Jan Žižka - WikiHQ

Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha (; 1360 – 11 October 1424) was a Czech military leader and knight who was a contemporary and follower of Jan Hus, and a prominent Radical Hussite who led the Taborite faction during the Hussite Wars. Renowned for his exceptional military skill, Žižka is celebrated as a Czech national hero. Žižka led the Hussite forces in battles against three crusades and remained undefeated throughout his military career.

Žižka was born in the village of Trocnov, located in the Kingdom of Bohemia, into a family of lower Czech nobility.

Early life

Jan Žižka was born in one of two Meierhofs of the village Trocnov (nowadays part of Borovany). An old legend says that he was born in the forest under an oak growing just next to the fields and little ponds belonging to the Meierhof.

The date of Žižka's birth is not known. A document dated 3 April 1378 mentions ' (Jan called Zizka of Trocnov) as a witness on a marriage contract. On the basis of this document, it is assumed that Žižka must have been of legal age at this time and was born around 1360. Nevertheless, there is no direct evidence whether Jan Žižka listed on this document was identical with the Hussite general. For example, Czech historian Tomek and his followers supposed it could have been the military leader's father. They argued that if Žižka were adult in 1378, he would be too old to become such an able commander after 1419. Others, such as Šmahel, admitted that even such an age might not have prevented him from successful leadership. In 1381, Žižka is attested in Prague, in connection with the settlement of the inheritance on the Trocnov estate. It is unclear how to connect this stay with Piccolomini's later report that young Žížka received an education at the Prague royal court. A 1384 document also mentions some Kateřina, a wife of Johannes dictus Zizka. However, the family probably got into financial problems and started selling parts of their estate. Some sources suggest that Žižka's father took the place of the royal gamekeeper before he died in 1407 near Plzeň and Žižka himself might have been taken into the royal service, too, but the evidence is not clear enough. Unfortunately the reasons of this charge are not known, but the fact that he declared open hostility to Henry of Rosenberg and also to the city of Budějovice and their allies suggests that he was trying to fight some injustice against his house and to enforce some of his rights in this way. Šmahel assigns the boom of south-Bohemian banditry in that time to the continual growth of the estates of the rich house of Rosenberg (and of the church estates) and simultaneous indebtedness and pauperization of the lower gentry together with the thirst for land among their subjects, which resulted in social tension in the area. These circumstances may have eventually forced Žižka to leave his residence in Trocnov. Historian Tomek also speculated that he might have been forcibly deprived of his small hereditary property, which was not uncommon in that time. As a result, he started leading the life of an outlaw, partly supported by the local nobleman Valkoun.

In any case, violence broke out and Žižka tried to harm his enemies on any possible occasion using as his allies, also local bandits, led by Matěj Vůdce (Matthew the Leader) who were seeking only financial profit. The group camped in various places, including a farm in the village of Sedlo (nowadays part of Číměř), a mill not far from Lomnice nad Lužnicí, at a house of an unknown woman in Hlavatce or simply in the woods. During that period, robbery, holding people for ransom, and attacking small towns were the main source of the group's income. They used it to pay their living expenses (including paying temporary hosts) and to pay spies.

Some of Žižka's companions were eventually captured, tortured, and executed, including Matěj Vůdce. Žižka's situation changed on 25 of April 1409 when King Wenceslas agreed that his conflict with the city of Budějovice should be finished and on 27 June he pardoned him (calling him "faithful and beloved") by a special letter. At the same time he ordered the city council of Budějovice to do so too. This suggests that the king admitted that Žižka was at least partly justified in the conflict. in the following year (1410) Žižka served as a mercenary during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. It is assumed that he was on the winning Polish-Lithuanian side of the Battle of Grunwald, also called the 1st Battle of Tannenberg, one of the largest battles in Medieval Europe. It was fought on 15 July 1410, and the alliance of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respectively by King of Poland Jogaila (Władysław II Jagiełło) and Grand Duke Vytautas (Witold), decisively defeated the Teutonic Knights, led by Grand Master Ulrich von Jungingen. Długosz reports that after the battle, Žižka was serving in the garrison of the town of Radzyń.

