Hussite movement: causes, participants, results, significance

The Czech Hussite movement appeared at the beginning of the 15th century. Its members wanted to reform the Christian church. The main inspirer of change was the Czech theologian Jan Hus, whose tragic fate led to an uprising and a war of two decades.

The teachings of Jan Hus

Jan Hus was born in the south of the Czech Republic in 1369. He graduated and became a professor at Prague University. He also accepted the priesthood and became head of the Bethlehem Chapel in the Czech capital. Jan Hus very quickly became a popular preacher among his fellow citizens. This was due to the fact that he spoke with people in Czech, while the whole Roman Catholic Church used Latin, which the simple masses did not know.

The Hussite movement was formed around the theses that Jan Hus put forward, arguing with the papal throne about what is appropriate for a Christian priest. The Czech reformer believed that one should not sell positions and indulgences for money. Another controversial statement by the preacher was his idea that the Church is not infallible and should be criticized if vices are hidden inside it. At that time, these were very bold words, because not a single Christian could argue with the pope and priests. Such people were automatically recognized as heretics.

Nevertheless, Gus happily avoided reprisal for some time due to his popularity among the people. The church reformer was also an enlightener. He suggested making changes to the Czech alphabet in order to facilitate the process of teaching people to read and write.

The death of Hus

In 1414, Jan Hus was called to the Constance Cathedral, which took place in a German city on the shores of Lake Constance. Formally, the purpose of this meeting was to discuss the crisis in the Catholic Church, in which the Great Western schism occurred. For almost forty years, two popes have existed at once. One was in Rome, the other in France. At the same time, half of the Catholic countries supported one, and the other half supported the second.

Jan Hus already had a conflict with the Church, they tried to isolate him from the flock, forbade activities, but thanks to the intercession of the Czech secular authorities, the popular priest continued his sermon. Going to Konstanz, he demanded guarantees that he would not be touched. Promises have been made. But when Gus was at the cathedral, he was arrested.

The Pope motivated this by the fact that he personally did not give any promises (and only the emperor Sigismund made them). Gus was required to give up his views. He refused. While he was being detained, the Czech nobility sent dispatches and demands to release his national hero to Germany. These exhortations had no effect. On July 6, 1415, Jan Hus was burned as a heretic. This was the main reason for the outbreak of war in the Czech Republic.

The beginning of the uprising in the Czech Republic

The Reformation Hussite movement swept the whole country. Nobles (gentry) , city dwellers and knights did not like the violence of the Catholic Church over their national identity. There were differences in adherence to certain Christian rites.

After the execution of Hus, the goals of the Hussite movement were finally formed: to save the Czech Republic from Catholics and Germans. For some time the conflict was local in nature. However, the Pope, not wanting to yield to the heretics, declared a crusade to Moravia. Such military campaigns were the norm for that time. The first crusades were organized in order to win Palestine from the Muslims and protect it. When the Middle East was lost to the Europeans, the gaze of the church turned to the regions where various heretics or pagans were active. The most successful campaign was in the Baltic states, where two military monastic orders were created with their territory. Now it is the turn of the Czech Republic to survive the invasion of knights with a cross on banners.

Sigismund and Jan ižka

At the first stage of the war, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Sigismund became the commander in chief of the crusader army. He had already compromised himself in the eyes of the Czechs because he did not defend Hus when he was tried at the Council of Constance. Now the emperor has become even more hated by Slavic residents.

The Hussite movement also received its military leader. It was Jan ižka. It was a Czech nobleman who was already over 60 years old. Despite this, he was full of strength. This knight was known for his brilliant career at the courts of various kings. In 1410, he volunteered to join the Polish-Lithuanian army, which defeated the German crusaders of the Teutonic Order in the Battle of Grunwald. In the battle, he lost his left eye.

Already in the Czech Republic, during the war against Sigismund, Zizka completely went blind, but remained the leader of the Hussites. He instilled terror into enemies with his appearance and cruelty. In 1420, the commander, together with an 8,000-strong army, came to the aid of the inhabitants of Prague, driving out the crusaders from among them, among whom there was a split. After this event, for a while, the whole Czech Republic fell under the rule of the Hussites.

