During civil war in early 15th century Bohemia a Hussite leader and Czech national hero Jan Zizka, already blind in one eye, lost the other. However, he continued to command his army for another three years before his death from the plague, without losing a single battle. According to one of the chroniclers of those times, the last wish of the dying Žižka was to have his skin pulled over a drum, and thus he could inspire his soldiers even after death. Czech commander, one of the leaders of the Hussite movement. The national hero of the Czech Republic. Jan Zizka was born in South Bohemia. He came from a family of a ruined Czech knight. Early showed a desire for the national independence of his Fatherland. Back to top Hussite wars in the Czech Republic, he had great combat experience, having fought a lot outside of it. Zizka took part in the famous Battle of Grunwald on July 15, 1410, in which Czech-Moravian troops fought on the side of the Polish-Lithuanian-Russian army under the command of the Polish king Vladislav II Jagiello against the Teutonic Order. In that battle, two banners (detachments) of Jan Zizka distinguished themselves on the left wing of the allied army, where the crusaders under the command of Liechtenstein were defeated. Jan Zizka was a participant in another big battle - the battle of Agincourt. He became one of the closest associates of Jan Hus (burned at the stake as a heretic in 1415), the leader of the Reformation of 1400-1419 in the Czech Republic. His supporters were called Hussites. Their main demands were the secularization of the vast landed property of the Catholic Church in the country and the deprivation of its political power. As the struggle grew, the Hussite movement split into two wings: moderate (cuppers) and radical (Taborites - from the city of Tabor, the center of their movement). One of the most influential military figures of the Hussite movement, the hero of the Battle of Grunwald, Jan Zizka, sided with the Taborites. He was the organizer of the struggle of the Czech people against the crusaders who attacked their homeland in 1419–1437. The Taborite army under the command of Jan Zizka won its first victory in battle near Sudomerzh in 1420, where their detachment of 400 people, retreating from the city of Pilsen, successfully fought off the 2,000th detachment of the royal knightly cavalry. This battle is notable for the fact that the Taborites used here for the first time a field fortification made of wagons, which became an insurmountable obstacle for the mounted knights. This tactic was successfully used by Zizka and other Taborite leaders during all the Hussite wars. After the formation of the Hussite military camp - Tabora (now a city in the Czech Republic, 75 kilometers from Prague) in 1420, Jan Zizka became one of the four hetmans of the Hussites, and in fact - their chief commander. The other three hetmans did not dispute his actual power in the army and voluntarily submitted to him. In the same year, the Hussite army won its first significant victory in the defense of Vitková Gora (now Zizková Hora), when the outcome of the battle for the Czech capital, the city of Prague, was decided. Its rebellious inhabitants besieged the royal garrison in the Prague fortress. Upon learning of this, the Taborites hurried to their aid. The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Sigismund I, who led the First Crusade against the Hussite Bohemia, also hurried to Prague against opponents of the power of the Catholic Church. This campaign, like all subsequent ones, was carried out with the blessing of the Pope. The crusaders attacked the Czech Republic from two sides - from the northeast and from the south. Jan Zizka, at the head of the Taborite army, approached Prague much earlier than his opponents, but did not deploy his troops in the city itself. For the camp, Jan Zizka chose Vitková Gora near the city, to which it was facing with its eastern slope. The Taborites fortified themselves on the top of the Vitková Gora, having built two wooden log cabins from the side of Prague, which they reinforced with walls of stone and clay, and dug deep ditches. It turned out to be a small field fortress. After that, the Czech soldiers began to wait for the attack of the crusader knights. The first enemy attack was repelled by a detachment of Taborites, armed with heavy peasant flails for threshing grain. When the second attack of the knights on the top of the mountain followed, the inhabitants of Prague came to the aid of the army of Jan Zizka, among whom were big number archers. Before that, the citizens of Prague watched the course of the battle from the fortress walls and towers. As a result, the battle on Vitková Gora ended in a complete victory for the Taborites and townspeople. After this failure, many German feudal lords with their troops left the imperial army, and Sigismund I considered it best to leave Prague and go into his possessions. The victory of Czech soldiers at Vitková Gora over the superior forces of the crusaders glorified the military leader of the Hussites and demonstrated his military abilities. Jan Zizka began his hetmanship with the reorganization of the Taborite troops. Under his leadership, the Hussites created a standing army, recruited from volunteers. Detachment commanders (hetmans) were elected. In 1423, Jan Zizka developed the first Western Europe military charter, which clearly defined the rules of conduct for soldiers in battle, on a campaign and on vacation. The Hussite army differed significantly from the troops of the crusaders. Its main force was not heavily armed knightly cavalry, but well-organized infantry. The primary tactical unit of his army was a wagon with a “crew” of 18–20 people: a commander, two shooters from arquebuses or squeakers, 4–8 archers, 2–4 chainmen who fought in battle with heavy peasant flails, 4 spearmen, 2 shieldmen covering in battle