The Battle of Sudoměř was fought on 25 March 1420, between Catholic and Hussite forces. The Hussites were led by Břeněk of Švihov, who was killed in battle, and

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 ...

, whose forces proved victorious. This was the second major battle of 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 first battle, the

Battle of Nekmíř The Battle of Nekmíř was one of several raids carried out by the Bohemian Royalist forces, commanded by Bohuslav von Schwanberg, against Jan Žižka's Hussite troops. The raid caught Hussite forces besieging the fortress of Nekmíř. The H ...

, was more of a Hussite retreat than a true fight.

Process

The Battle of Sudoměř began after Hussite forces, which had taken up temporary fortifications on the plains, were found by Royalist forces, who closed in for an attack. The Hussites were greatly outnumbered 5-to-1, and initially hoisted the

white flag White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale. Contemporary use The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and for negotiation. It is also used to symbolize ...

, but when the Royalists refused to accept their surrender, the battle truly began. Though outnumbered and comparatively ill-equipped, facing heavily armoured knights, the Hussites had fortified their surroundings ingeniously. Their flank was protected by

war wagon A war wagon is any of several historical types of early fighting vehicle involving an armed or armored animal-drawn cart or wagon. China One of the earliest example of using conjoined wagons in warfare as fortification is described in the Chinese ...

s loaded with

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

iers, and many large ponds and marshy areas surrounded the Hussite infantry – ground, which the Royalist cavalry could not hope to cross. One thousand

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

from Strakonice led by Jindřich of Hradec – killed in battle – attacked war wagons placed on a slim dam, with huge casualties but no success. After that, another thousand Royalist cavalrymen, led by Peter von Konopischt of Sternberg – killed in the

Battle of Vítkov Hill The Battle of Vítkov Hill was a part of the Hussite Wars. The battle pitted the forces of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor, against Hussite forces under command of Jan Žižka (in English, John Zizka). Vítkov Hill was located on the edge of the ...

later that year – rushed a weakly held side of the Hussite formation, but were mired in marshy ground. They dismounted in order to progress, but soon found themselves mired once more. Following this, the Hussite light infantry equipped with flails were able to easily finish the cavalrymen. The battle ended with the advance of night and fog, during which Žižka and the Hussite forces were able to escape. Though the Catholic Royalists were not entirely defeated, the fact the Hussites were able to inflict such heavy casualties with so few men, and then escape soundly, proved to be a great victory. Only 400 hussites (farmers and townsmen, including women and children) beat the 700-strong force of heavily armoured cavalry. Hussite General, Jan Žižka, through superior knowledge of tactics and terrain, along with the highly effective deployment of

wagon fort 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 ...

strategies, won the day.

External links

List of Hussite Battles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Sudomer Sudomer Sudomer Battles in Bohemia 1420 in Europe Conflicts in 1420 Jan Žižka