A stay in Prague

The place of Žižka's activity in the years 1411–1419 is not entirely certain. According to a later report by Lukáš Pražský (from 1527), Žižka entered the service of Sophia of Bavaria, the wife of Wenceslas IV, as her chamberlain, and he accompanied her when she was attending the preachings of Jan Hus. Given that Hus went to the South Bohemian exile in 1413, this report must relate to the years 1411–1412. According to the Hussite historian Vavřinec z Březové (Vavřinec of Březová), who knew Žižka personally and referred to the events of 1419, the future Hussite leader then served as a familiaris regis Bohemiae (literally "a family member of the Bohemian king", i.e. a king's courtier). This is confirmed by later chronicles from the 16th century, which specifically highlight the exceptional position that Žižka had among the servants of Wenceslas IV. It is possible that Žižka took part in the unsuccessful war of the Polish king against the Teutonic Knights in 1414, but concrete evidence is lacking. However, it is interesting that just one month after the end of this war campaign, on 7 November 1414, a house in Na Příkopě street in Prague was bought by the one-eyed royal "doorman" Janek (Janek portulanus regius). Czech historiography generally accepts that this "doorman" was identical with Žižka. On 27 May 1416, the "doorman" Janek sells this house and buys another, smaller one in the Old Town.

Rise to prominence

thumb|Jan Žižka leading his troops ([[Illumination (manuscript)|illumination from the late 1400s)]]

Jan Žižka made his first significant mark in history on 30 July 1419 in Prague, when he joined a Hussite procession led by the priest Jan Želivský. The crowd gathered in front of the New Town hall and demanded the release of several Hussites held in prison. When these demands were rejected by the councilors, the crowd stormed the town hall and threw the councilors out of the windows. This so-called First Defenestration of Prague is regarded as the beginning of the Hussite revolution. Wenceslaus IV died 17 days after hearing about these events, likely from a heart attack. The Hussites subsequently seized the city and expelled all their opponents.

On 13 November 1419 a temporary armistice was concluded between the partisans of King Sigismund (the last Emperor of the House of Luxemburg) and the citizens of Prague. Žižka disapproved of this compromise and left Prague for Plzeň, one of the richest cities of the kingdom, with his followers, but soon left that city. On 25 March 1420 he defeated the partisans of Sigismund at Sudoměř, the first pitched battle of the Hussite wars. He later arrived at Tábor, the then-recently established stronghold of the Hussite movement. The ecclesiastical organization of Tabor had a somewhat puritanical character with a very strict military discipline being instituted though the government was established on a thoroughly democratic basis. Žižka took a large part in the organization of the new military community and became one of the four captains of the people (hejtman) who were at its head.

Wagenburg tactics

thumb|200px|left|Jan Žižka z Trocnova, fictional portrait by [[Jan Vilímek]]

Žižka helped develop tactics of using wagon forts, called vozová hradba in Czech or Wagenburg by the Germans, as mobile fortifications. When the Hussite army faced a numerically superior opponent they prepared carts for the battle by forming them into squares or circles. The carts were joined wheel to wheel by chains and positioned aslant, with their corners attached to each other, so that horses could be harnessed to them quickly, if necessary. In front of this wall of carts a ditch was dug by camp followers. The crew of each cart consisted of 16–22 soldiers: 4–8 crossbowmen, 2 handgunners, 6–8 soldiers equipped with pikes or flails (the flail was the Hussite "national weapon"), 2 shield carriers and 2 drivers.

The Hussites' battle consisted of two stages, the first defensive, the second an offensive counterattack. In the first stage the army placed the carts near the enemy army and by means of artillery fire provoked the enemy into battle. The artillery would usually inflict heavy casualties at close range.

In order to avoid more losses, the enemy knights finally attacked. Then the infantry hidden behind the carts used firearms and crossbows to ward off the attack, weakening the enemy. The shooters aimed first at the horses, depriving the cavalry of its main advantage. Many of the knights died as their horses were shot and they fell.

As soon as the enemy's morale was lowered, the second stage, an offensive counterattack, began. The infantry and the cavalry burst out from behind the carts, striking violently at the enemy, mostly from the flanks. While fighting on the flanks and being shelled from the carts the enemy was not able to put up much resistance. They were forced to withdraw, leaving behind dismounted knights in heavy armor who were unable to escape the battlefield. The enemy armies suffered heavy losses and the Hussites soon had the reputation of not taking captives.