with large wooden shields of horses and people, 2 riders who controlled horses and coupled wagons in the parking lot. Carts were organized organizationally into dozens with a common commander, and dozens into ranks, larger military detachments capable of solving combat missions on their own. All infantry was divided into tactical units - fifty. The hetman commanded the Hussite infantry. The cavalry of the Hussites was light and not numerous, in contrast to the enemy, knightly. It usually constituted the commander-in-chief's reserve in battle and was used to conduct a counterattack and pursue a defeated enemy. The pride of Jan Zizka's army was artillery, consisting of field and siege guns. The first included a short-barreled howitzer (howitzer), which fired stone cannonballs, and a long-barreled tarasnitsa on a wooden carriage, which fired stone and iron cannonballs. One such field gun accounted for five wagons. The main siege weapons were bombards with a caliber of up to 850 millimeters (one per row), with a firing range of 200–500 meters. The Hussites successfully used their numerous artillery in clashes with the heavy cavalry of the enemy. The battle formation of the Hussite army was unusual for that time. Depending on the conditions of the terrain, they created various fortifications from heavy carts linked together by chains and belts. Such a fortification was later called "Wagenburg". Artillery guns were placed between the wagons, behind which the infantry and cavalry were securely hiding. In this case, the knights had to dismount and attack the Hussites in obviously unfavorable conditions. The Hussite army was accustomed to lead fighting day and night, in any weather. According to the military regulations, field fortifications from interlinked wagons had to rest against natural obstacles and, if possible, be installed in high places. In battle, the Hussites usually waited for the attack of the knightly cavalry and met it with the fire of their numerous artillery, arquebus and squeaker bullets, arrows with blunt armor-piercing tips. When it came to hand-to-hand combat, chainmen and spearmen entered the fray. The Hussites pursued and destroyed the defeated enemy, while the knights, after the battle won, did not pursue the fleeing enemies, but robbed the killed, wounded and captured opponents. . He saw the battlefield through the eyes of his closest assistants and gave the right orders. In January 1422, the Hussite troops defeated the main forces of the European Catholic knighthood participating in the second campaign in the decisive battle near Gabr (the pursuit of the defeated crusaders was carried out to the German Ford). In the same year, Jan Žižka removed the blockade from the Czech city of the Zatec (Zaac) fortress, besieged by the crusaders of Emperor Sigismund I, with a sudden blow, and then successfully avoided the enemy encirclement near the city of Kolin. Then the crusaders suffered another setback when they surrounded the camp of the Taborites on Mount Vladar , near the town of Zhlutice. In this battle, the Taborites, unexpectedly for the enemy, launched an attack from the top along with their wagons. The crusaders fled in fear, fearing an inglorious death under the wheels of heavy carts rushing at them. in 1426. In the Holy Roman Empire, they could not forget the complete defeat of the second campaign against the Czech Republic for a long time. This time, the crusaders gathered in a huge 70,000-strong army, which, it seemed, could sweep away everything in its path. However, Jan Zizka, at the head of a 25,000-strong army of Taborites, resolutely moved towards her. A big battle took place near the city of Ust. The Hussite commander once again applied his usual tactics of warfare. The knights, clad in armor, this time turned out to be powerless in attacking a field fortress built from 500 wagons firmly fastened to each other, and against well-aimed fire of the Czech field artillery. The counterattack of the Hussite cavalry outweighed the scales in this battle. Despite their almost threefold superiority, the crusaders were utterly defeated, and they had to retreat. To prevent new crusades against the Czech Republic, Jan Zizka transferred hostilities to the territory of his enemy. In the middle of 1423, he undertook a large campaign in Moravia and Hungary. Having crossed the Small Carpathians, the army of the Taborites went to the Danube. Then it deepened into the territory of Hungary for 130–140 kilometers. The Hungarian feudal lords gathered large forces. All the time of the campaign of the Taborites, the Hungarians constantly attacked them, but they were never able to break through the defensive ring from their wagons. The warriors of Jan Zizka fired cannons so accurately on the move that the Hungarian cavalry had to stop the parallel pursuit of the Czech troops. the Crusaders had to leave the Czech Republic. The last victorious battle of the Czech commander Jan Zizka was the Battle of Maleshov in June 1424. This time, the opponents of the first hetman were not German and other European knights, but their fellow citizens - chasniki, former allies in the Reformation. In the same year, the first hetman of the Hussite army died during a plague in the besieged fortress city of Přibislav, in the central part of the Czech Republic. So the Taborite army was left without its illustrious commander, whose name alone inspired fear in the crusaders. There was no worthy replacement for Jan Zizka in the Hussite army. This circumstance largely predetermined its defeat. The Hussite wars ended with the defeat of the Taborites in the battle of Lipany in 1434 and ultimately brought the long-awaited state independence to the Czech Republic. A monument was erected to the great commander near Przybislav, and on the Vitkov Hill in the north of Prague there is a National Memorial with an equestrian statue of Jan Zizka. The monument to the