Radical and moderate

However, another split soon occurred, which had already divided the Hussite movement. The reasons for the movement were the rejection of Catholicism and German rule over the Czech Republic. Soon a radical wing emerged, which was led by Zizka. His supporters robbed Catholic monasteries, cracked down on objectionable priests. These people organized their own camp on Mount Tabor, which is why they were soon called taborites.

At the same time, there was a moderate movement among the Hussites. Its members were ready to compromise with the Catholic Church in exchange for some concessions. Due to disagreement between the rebels, soon the unified power in the Czech Republic ceased to exist. Emperor Sigismund tried to take advantage of this, and he began to organize a second Crusade against heretics.

Crusade against the Hussites

In 1421, the imperial army, which also included detachments of Hungarian and Polish knights, returned to the Czech Republic. The purpose of Sigismund was the city of atec, which was located near the German province of Saxony. An army of taborites came to the aid of the besieged fortress, headed by Jan ižka. The city managed to defend and from that day the war went on with varying success for both sides.

Soon, the participants in the Hussite movement received support from an unexpected ally in the person of the Orthodox army, who came from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In this country, there was an intense internal struggle for the preservation of the old faith and the rejection of the Catholic influence that came from Poland. For several years, the Lithuanians, as well as their Russian subjects, helped the Hussites in their war against the emperor.

In 1423, the short-term success of Zizka allowed him, together with the army, to completely cleanse his country and even begin an intervention in neighboring Hungary. The Hussites reached the banks of the Danube, where they were waiting for the local royal army. Zizka did not dare to engage in battle and turned back to her homeland.

The failure in Hungary led to the aggravation of the contradictions that split the Hussite movement. The reasons for the movement were forgotten, and the taborites started a war against the moderates (who were also called cup-men or utraquists). The radicals managed to win an important victory in June 1424, after which unity was restored for a short time. However, in the same fall, Jan ižka died of the plague. Traveling to the memorable places of the Hussite movement must necessarily include the city of Pribislav, where the famous leader of the Hussites died. Today Zizka is a national hero of the Czechs. He installed a large number of monuments.

Continuation of the war

Zizka's place as leader of the taborites was taken by Prokop Naked. He was a priest and came from an influential Prague family. At first Prokop was a cup, but eventually became close to the radicals. In addition, he turned out to be a good commander.

In 1426, Prokop led the army, consisting of taborites and the Prague militia, to the walls of the city of Usti nad Labem, which was captured by Saxon invaders. The Hussite leader led 25 thousand people, which was an extremely serious force.

Strategy and tactics of the rebels

In the battle of Usti nad Labem, Prokop successfully used the tactics that appeared back in the days of Jan ižka. The beginning of the Hussite movement was distinguished by the fact that the new combat units from the militias were untrained and unsuitable for battle with the professional army of the emperor. Over time, this flaw was corrected due to the influx of knights to the Czech protesters.

An important innovation of the Hussites was Wagenburg. This was the name of the fortification, which was built from carts in order to defend a strategically important place on the battlefield. It was during the Czech war in Europe that firearms began to be used, but it was still in a rather primitive state and could not greatly affect the outcome of the battle. The cavalry played a key role, for which the Wagenburgs were a serious obstacle.

Such a cart was equipped with guns that shot the enemy and did not allow him to break through the fortifications. Wagenburgs were built in a rectangular shape. There were frequent cases when a moat was pulled out around the wagons, which became an additional advantage for the Hussites. In one wagenburg, up to 20 people could fit, half of which were arrows that hit the approaching cavalry in the distance.

Thanks to tactical tricks, the army of Prokop Naked once again expelled the Germans. After the battle of Usti nad Labem, Czech militias several times invaded Austria and Saxony several times and even besieged Vienna and Nuremberg, albeit unsuccessfully.