Gunpowder weapons

The Hussite wars also marked the earliest successful use of pistols on the battlefield and Žižka was an innovator in the use of gunpowder. He was the first European commander to maneuver on the field with cannon of medium caliber mounted on carts in between the wagons. The Czechs called the handgun a píšťala, and anti-infantry field guns houfnice, from which the English words "pistol" and "howitzer" have been derived. The Germans had just started corning gunpowder, making it suitable for use in smaller, tactical weapons. A handgunner on an open field armed with only a single-shot weapon and without a bayonette was no match for a charging knight on a horse; however, from behind a castle wall, or from within the enclosure of the wagenburg, massed and disciplined gunmen could use the handgun to its greatest potential. From his experiences at the Battle of Grunwald, Žižka knew exactly how his enemies would attack, and he found new ways to defeat forces numerically superior to his own.

Hussite Crusades

The Hussite Wars were fought to win recognition of faith of the Hussites, the initial stages of the Protestant Reformation, and though predominantly a religious movement, it was also propelled by social issues and strengthened Czech national awareness. The Catholic Church deemed Hus's teachings heretical. He was excommunicated in 1411, condemned by the Council of Constance, and burned at the stake in 1415. The wars proper began in July 1419, with the First Defenestration of Prague, when protesting Hussites threw the town councillors and the judge out the windows of the New Town Hall. It has been reputed that King Wenceslaus IV was so stunned by the defenestration that he died from the shock shortly afterward on 16 August 1419. This led to the armed conflict in which Žižka was to earn his fame.

The first anti-Hussite crusade

thumb|A painting by [[Mikoláš Aleš showing Jan Žižka as Hussite general]]

thumb|Jan Žižka in a detail of [[Jan Matejko's allegorical Battle of Grunwald]]

King Sigismund was king of Hungary but only the titular king of Bohemia. Sigismund had acquired a claim on the Bohemian crown, though it was then in question (and remained so until much later) whether Bohemia was a hereditary or an elective monarchy, especially as the line through which Sigismund claimed the throne had accepted that the Kingdom of Bohemia was an elective monarchy elected by the nobles, and thus the regent of the kingdom (Čeněk of Wartenberg) also explicitly stated that Sigismund had not been elected as reason for Sigismund's claim to not be accepted. A firm adherent of the Church of Rome, Sigismund was successful in obtaining aid from Pope Martin V, who issued a bull on 17 March 1420 which proclaimed a crusade "for the destruction of the John Wycliffe, Hussites and all other heretics in Bohemia". Sigismund and many German princes arrived before the walls of Prague on 30 June at the head of a vast army of crusaders from all parts of Europe, largely consisting of adventurers attracted by the possibility of pillage. They immediately began a siege of the city and Žižka was compelled to defend the Kingdom. He was a pragmatist in developing his military strategy. His army consisted of farmers and peasants, lacking both the funds and equipment to be classic soldiers with sword, horse and armor, so Žižka used their farmers' skills to boost their military efficiency. He adapted tools of agriculture into tools of war. The agricultural flail was transformed into the flail.

Menaced by Sigismund, the citizens of Prague entreated the Taborites for assistance. Led by Žižka and their other captains, the Taborites set out to take part in the defence of the capital. At Prague, Žižka and his men took up a strong position on the hill just outside the city known as the Vítkov, now in Žižkov, a district of Prague named after the battle in his honour. On 14 July the armies of Sigismund made a general attack. A strong German Crusader-led force assaulted the position on the Vítkov, the stronghold that secured the Hussite communications with the open country. Thanks to Žižka's personal leadership, the attack was thrown back and the forces of Sigismund abandoned the siege. On August 22 the Taborites left Prague and returned to Tábor.

thumb|The death of Jan Žižka, illustration by [[Adolf Liebscher]]

According to chronicler Piccolomini, Žižka's dying wish was to have his skin used to make drums so that he might continue to lead his troops even after death. Žižka was so highly regarded that when he died, his soldiers called themselves Sirotci ("the Orphans") because they felt as if they had lost their father. His enemies said that "The one whom no mortal hand could destroy was extinguished by the finger of God."

He was interred in the church of Saints Peter & Paul in Caslau, but in 1623 his remains were removed and his grave destroyed by order of the Emperor Ferdinand II.

He was succeeded by Prokop the Great.