national hero of the Czech Republic Jan Zizka returned to Vitkov Hill after restoration. On the evening of October 24, a solemn opening ceremony was held. The weight of the monument is 16.5 tons, the width is five meters, and the height reaches nine meters. Back in 2006, specialists recorded the deplorable state of the monument. Restoration of one of the largest equestrian sculptures in the world began in April 2011. About one million euros (23 million crowns) were spent on the reconstruction. During the restoration work, a parcel was placed inside the sculpture, in which, as a greeting to the descendants, there are photographs, coins and stamps. From the moment the monument was opened, for three days, Praguers and guests of the Czech Republic can admire the magnificent monument under spectacular lighting. The equestrian sculpture was created by Bogumil Kafka, he worked on it for 11 years until his death in 1942. The monument was cast only in 1946, and on July 14, 1950, on the day of the 350th anniversary of the victory of the Hussites, the monument was erected on Vitkovo.Pan Zizka is rightfully considered an outstanding military talent in Czech history. An excellent commander with an iron will, he was extremely cruel in dealing with enemies. There are many stories about his gloomy character and severity, because of which he even bore the nickname "Terrible Blind Man" for some time. Jan Zizka - invincible How he became a robber from the high road folk hero.On the Vitkov Hill in the north of Prague there is the National Memorial with one of the symbols of the Czech capital - the equestrian statue of Jan Zizka from Trocnov, the famous commander of the early 15th century, the hero of the Hussite wars, the echo of which then resounded throughout Europe. A few years ago, when the voting game "The Greatest of the Czechs" was held on Czech television, during which the viewers chose the most eminent figures national history, Jan Zizka took an honorable fifth place, ahead of, in particular, Jan Hus, Antonin Dvorak and Karel Capek. The half-blind, gray-haired horseman with the traditional weapon of the Hussites - a club in his hand remains one of the most expressive figures of Czech history. But in the guise of Zizka there are not only heroic traits. His fate is an example of how, in the turbulent era of the Hussite wars, courage and cruelty, devotion to the idea and ambition, military talent and recklessness merged together ... About most of the life of Jan Zizka from Trotsnov, no detailed information has been preserved. It is only known that he was born around 1360 in the south of the Czech Republic and came from a poor noble family . According to legend, his mother gave birth to him during a summer storm under a huge oak tree. In 1908, Prince Adolf Schwarzenberg, the owner of the local estate, erected a memorial sign there. Before that, there was a small chapel in the same place, in which there was an inscription: "Jan Zizka from Trocnov, a blind man of bad memory, was born here." The chapel was Catholic, and the Catholics, as we shall see, had no reason to keep a good memory of Zizka. By the way, about Zizka's blindness: most historians are inclined to believe that he lost one eye as a result of an injury in childhood or early adolescence, while he lost the other during the Hussite wars. Therefore, in portraits depicting the commander at the beginning of his career, the rag usually covers his right eye, in later portraits both already. What exactly Zizka did until about 1405 is not exactly known. There are references to the purchase and sale of several small estates in southern Bohemia. There is evidence that Zizka was married, his wife died early, but they had a daughter, whom her father later married off as one of the offspring of a noble family of gentlemen from Dube. In the early years of the 15th century, references to Jan Zizka of Trocnov appear in Czech chronicles and other documents that tell of rampant bandits on the roads of the kingdom, which, under the indecisive and alcoholic Wenceslas IV, fell into a fair decline. In the court book of the princes from Rožmberk for 1406, data are given on the interrogation of one of the captured bandits with passion: Matei took the money from the merchants, and Zizka killed one of the servants. From other documents we learn about the attacks of the Zizka detachment on merchants in the vicinity of the city of Ceske Budejovice, where cloth became the prey of the robbers. It should be noted, however, that in those years, robbery was not out of the ordinary among the impoverished nobles; dozens of wandering knights and hundreds of their commoner assistants hunted for it. In 1409, the townspeople of Budějovice managed to catch and hang many robbers operating in the vicinity of the city. Zizka is not destined to escape justice either. But here, when the ghost of the gallows is already looming before him, the unexpected happens: King Wenceslas himself stands up for the robber knight. We do not know on what basis the royal amnesty applies to Jan Zizka - we can only assume that even earlier he managed to acquire influential patrons at court. However, having been released, Zizka leaves for Poland, where, according to some information, he participates in the famous Battle of Grunwald in the summer of 1410. In it, the Polish-Lithuanian army of King Vladislav Jagiello defeats the knights of the Teutonic Order. On the side of the Poles, a small Czech detachment also fought, which included Jan Zizka. Returning to his homeland, Zizka begins a court career, enters the retinue of the wife of Wenceslas IV - Queen Sofia. It is possible that it was at this time that he fell under the influence of supporters of religious reform, led by the popular Prague preacher Jan Hus. Hus's teaching was a continuation of the theories of the English theologian John Wycliffe, who called on the church to be non-possessive and insisted