The Battle of Brüx was fought on 5 August 1421 in North Bohemia during the

Hussite Wars The Hussite Wars, also called the Bohemian Wars or the Hussite Revolution, were a series of civil wars fought between the Hussites and the combined Catholic forces of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, the Papacy, European monarchs loyal to the Cat ...

. The Hussite troops, led by Jan Želivský, were defeated by the Catholic Imperial forces of Frederick I of Saxony.

Battle

On 16 March 1421, the Hussite troops under the command of

Jan Žižka Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha ( en, John Zizka of Trocnov and the Chalice; 1360 – 11 October 1424) was a Czech general – a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus and a Radical Hussite who led the Taborites. Žižka was a successful milit ...

had stormed the town of Chomutov, located a few kilometers west of Brüx, and killed its approximately 2,500 inhabitants. They then went to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

, causing extensive damage in the towns populated by Germans or Catholics. In early July, the Hussites headed north, this time led by the priest Jan Želivský, pillaging the passing

Teplice Teplice () (until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; german: Teplitz-Schönau or ''Teplitz'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest Czech spa town, after Karlovy Vary. The hi ...

and

Duchcov Duchcov (; german: Dux) is a town in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,600 inhabitants. Duchcov is known for the Duchcov Castle. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserve ...

, and on July 12 seized

Bílina Bílina (; german: Bilin) is a town in Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. It is known for its spas and as a source of the strongly mineralized water, Bílinská kyselka. The to ...

. Two weeks later, they set up a

Wagenburg A wagon fort, wagon fortress, or corral, often referred to as circling the wagons, is a temporary fortification made of wagons arranged into a rectangle, circle, or other shape and possibly joined with each other to produce an improvised milit ...

(fortress formed by wagons) in the village of Saras and from there launched attacks against Brüx, until they were defeated on 5 August by forces sent by Frederick of Saxony and supported by the Brüx neighbors.

Aftermath

The victory of the Imperial-Catholic had no major impact on the further development of the Hussite wars since the Hussites retained military superiority over the following years. However, this success meant Frederick I of Saxony was elevated to the rank of

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

and

Elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...

, while Želivský was removed from command shortly after and executed in March 1422. Despite the defeat, it did not cease altogether attacks from the Hussites against the territories of Saxony and Meissen so that they could not provide military support to the emperor

Sigismund Sigismund (variants: Sigmund, Siegmund) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from Old High German ''sigu'' "victory" + ''munt'' "hand, protection". Tacitus latinises it '' Segimundus''. There appears to be an older form of ...

Tradition

Since 1421, the city of Brüx, now called Most, holds a festival every year in thanks for deliverance from the Hussites. This tradition continued even after their expulsions in 1945–46 outside of the home to this day. This custom is one of the traditions from the Hussite wars to live on to the present day.

References

* Lorenz of Brösau (lat .: Lawrence of Brezova): The Hussites, a contemporary chronicle, last in German published in 1988 by Verlag Styria (translated from Latin and Old Czech; Title of the original: Chronicon) * Frantisek Palacky: The history of Hussitenthums; in: Critical Studies, Prague, 1868 * F. von Bezold: King Sigmund and the Empire wars against the Hussites; Munich, 1872 * A. Kutschera: From the days of the Hussite Wars - King Siegmund in the struggle for Prague; in: From Austria's past, Vol 5, Leipzig, Prague, Vienna, 1917 * Piotr Marczak: Hussite wars, Warsaw Egros * Heinz Rieder: The Hussites, Casimir Katz Publishing, 1998, {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Brux 1421 in Europe Brux 1421 Brux 1421 Battles in Bohemia Conflicts in 1421 History of the Ústí nad Labem Region