. They  issued a call for aid to Zizka.  

Answering the call, the champion of the Hussite  cause began moving at speed back to Prague.   When Zizka arrived in Prague, Sigismund was  encamped across the Vltava to the north,   while the crusaders already held the city’s key  strongpoints, with several thousand stationed  

In the Prague Castle district on the western side  and additional 4,000 in Vysehrad to the south.   With an eye for reading the terrain, Zizka  quickly realized that the enemy would soon   hold all strategic points that controlled  access to the city. All but one.  

The Hussite leader hastily dispatched a  small contingent to occupy the Vitkov Hill,   a prominent ridge east of Prague. An old stone watch tower dominated the western end   of the hill. Controlling it would secure the road  by which supplies could come in from the east.  

Since the much smaller Hussite army  would not stand a chance in the open,   it was crucial they held on to Vitkov Hill,  lest they be cut off and surrounded.   A timber palisade was constructed around  the existing watchtower. Redoubts were  

Added in front of the fort, with stone  blockhouses at either end of the redoubt.   The steep northern slope provided  additional protection. Trenches,   rocks, tree trunks, and other obstacles were  used along the ridge to further hamper any   advance of the more numerous Crusaders. As the Royalist scouts finished reconnoitring  

The perimeter of Prague, Sigismund realized that  it would be impossible to attack the city without   gaining control of the Spitalfield, from where  a direct assault on the walls could be launched,   and, more importantly, reducing or  capturing the fort on Vitkov Hill.  

On July 13th, Sigismund ordered an artillery  detachment be moved across the river into the   Spitalfield area north of the Hussite fort.  They were to coordinate with other artillery   placements near the Royal camp to begin  the bombardment of the Vitkov Hill.  

Zizka, to the astonishment of his comrades,  mobilized a detachment and RUSHED out the gate.   To most, the action seemed like madness! But Zizka realized that the support for   Sigismund’s artillery had not crossed the  Vltava. Sigismund may have believed that   the rebels would not leave their strong  positions and march out into the open,  

Thus allowing the artillery to cross first. Zizka correctly guessed that to exploit this   narrow window of opportunity before the enemy  could react, there was no time to consult the   other Hussite captains. Daring action was needed!  

Under a hail of enemy cannon fire, Zizka led  his men through the clouds of dust and smoke.   By the time the Royalists spotted them, it was too  late. The Hussites poured onto the Spitalfield,   overwhelming their artillery positions. Many  of the crews were killed, others routed,  

And a number of artillery pieces were  hauled away back into the city.   Remarkably, as night fell,  Sigismund remained undeterred.   Confident that he still had the upper hand,  the king spent the night going through battle   plans with his commanders. Finally, he gave the order for  

A general assault on the Vitkov in  the early hours of the morning.   During the night, ferry boats worked to  ship the crusaders across the river from   Letenska to take up position before Vitkov  Hill once more in the Spitalfield.   In addition, Sigismund dispatched spies  through secret passes in the Hussite  

Lines. These relayed orders throughout  the Prague Castle and Vysehrad areas.   Unlike the uncoordinated attack of the day before,   Sigismund now planned to bring his full force  to bear and crush the Hussites in one strike.   Sorties from both castles would pin the Hussites  down in the cramped streets and squares,  

While the main attack from the north  would sweep over the Vitkov and close   the channel that kept Zizka supplied and  in contact with the Hussite controlled   areas of Bohemia to the east and south. Like a trap closing around an unknowing prey,  

Sigismund would then have the Hussite hero and  his forces to grind down at his pleasure.   At dawn the attack began. The Royalist garrisons of   the Prague Castle and Vysehrad districts  attacked the Hussite outposts in the city.  

The entire city of Prague soon resounded with  the noise, clamour, and terror of battle.   Smoke hung heavy over thatched roofs and  drifted lazily up toward the spires of the   city’s churches and cathedral. But the Royalist action within   the city was only meant to divert  attention of the rebel leadership.  

The main thrust came from the Spitalfield, by  Sigismund’s assault force numbering 16,000 men.   1,000 Saxon knights were tasked  with advancing up the north face   of the Vitkov Hill and taking the fort. A much larger group formed the right wing  

And was tasked with attacking the Porici  Gate, once the Vitkov Hill was taken.   A third group consisting of men-at-arms,  regular cavalry, and infantry, moved behind   the knights, forming the second wave. However, the Saxon knights discovered   that the north-facing slope of the Vitkov was  too steep for a mounted attack, so they left  

Their horses behind and proceeded on foot. Worse, their advance was slowed further by the   trenches, pits, and obstacles placed  on the slope. The going was tough.   When they reached the palisade, they had to  pick their way over the obstacles and earthworks  

Of the defenders, under fire from crossbow  bolts the moment they came into range.   The 60 or so Hussite defenders put up a  tremendous fight, using their firearms   when the knights came into close proximity, and  then resorting to spears and heavy flails to  

Hold off the enemy at close quarters. Against all odds, the heroic defenders   on Vitkov Hill stood their ground. Seeing  the struggle of their valiant compatriots,   another 50 fighters left the walls of  Prague to join the fighting on the hill.  

Piece by piece, however, Sigismund sent more  troops into the fray, ramping up the pressure   on the Vitkov. His aim was to wear down the  defenders until they could do no more.   By this time, only 26 of the Hussites were  left standing. They now fought against a  

Force over FIFTY TIMES their numbers.  But they sold their lives dearly.   Still, the gruelling slaughter took its toll, as  the strength of the defenders finally gave way.   The first of the blockhouses fell. Soon after  the old watchtower was taken by the crusaders.