Battle Of Vyšehrad
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The Battle of Vyšehrad was a series of engagements at the start of the Hussite War between
Hussite file:Hussitenkriege.tif, upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century file:The Bohemian Realm during the Hussite Wars.png, upright=1.2, The Lands of the ...
forces and
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
crusaders sent by 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 ...
. The battle took place at the
castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
of
Vyšehrad Vyšehrad (German: ''Wyschehrad,'' ''Prager Hochburg'', English: "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 1 ...
from 16 August 1419 to c. 1 November 1420.


Start of the battle

After the death of King
Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia Wenceslaus IV (also ''Wenceslas''; ; , nicknamed "the Idle"; 26 February 136116 August 1419), also known as Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, was King of Bohemia from 1378 until his death and King of Germany from 1376 until he was deposed in 1400. As he ...
, Queen Sophia (with the help of
Čeněk of Wartenberg Čeněk of Wartenberg (; ; c. 137917 September 1425) was a commander of the Royalist Bohemian forces at the start of the Hussite Wars. Up until the first half of 1420 he was a commander of the Utraquist League, a moderate fraction of the Hussi ...
) tried to gain control of
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. Sophia and Čeněk recruited soldiers from
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, who took up positions at Vyšehrad,
Hradčany Hradčany (; ), is the district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic surrounding Prague Castle. The castle is one of the biggest in the world at about in length and an average of about wide. Its history stretches back to the 9th century. St ...
, and at the archbishop's palace and the cloister of St. Thomas in a part of Prague called New Town. The Hussite uprising was successful in other parts of
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
, and the towns of
Klatovy Klatovy (; ) is a town in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument zone. Administr ...
,
Písek Písek (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 31,000 inhabitants. The town is known for the oldest bridge in the country. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument z ...
,
Louny Louny (; ) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře River. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument ...
,
Žatec Žatec (; ) is a town in Louny District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 19,000 inhabitants. It lies on the Ohře River. Žatec is famous for an over-700-year-long tradition of growing Saaz hops, Saaz noble hops u ...
, and
Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...
came under Hussite control. On 25 October 1419, Hussites captured Vyšehrad as well. In November 1419, fighting took place between Catholic fighters under Petr from Šternberk and Hussite peasants under the command of a priest, Ambrosius. These Hussites went from the area near Usti to Prague, surrounded Novy Knin, and attacked. After gaining reinforcements, Ambrosius's forces crossed the Vltava River. The Hussites won the battle but lost about 300 people. After taking Prague, the Hussites decided to assist citizens in Novy Knin. More fighting commenced as Hussite fighters captured the bridge to New Town on the Vltava River. Catholic soldiers who guarded the bridge were forced to withdraw to Hradcany, but many buildings in New Town were destroyed. On 13 November 1419 Queen Sophia promised to protect the Hussites in all of Bohemia.
Utraquist Utraquism (from the Latin ''sub utraque specie'', meaning "under both kinds"), also called Calixtinism (from chalice; Latin: ''calix'', borrowed from Greek ''kalyx'', "shell, husk"; Czech: ''kališníci''), was a belief amongst Hussites, a pre-P ...
s gave back Vyšehrad to the royal army.


Battle under Nekmierz

Later in November, formations of Taborites, several hundred strong, left Prague. In December 1419, one of these formations under the command of
Jan Žižka Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha (; 1360 – 11 October 1424) was a Czechs, Czech military leader and Knight who was a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus, and a prominent Radical Hussite who led the Taborites, Taborite faction during the Hu ...
was surprised by Catholic forces under the command of Bohuslav of Švamberk. A cavalry attack at Nekmierz (Nekmer) castle near Plzeň (Pilsen) by the Catholics was stopped by
crossbow A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an Elasticity (physics), elastic launching device consisting of a Bow and arrow, bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar f ...
and gunfire from Hussite soldiers hiding behind wagons. Catholic infantry and cavalry were forced to withdraw. After the battle Žižka ordered a night march to Plzeň. In the Spring of 1420, after capturing the town of Sezimovo Ústí (German: ''Aussig''), Hussite forces went to a hill near the Lužnice river where they built a new town which they named
Tábor Tábor (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants, making it the second most populated town in the region. The town was founded by the Hussites in 1420. The historic town centre is well pres ...
after the biblical
Mount Tabor Mount Tabor ( ; ; ), sometimes spelled Mount Thabor, is a large hill of biblical significance in Lower Galilee, Northern District (Israel), northern Israel, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, west of the Sea of Galilee. In the Hebrew Bi ...
(but the noun means also ''camp''). This new town became the capital of the Taborites' collective. Citizens of
Tábor Tábor (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants, making it the second most populated town in the region. The town was founded by the Hussites in 1420. The historic town centre is well pres ...
chose four hetmen, or generals: Nicholas of Husí, Jan Žižka, Zbyněk of Buchovo, and Chval of Machovice. Similar army camps were also built, notably one on the mountain of Oreb, where another group of radical Hussites established themselves, and became known as the Orebici (
Orebites The Orebites (), also called Lesser Taborites and later known as Sirotci ("Orphans"; ), officially Orphans' Union (), were followers of a radical wing of the Hussites in Bohemia. The founders took part in the procession on Mount Oreb, near T ...
). Their civil leader was the priest Ambrosius, and their hetman was Hynek Krušina from Lichtenburk.