that the only source of religious truths is Holy Bible. “Faithful Christian, seek the truth, listen to the voice of truth, learn the truth, love the truth, speak the truth, hold on to the truth and defend the truth to death,” Jan Hus urged his parishioners. In 1415, by decision of the Cathedral of the Catholic Church in Constance, he was declared a heretic and sent to the stake. But the religious ideas of the Prague preacher became a moral guide for thousands of people dissatisfied with social injustice and the growing influence of prosperous German colonists in the Czech Republic. Social, religious and national ferment led to a revolutionary explosion. On July 30, 1419, unrest breaks out in Prague. After the city government scornfully rejects the demands of the reformers led by the young preacher Jan Żelivski, the mob storms the town hall in the New Town and throws the city council members out of the windows onto the spears and lances of the armed demonstrators. The chronicle reports that Jan Zizka was a participant in these events: "... And Jan Zizka, a servant and close associate of King Wenceslas, was at this throwing out and an unheard of murder." Probably, he not only participated, but was also one of the leaders of the uprising, otherwise he would not have been soon appointed leader of the Prague army. Meanwhile, Wenceslas IV died. Supporters of the Hussite doctrine and in general all the dissatisfied did not find common language with his conservative and despotic successor - Sigismund of Hungary, nicknamed the "Red Fox". The Czech Republic embarked on the path of disobedience. At the end of 1419, a truce was concluded between the royal troops and the rebels, but Zizka does not comply with it, preferring to leave Prague and move to Pilsen. The Hussites crack down on Catholic landowners, attack monasteries, partially destroying and partially distributing their property. In response, the new king, rich nobles and foreign knights gather troops against them. Battles follow one after another, and Zizka's military talent is manifested in them. Already in his first major battle, at Sudoměř in March 1420, he successfully used the favorite fortification of the Hussites from fallen and stacked wagons (in Czech - vozová hradba). A few months later, in July, after Pope Martin V announced a crusade against the Hussites, the crusader army entered into battle with Zizka's detachments on the same Vitkovsky hill near Prague, where the monument to the commander now stands. And again, luck was on the side of the one-eyed warrior - with an unexpected counterattack, he put the enemy to flight. By that time, Zizka is a member of the council of 12 hetmans - the actual government of the rebels. All last years Žižka has been continuously fighting throughout his life, not only with the royal army and the crusaders, but also with opponents in the ranks of the Hussist camp itself. In 1421, he led virtually punitive operations against the Pikarts and Adamites, two radical Hussite sects. Zizka knew how to be ruthless: dozens of people were executed and burned. At the same time, the Hussites continue to persecute the Catholic clergy, especially the monastic brethren. More and more power is concentrated in the hands of Zizka. Since the end of 1420, he has been the sole military leader of the Taborites, as they call the most organized and consistent part of the Hussite movement, the center of which is the city of Tabor, turned into a military-religious camp. In June 1421, during the siege of the town of Rabi, Zizka was wounded in his only eye. He finally goes blind, but does not stop organizing new campaigns, repelling the invasion of knightly detachments from Saxony and Bavaria. The glory of Zizka is such that in several cases the enemy prefers to retreat without even engaging in battle with him. The fighting is a tangled tangle of campaigns and pursuits, in which detachments of different cities, nobles, knightly orders, individual Hussist leaders and royal military leaders participate ... But the figure of Zizka, thanks to his military talent, rises above everyone. The forces are gradually leaving the blind commander - he is already over 60, for those times it is a deep old age - but he still manages in June 1424 at Maleshov to inflict a crushing defeat on the Catholic army pursuing him and the Prague residents who joined them. At the same time, his army captures and burns Kutná Hora, one of the largest centers of crafts and trade in the then Czech Republic. Wars ravage the country, but there is no end in sight. True, in the autumn of 1424, negotiations for a general truce in the kingdom begin - once again. But Jan Zizka was not destined to wait for their end: during the siege of the city of Przebyslav on November 11, 1424, he dies - without losing a single battle. His soldiers, as a sign of grief, begin to call themselves "orphans". The Hussite wars continue for a good decade after Zizka's death. This man, who has lived such a stormy life, as if he cannot find peace even after death. He is buried in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Hradec Kralove, later the body is transferred to the city of Caslav. In 1620, after the Catholics defeated the Protestants at the Battle of White Mountain, the remains of the Hussite leader were hidden. They were only rediscovered in 1910. Modern Czech historians assess the merits of Jan Zizka from Trocnov as follows: “He created constantly active army with a certain order of organization, significantly improved the conduct of defensive operations using wagons and regularly used artillery. The name of Zizka is associated with the defensive phase of the Hussite revolution and the strengthening of the state structures. To the credit of the blind commander is the fact that, when he died, he had almost no property. Jan Zizka is rightfully considered the most outstanding military talent in Czech history"...

