Hussite Wars

The Hussite Wars involved the military actions against and amongst the followers of Jan Hus in Bohemia in the period 1420 to circa 1434. The Hussite Wars were arguably the first European war in which hand-held gunpowder weapons such as muskets made a decisive contribution. Light cannons were also used, especially by the Hussites who used them masterfully in defensive positions.

Aftermath

The Utraquist creed, frequently varying in its details, continued to be that of the established church of Bohemia till all non-Roman religious services were prohibited shortly after the Battle of the White Mountain in 1620. The Taborite party never recovered from its defeat at Lipan, and after the town of Tabor had been captured by George of Podebrady in 1452 Utraquist religious worship was established there. The Bohemian brethren, whose intellectual originator was Petr Chelčický, but whose actual founders were Brother Gregory, a nephew of Archbishop Rokycan, and Michael, curate of Zamberk, to a certain extent continued the Taborite traditions, and in the 15th and 16th centuries included most of the strongest opponents of Rome in Bohemia.

Related Topics:
Battle of the White Mountain - 1620 - George of Podebrady - Bohemian brethren - Petr Chelčický

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J. A. Komensky (Comenius), a member of the brotherhood, claimed for the members of his church that they were the genuine inheritors of the doctrines of Hus. After the beginning of the German Reformation many Utraquists adopted to a large extent the doctrines of Martin Luther and of John Calvin; and in 1567 obtained the repeal of the compacts, which no longer seemed sufficiently far-reaching. From the end of the 16th century the inheritors of the Hussite tradition in Bohemia were included in the more general name of "Protestants" borne by the adherents of the Reformation.

Related Topics:
Comenius - Martin Luther - John Calvin

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All histories of Bohemia devote a large amount of space to the Hussite movement. See:

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• Count Lützow, Bohemia; an Historical Sketch (London, 1896)
• Palacky, Geschichte von Bohmen
• Bachmann, Geschichte Bohmens
• L. Krummel, Geschichte der bohmischen Reformation (Gotha, 1866)
• L. Krummel, Utraquisten und Taboriten (Gotha, 187 i)
• Ernest Denis, Huss et la guerre des Hussites (Paris, 1878)
• H. Toman, Husitské válečnictví (Prague, 1898).