Battle at Sudoměř

The Hussites lost Plzeň, in arrangement with the Catholics. Hussites, under command of Jan Žižka, were allowed to leave the town without difficulties. Catholics from Plzen sent information about Žižka's forces to Jindrich from hradce master of knights of St. John of Jerusalem and Bohuslav from Švamberk. After massing at Sudoměř, they decided to attack; they had more soldiers than Žižka, as well as reinforcements from Písek. In the opinion of writers of chronicles, the attackers would not have had to fight with the Hussites because the few rebels would be trampled to death beneath the horses' hooves. Žižka deployed his men on a small dam between two ponds, one of which was without water. The backs of the Hussites were protected by a swamp. The Catholic commanders divided their forces into two groups. The first group assaulted the Hussites from the front, and sustained heavy casualties. The second group of knights crossed the empty pond and attacked on foot. Soon the field of battle was covered by fog, and the Catholics withdrew, both sides having suffered heavy losses. In May 1420 Čeněk von Wartenberg surrounded Hradčany and joined Emperor Sigismund's side. Soldiers from Vyšehrad advanced on New Town. The Hussites begun a siege of Vyšehrad. In June 1420 there was a successful advance from Vyšehrad. Soldiers from this castle secured supplies which were sent to Hradčany.


Siege of Prague

On 12 June 1420, some formations of Sigismund's forces successfully entered Hradčany with supplies. They took horses from the castle. At the time of the Prague siege, Sigismund's soldiers, who were placed in Hradčany and Vyšehrad, advanced on the Hussites' position in Prague. After a successful defence of Vítkov Hill and the crusaders' withdrawal, the Hussites begun artillery fire on Vyšehrad, but received heavier losses than Prague's defenders. After an unsuccessful assault on Vítkov Hill, the crusaders decided to attack the local Hussites' position. In August 1420, Hetman Jan Žižka left Prague with relief forces and headed to Písek, which was in danger from crusaders under the command of Oldřich from Rožmberk. 15 September 1420 saw the beginning of a second siege of Vysehrad. In the last days of October, the commandant of the castle accepted a capitulation arrangement. If he didn't receive any help from Sigismund's forces by 8 o'clock in the morning of 1 November 1420, he would surrender the castle. Meanwhile, another formation of Taborites, among them commander Jan Roháč z Dubé, captured the town of Lomnice.


Battle of Vyšehrad

Sigismund planned a main attack using soldiers from
Hradčany Hradčany (; ), is the district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic surrounding Prague Castle. The castle is one of the biggest in the world at about in length and an average of about wide. Its history stretches back to the 9th century. St ...
and
Vyšehrad Vyšehrad (German: ''Wyschehrad,'' ''Prager Hochburg'', English: "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 1 ...
, and counting on reinforcements from Plzeň Union. The plan of battle was sent to Hradčany and Vyšehrad by courier, but the courier was captured by Hussites. The Hussites sent some soldiers under the command of Jan Žižka to stop the march of soldiers from Plzeň. Hussite artillery fire successfully stopped the attack of the Hungarian and German cavalry. Then the Hussite forces made their attack. After the battle, the crusaders' formations withdrew. Four hundred knights were killed by the Hussites, who didn't take any prisoners of war. Among the dead were , , , , and . 1 November saw the capitulation of soldiers from Vyšehrad. Žižka's forces captured Zlaté Korouny and
Prachatice Prachatice (; ) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 11,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservations, urban monumen ...
. December 1420 saw the death of Nicholas from Husí.


Aftermath

In January 1421, Taborite forces, under command of Jan Žižka and Chval from Machovice, captured the town of
Stříbro Stříbro (; ) is a town in Tachov District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,100 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the Renaissance Stříbro bridge is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech ...
and cloister in Krakikov. The commandant of Stříbro Castle, Bohuslav of Švamberk, surrendered; his soldiers were free to go. Because Sigismund didn't send a ransom for him, Bohuslav decided to join the Hussites. Eventually the Taborites chose him as their hetman. In February, Emperor Sigismund withdrew to
Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...
and then to
Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
. June 1421 saw the capitulation of the soldiers in
Hradčany Hradčany (; ), is the district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic surrounding Prague Castle. The castle is one of the biggest in the world at about in length and an average of about wide. Its history stretches back to the 9th century. St ...
.


References

* Piotr Marczak "Hussite wars" Warsaw Egros pages 55–60, page 66, pp. 68–69


External links


Bellum.cz – Battle of Vyšehrad 1 November 1420
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vysehrad, Battle Of 1419 in Europe 1420 in Europe Vysehrad 1419 Vysehrad 1419 Conflicts in 1419 Conflicts in 1420 Military history of Prague