When I mention the name Jan Hus, what do you think? Was he a brave revolutionary that boldly challenged corruption? Was he a man that cared more about the equality of man than the riches of tyranny? Chances are neither of these thoughts passed through your head, because Jan Hus was a relatively unknown martyr whose death spurred a relatively unknown revolution in the (somewhat) relatively unknown country of Bohemia. This is a real shame, however, for the Hussite wars in Bohemia were a pretty inspiring moment in history, a time when peasants and scholars stood up against the Catholic church and their own nobles to fight for equality and justice, about three centuries before the American Revolution even began.
Before we can talk about the wars in Bohemia, or the unique ways it was fought (they literally did horse and carriage drive-by shootings with muskets), it’s important to have a basic understanding as to why these wars were fought, and why they were so important to the Bohemian people. In order to do so, we will be relying on the wonderful writers John Bradley and Z.A.B. Zemen, who wonderfully detailed the events leading up to, and following, Jan Hus’s death at Britannica.com (link to the page in the citations below).
After a period of Bohemia’s sovereignty being threatened by a king that was proven many times over to not respect royal law or decree, and a time when the Catholic church’s flaws began to become hard to ignore, especially with the rise of monetary and moral corruption from the church and two rival popes existing at one time, many Bohemian preachers began to speak up against this corruption in Prague, the center of Bohemia’s reformation movement (Britannica). It was during this time where Jan Hus began preaching in Prague, publicly calling the church out for their corrupt practices and urging the need for a reform, so that they may once again practice what the good book preached. It was also during this time that a third pope was elected, to try and fix the issue of there being two popes, which in fact only made things more complicated as the other two popes refused to give up their positions. Hus was making such a name for himself at the time that this third pope, Alexander V, actually outlawed his teachings, and made it illegal for anyone else to spread them as well (Britannica). This sour relationship between the (sort of) official head of the church and Jan Hus continued onto Alexander’s successor as well, which lead to Hus being excommunicated, and when he tried defending his teaching to the pope in person, it ultimately lead to him burned on a stake.
While Hus died before he could see his teachings spread across all of Bohemia, his death turned him into a martyr, invigorating support for the newly coined “Hussite” religion all across the Czech lands. While this movement was without uniformity, as their main leader and preacher died before it could even truly be considered a real threat, it was not without bargaining power and influence. The Hussites had enough influence in Bohemia that when the standing king died, the newly inherited Sigismund had to call upon not just his own soldiers, not just the church, but multiple other German princes to try and combat the Hussite militias (Britannica). Amazingly, these “crusades” were successfully repelled by the splintered Hussite nobles and peasants, and in the end led to the movement being more uniformed after having to unite in a time of war.
In total, there were 5 crusades waged against the Hussite people, all 5 of which were valiantly fought back against by the Hussites. The church soon came to the conclusion that they needed to solve this issue peacefully, for they could not stomp the Hussites out by force. They agreed to the Hussite doctrine, and allowed it to be practiced in Bohemia, under the condition that the Hussites would assist the Catholic forces in stomping out any further radical Hussite revolutionaries (Britannica). As a sign of trust, the main body of the Hussite religion agreed to these terms, and betrayed their more radical counterparts, only for the church to then only partially uphold their word once the job was done.
There was an unstable peace after the Hussite wars, an unstable peace that was challenged not just when one king died, but when two Bohemian kings died in the span of 3 years. During this time of political upheaval, there were many outside forces vying for control of the Bohemian crown, the majority of which were neither Czech nor Hussite. It was during this time, however, where George of Poděbrady was decided to lead the barons of Bohemia, and thus served as Chief Advisor to Ladislas, a German Catholic who was chosen to be king of Bohemia once he reached maturity (Britannica). However, following the rather unstable ruling of the last two kings, Ladislas himself died at a young age, and due to him having no heir, the throne of Bohemia was once again open for claim. During this time, George was chosen to be king, ushering in the first (and last) Hussite king of Bohemia. George was recorded as being a fair ruler, to both his Hussite and Catholic subjects, and led the realm into decades of prosperity. However, a fairy tale ending this is not, as eventually George was usurped by a rebellion of Catholics nobles, funded by the church and aided in war by German nations, most notably Hungary. This launched the realm into a final period of chaos, before it was ultimately annexed by Austria.