Reason: 6th place given to the person who played essential role in the history of the Czech state, but is known in absentia only to historians, people enlightened and familiar with the history of the Czech Republic, tourists who visited the country. This name is not on everyone's lips, but this does not diminish the significance of his deeds.

Charles IV (1316-1378) - Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, King of the Czech Republic and Germany. The period of his reign of the Czech state went down in history as the "Golden Age". How did Charles IV “golden” the Czech Republic? Charles did enough for Bohemia to make it prosperous under his rule.

The most expensive and important regalia of the Czech monarchs is associated with the name of Charles IV: the St. Wenceslas crown, kept in (currently the crown is kept in in). It was made especially for the coronation of the emperor.

Charles IV gravitated toward enlightenment and construction, was a patron of the arts and science. Under his leadership, the Karlovy Vary resort opens, the castle in Hradcany and the Karlstejn castle are being built. The latter became a treasury of royal regalia and a place of storage of the holy relics of the monarch's collection. According to his decree, the Cathedral of St. Vitus (Prague) is also being built.

The merits of Charles include the development of Czech cities, the opening of the University of Prague. Under his rule, the Vltava becomes a navigable river, vineyards are planted in the Czech state.

He established the Zemstvo Peace Union - these are agreements prohibiting for a set time to wage internecine wars in Europe. If tourists are lucky with a guide, they will learn a lot about the deeds of Charles IV for the benefit of the Czech Republic.

5. Golden Style by Alphonse Mucha

Reason: this name is associated in the West with the "Golden Age of Painting". In Russia, he is little known. The younger generation did not even hear the name of the artist, and yet he introduced his own style into art, later called the “Fly style”.