Interestingly, at this time, Hussites began to actively support the representatives of the Polish nobility, as well as knights from this country, contrary to their authorities. There is a simple explanation for these relationships. The Poles, like the Czechs, being Slavs, were afraid of the strengthening of German influence on their land. Therefore, the Hussite movement, in short, was not only religious, but also received a national coloring.

Negotiations with Catholics

In 1431, Pope Martin V convened the Basel Cathedral (named after the meeting place), designed to resolve the conflict with the Czechs through diplomacy. Participants and leaders of the Hussite movement took advantage of this proposal. A delegation was set up that went to Basel. It was headed by Prokop Naked. The negotiations he held with the Catholics ended in failure. Parties to the conflict could not reach a compromise. The Hussite embassy returned to their homeland.

The failure of the delegation led to another split among the rebels. Most of the Czech nobility decided to try again to come to an agreement with the Catholics, but no longer paying attention to the interests of the taborites. This was the last and fateful gap that destroyed the Hussite movement. The table shows the main events associated with the Czech uprising, led by cups and taborites.

The final split of the Hussites

When the taborites became aware that the moderate Hussites were again trying to find a compromise with the Catholics, they went to Pilsen, where they defeated the Catholic quarter. This episode was the last straw for the majority of Czech lords who finally came to an agreement with the pope. Aristocrats are tired of the war that has been going on for fifteen years. The Czech Republic lay in ruins, and its economy, on which the welfare of the lords depended, could not be restored until peace came.

As a rule, each feudal lord had his own small army, consisting of a detachment of knights. When the union of the lords joined forces, which were also joined by Catholics, as well as the militia of Prague, 13 thousand well-armed professionals were in the new army. At the head of the army of the Utraquists stood the feudal lord Divis Borzhek. Also, the future Czech king Jiří from Podebrady joined the army.

Battle of Lipan

Taboritov was supported by 16 Czech cities, including Tabor himself, as well as atec, Nymburk, etc. The army of radicals was still led by Prokop Naked, whose other hand was another commander, Prokop Maly. On the eve of the battle with the enemy, the taborites managed to occupy a convenient position for defense on the hillside. Prokop hoped for the success of his classic tactics, which included the use of wagenburgs, as well as exhausting the enemy and decisive counterattack.

On May 30, 1434, two enemy armies clashed in the last battle of Lipan. Prokop's plan was successfully implemented until the counterattack episode, when the taborites realized that the Utraquists had begun a feigned retreat in order to withdraw them from convenient positions.

Pans on the eve of the battle left behind heavily armed backup cavalry. This cavalry was waiting for a signal of a sudden attack until the taborites were in a defenseless position. Finally, fresh and full of strength, the knights hit the enemy, and the radicals rushed back to their original camp. Soon the Wagenburgs fell. During the defense of these fortifications, the leaders of the taborites, Prokop Naked and Prokop Maly, were killed. The Utraquists won a decisive victory, which put an end to the Hussite wars.

The meaning of Hussite doctrine

After the defeat at the battle of Lipan, the radical wing was finally defeated. The taborites still remained, but after 1434 they never managed to organize an uprising similar in scale to the previous war. In the Czech Republic, a compromise coexistence between Catholics and Chasniks was established. The Utraquists were distinguished by small changes in the rites during the service, as well as a respectful memory of Jan Hus.

By and large, Czech society returned to the status that existed before the uprising. Therefore, Hussite wars did not lead to any radical changes in the life of the country. At the same time, the Crusades against heretics caused enormous damage to the Czech economy. Central Europe healed the wounds inflicted by the war for several decades.

The further results of the Hussite movement became clear much later, when the Reformation process began throughout Europe in the sixteenth century. Lutheranism and Calvinism appeared. After the Thirty Years War in 1618-1648 most of Europe came to freedom of religion. The achievement of this success was the significance of the Hussite movement, which became a prelude to the Reformation.

In the Czech Republic, the uprising is considered one of the symbols of national pride. Across the country, you can go on excursions that will allow tourists to visit the memorable places of the Hussite movement. In the Czech Republic, the memory of him and his heroes is carefully preserved.