Battle record

;Key to outcome

Indicates a favorable outcome

Indicates an unfavorable outcome

Indicates an uncertain or mixed outcome

{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1"

|+ Summary (incomplete)

! scope="col" | Date(s)

! scope="col" | Clash(es)

! scope="col" | Type(s)

! scope="col" | Conflict(s)

! scope="col" | Opponent(s)

! scope="col" | Location(s)

! scope="col" | Outcome(s)

! scope="col" | Note(s)

| 15 July 1410 || Battle of Grunwald || Open Battle || Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War || Teutonic Order || Western Masuria, Poland || ||

| 25 October 1415 || Battle of Agincourt || Open Battle || Hundred Years' War || Kingdom of France || Azincourt, County of Saint-Pol || || Žižka's participation in the battle is not confirmed but according to some sources, Žižka fought on the side of England.

| 30 July 1419 || Defenestration of Prague || Storming of City Council || Hussite Wars || City of Prague || Prague, Bohemia || ||

| December 1419 || Battle of Nekmíř || Skirmish || Hussite Wars || Landfrieden of Pilsen || Nekmíř, north of Pilsen || || First documented use of the wagon fort.

| 25 March 1420 || Battle of Sudoměř || Open Battle || Hussite Wars || Landfrieden of Pilsen ||

Sudoměř, southern Bohemia

| ||

| 5 April 1420 || Battle of Mladá Vožice || Open Battle || Hussite Wars || Bohemian Nobility || Mladá Vožice, southern Bohemia || ||

| April 1420 || Siege of Prachatice || Siege || Hussite Wars || Town of Prachatice || Prachatice, southern Bohemia || ||

| September 1420 || Siege of Lomnice nad Lužnicí || Siege || Hussite Wars || Town of Lomnice nad Lužicí || Lomnice nad Lužicí, southern Bohemia || ||

| September 1420 || Siege of Nová Bystřice || Siege || Hussite Wars || Town of Nová Bystřice || Nová Bystřice, southern Bohemia || ||

| 12 October 1420 || Battle of Panský Bor || Open Battle || Hussite Wars || Holy Roman Empire || Malý Bor, western Bohemia || ||

| November 1420 || Siege of Prachatice || Siege || Hussite Wars || Town of Prachatice || Prachatice, southern Bohemia || ||

| 16-18 March 1421 || Conquest of Chomutov || Siege || Hussite Wars || || || ||

| 1 April 1421 || Siege of Beroun || Siege || Hussite Wars || || || ||

| May 1421 || Siege of Litoměřice || Siege || Hussite Wars || Town of Litoměřice || Litoměřice || || Žižka left the town after unsuccessful siege.

| July 1421 || Siege of Rábí || Siege || Hussite Wars || || || || Žižka lost eye during the siege.

| October 1421 || Defeat of Adamites || Skirmish || Hussite Wars || Bohemian Adamites || Hamr, southern Bohemia || ||

| November 1421 || Battle of Žlutice || Open Battle || Hussite Wars || Landfrieden of Pilsen || || || Hussites successfully defended the wagon fort for three days and finally broke through the encirclement.

| 27 April 1423 || Battle of Hořice || Open Battle || Hussite Wars || Bohemian nobility || || ||

| 4 August 1423 || Battle of Strauchův Dvůr || Prague Hussites || Hussite Wars || Prague Citizens || || ||

The legend about how Žižka ordered that his skin should be made into a war drum after his death is important in Gustav Meyrink's 1917 novel Walpurgisnacht.

Žižka appears as one of the main characters in the Armed Garden graphic novella (The Armed Garden and Other Stories) by David B. He is the hero of a novel by George Sand, of a German epic by Meissner, and of a Bohemian tragedy by Alois Jirásek.

Jan Žižka: život a doba husitského válečníka (Jan Žižka: The Life and Era of the Hussite Warrior) is a book written by Czech historian Petr Čornej and published by Paseka publishing house in 2019 for the 600th anniversary of the beginning of the Hussite Revolution. It has approximately nine hundred pages divided into eight chapters and sixty-three subchapters, which follow the entire life of Jan Žižka from his youth until his death. The book won the 2020 Magnesia Litera award for Book of the Year and also triumphed in the nonfiction category.

Films

Jan Žižka was a main character in a 1919 film Utrpením ke slávě (Through Suffering to Glory). The film was an attempt to portray the suffering of the Czech people from mythical times to the Battle of White Mountain and World War I. The film is "concluded with an apotheosis of the resurrection of Hus' and Žižka's nation." The film wasn't fully completed and was probably shown only in some country cinemas during the summer of 1919. The film is considered lost. Žižka was portrayed by Richard F. Branald.