While the Hussite’s fire unfortunately burned out, the Hussite followers put up an outstanding fight while it lasted. One of their most famous tactics was known as the “Wagenberg”, also known as the War Wagon tactic. While the name alone is awesome enough, the brilliance behind the idea makes it even more cool. According to the Medievalist.net, the Hussite revolutionaries could not match the invading nation’s capabilities in cavalry, and knew that they would get demolished if they had to face cavalry charges head on, so in order to combat this they used mobile wagons to create pop-up defenses, forcing the enemies to come to them while they sat safely behind their shields. They essentially created trench warfare in the 1400s! By using superior tactics and by having a bit of a home field advantage, the Hussites were able to push back invaders that not only outnumbered them by thousands of soldiers, but also had access to superior tactics to wage war with (like heavy cavalry charges). By the time their enemies actually reached these Wagenbergs, the pushing forces had already been broken to the point where they couldn’t actually stand a chance against the Hussite defenders (Medievalist).
Texts used for this article:
Bradley, J., & Zeman, Z. (2016, March 07). The late Middle Ages (1306–1526). Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Czechoslovak-history/The-late-Middle-Ages-1306-1526
Ali, A. (2019, January 27). The Wagenberg: How wagons became a medieval weapon of war. Retrieved September 11, 2020, from https://www.medievalists.net/2019/01/wagenberg-war-wagons/
This was such a fascinating read! This was a really interesting topic to use for your passion blog and it worked out so well. I thoroughly enjoyed the historical context and fun facts about this story, which I’m extremely surprised isn’t more well known since it’s so intriguing. Jan Hus’ excommunication, and eventual death after attempting to defend himself, should not have been brushed over in history class. I thought that the section you wrote on the five crusades waged against the Hussites was especially interesting and definitely inspired me to want to learn more about it. It’s also baffling to think that there were three rival popes at one time all fighting one another for power and sovereignty. Great job on your blog post!
Your post was such an interesting story. I use to love reading and learning about world history and different events in time. You were correct, the name Jan Hus’ did not ring a bell. To learn that he set forth a number of events and didn’t even live to se the first of it is crazy. His story should definitely be taught about more. It is interesting and gives a context to something so huge. I never would have thought to do my passion post on a historical story. The way you wrote this kept my interest and was intriguing, without making it seem like a history article that dragged on and on. Well done! I look forward to what other things you bringing to light.
Great job making this such an informative, yet interesting, read! For me, history has always been a hit or a miss, depending on how it is taught, but I really enjoyed reading this. I like how you included fun facts, like writing about the war wagon tactic. Facts like these would have gone untaught or unappreciated in a typical classroom but make the reading so much more entertaining. I also really enjoyed your introduction and how you included some of your own commentary, which you were completely right about (I had never heard of Jan Hus before reading this). Overall, you did a great job of not only telling the story of Jan Hus but also following up and proving his effect on the world after his death.
I had never even heard of Jan Hus before, but I’m so glad I did! I find it so strange how in school we learn about Martin Luther and his speaking out against the Catholic church, but we never hear about Jan Hus or other lesser-known religious trailblazers. War Wagons also sound so cool. I have always loved learning about history, and I’m excited to learn more about it through your blog!
Really interesting, and surprisingly thorough, insight into an event that I had no idea even took place. Especially one of this scale, and one that featured some heavy collateral damage as this one. It’s cool to think about how it predated WW1 by 500 years, but ostensibly featured very similar tactics. “War never changes” might be more than a video game mantra after all.