21. This Bout of Unrest Rocked Fifteenth-Century Bohemia
In the early fifteenth century, Bohemia – today’s Czech Republic – was rocked by violent religious unrest known as the Hussite Revolution. Jan Hus was a pre-Protestant Bohemian advocate of religious reform, who was condemned as a heretic by the Catholic Church and burned at the stake in 1415. After Hus’ death, many Bohemian nobles and knights vowed to protect his followers from further persecution. They were tolerated by Bohemia’s King Vaclav IV. Vaclav died in 1419, however, and was succeeded by his brother Sigismund, who loathed the Hussites.
King Sigismund’s hostility to the Hussites led to unrest. When the Hussites prevented Sigismund from entering Prague, he got the Pope to issue a Bull that declared the Hussites heretics, and sanctioned a crusade against them. Eventually, the forces of the Papacy and the Holy Roman Empire launched five crusades against the Hussites, who defeated all five. They then went on the offensive, participating in the wars of neighboring countries. The Hussites’ rebellion was marked by the adoption of innovative military tactics and technologies that revolutionized warfare.