Jan Žižka is a central figure of the "Hussite Revolutionary Trilogy" directed by Otakar Vávra. The films starred Zdeněk Štěpánek as Žižka. It consists of Jan Hus, Jan Žižka and Against All.

Jan Žižka appeared in a 1960 Polish film Knights of the Teutonic Order. He is played by Tadeusz Schmidt.

In 1968 Czechoslovak Children film Na Žižkově válečném voze (On Žižka's Battle Waggon), Žižka was played by Ilja Prachař.

The 2013 animated film The Hussites is set during the Hussite wars. The protagonist of the film, Záboj serves as the film's version of Žižka.

Jan Žižka appeared in season 4 and 5 of a Polish television series The Crown of the Kings which ran from 2018 to 2024. He was portrayed by Jacek Łukowski.

A film Jan Žižka (English title Medieval) by director Petr Jákl was released in 2022. It follows Jan Žižka during his youth. It is the most expensive Czech film ever made. Žižka was portrayed by Ben Foster. It was released on Netflix in 2022.

Games

In the game Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition – Dawn of the Dukes, there is a single player campaign during which player takes role of Jan Žižka.

Age of Empires III features Hussite wagons as a unit used by Germans. Unit infobox directly mentions Žižka with the anglicized version of his name: John Zizka.

Žižka appears in Europa Universalis II as a default general for the Bohemia faction.

Field of Glory II: Medieval features Hussite campaign during which player takes role of Jan Žižka.

Jan Žižka is one of the legendary cavalry commanders in the mobile game Rise of Kingdoms.

Hrot includes a power-up called Calvaria of Čáslav which is a nod to the Calva of Caslav, the top part of a human skull found in Čáslav which is attributed to Jan Žižka.

Jan Žižka is an [Age I] leader in the expansion New Leaders and Wonders released in 2020 to the board game Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization.

Žižka appears in a DLC for 1428: Shadows over Silesia called Tourney at the Bear Rock which is set in 1409.

Jan Žižka is a prominent character in Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, which is set in 1403. Here Žižka's likeness is modeled after Czech actor Stanislav Majer, with Adrian Bouchet performing the motion capture and voicing him in English and Martin Preiss in the Czech dub. Žižka's appearance in the game was praised with Josh Cotts of Game Rant calling Žižka the game's breakout star.

Jan Žižka can appear as a general in Europa Universalis V during the Hussite Wars event.

Jan Žižka is the main protagonist of the upcoming independent real-time strategy game Songs of the Chalice, which is set in early years of Hussite Wars.

Other

Early in 1917, the 3rd Czechoslovak Rifle Regiment of the Czechoslovak legions in Russia was named after "Jan Žižka z Trocnova".

During World War II, a number of military units were named after Jan Žižka. One of them, the 1st Czechoslovak Partisan Brigade of Jan Žižka, was among the first anti-Nazi guerrilla units in occupied Czechoslovakia. A Yugoslav partisan brigade of the same name was formed in western Slavonia on 26 October 1943 and operated in areas inhabited by a large Czech and Slovak minority.

Žižkův vraždící palcát (Žižka's murdering mace) is a metal festival that has been held in Tábor since 1998.

Citations

General and cited sources

Bílek, Jiří (2007), Hádanky naší minulosti 7. Čtyři Janové a bratr Prokop, Euromedia Group Praha. pp. 172–173. . Count Lützow, The Hussite Wars, J. M. Dent & Sons London, E. P. Dutton & Co. New York (1909).
Čornej, Petr (2019), Jan Žižka. Nakladatelství Paseka.
Fudge, Thomas A., The Crusade Against Heretics in Bohemia, 1418–1437: Sources and Documents for the Hussite Crusades (Crusade Texts in Translation). Höfler, Konstantin, Geschichtsquellen Böhmens.
Heymann, Frederick G. (1969), John Zizka & the Hussite Revolution, Russell & Russell New York (1955).
Šmahel, František, Die Hussitische Revolution I–III, MGH-Schriften. 43/I–III, Hannover (2002).
Turnbull, Stephen, The Hussite Wars (1419–36), Osprey Publishing. .
Verney, Victor (2009), Warrior of God: Jan Žižka and the Hussite Revolution, Frontline Books London. .