Alphonse Mucha (1860 - 1939) - artist, poster artist, illustrator, jewelry designer, representative of the Art Nouveau style. The artist started creative way as an actor and poster decorator. He painted the ancestral castle of Count Karl Kuen-Belassi and his ceremonial palace Emmahof in Grushovani. He headed the Association of Slavic Artists.

Glory, recognition came to him in Paris, when he made a poster for the premiere of "Gismonde" with the participation of Sarah Bernhardt. His graphic series "Flowers", "Seasons", "Trees", "Stars", "Months", "Arts", "Precious Stones" are still printed in the form of art posters. Reproductions of his paintings are in demand among tourists as.

There were two muses in his life: the Czech Republic and his wife Maria. In 1928, the artist's dream comes true: he finishes the "Slavic Epic" in his homeland (a monumental canvas tells the story of the Slavic peoples). The work is located in the castle in Moravsky Krumlov. Later it was presented to them by Prague.

In the capital, A. Mukha creates the interiors of the Municipal House, the Imperial and Europe hotels. The main stained-glass window of the St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle was created according to the sketches of A. Mucha.

During the civil war in Bohemia at the beginning of the 15th century, the leader of the Hussites and the Czech national hero Jan Zizka, already blind in one eye, lost the other. However, he continued to command his army for another three years before his death from the plague, without losing a single battle. According to one of the chroniclers of those times, the last wish of the dying Žižka was to have his skin pulled over a drum, and thus he could inspire his soldiers even after death.

Czech commander, one of the leaders of the Hussite movement. National hero of the Czech Republic.

Jan Zizka was born in South Bohemia. He came from a family of a ruined Czech knight. Early showed a desire for the national independence of his Fatherland. By the beginning of the Hussite wars in the Czech Republic, he had extensive combat experience, having managed to fight a lot outside of it.

Zizka took part in the famous Battle of Grunwald on July 15, 1410, in which the Czech-Moravian detachments fought on the side of the Polish-Lithuanian-Russian army under the command of the Polish king Vladislav II Jagello against the Teutonic Order. In that battle, two banners (detachments) of Jan Zizka distinguished themselves on the left wing of the allied army, where the crusaders under the command of Liechtenstein were defeated. Jan Zizka was a participant in another big battle - the battle of Agincourt.

He became one of the closest associates of Jan Hus (burned at the stake as a heretic in 1415), leader of the Reformation of 1400-1419 in Bohemia. His supporters were called Hussites. Their main demands were the secularization of the vast landed property of the Catholic Church in the country and the deprivation of its political power. As the struggle grew, the Hussite movement split into two wings: moderate (cuppers) and radical (Taborites - from the city of Tabor, the center of their movement). One of the most influential military figures of the Hussite movement, the hero of the Battle of Grunwald, Jan Zizka, sided with the Taborites.

He was the organizer of the struggle of the Czech people against the crusaders who attacked his homeland in 1419-1437.

The Taborite army under the command of Jan Zizka won its first victory in the battle near Sudomerzh in 1420, where their detachment of 400 people, retreating from the city of Pilsen, successfully fought off the 2,000th detachment of the royal knightly cavalry. This battle is notable for the fact that the Taborites used here for the first time a field fortification made of wagons, which became an insurmountable obstacle for the mounted knights. Zizka and other Taborite leaders successfully used this tactic during all the Hussite wars.

After the formation in 1420 of the Hussite military camp - Tabora (now a city in the Czech Republic, 75 kilometers from Prague), Jan Zizka became one of the four hetmans of the Hussites, and in fact - their main commander. The other three hetmans did not dispute his actual authority in the army and voluntarily submitted to him.

In the same year, the Hussite army won its first significant victory in the defense of Vitková Gora (now Zizková Gora), when the outcome of the battle for the Czech capital, the city of Prague, was decided. Its rebellious inhabitants besieged the royal garrison in the Prague fortress. Upon learning of this, the Taborites hurried to their aid. The Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire Sigismund I, who led the First Crusade against the Hussite Bohemia, also hurried to Prague against opponents of the power of the Catholic Church. This campaign, like all subsequent ones, was carried out with the blessing of the Pope.

The crusaders attacked the Czech Republic from two sides - from the northeast and from the south.

Jan Zizka, at the head of the Taborite army, approached Prague much earlier than his opponents, but did not place his troops in the city itself.

For the camp, Jan Zizka chose Vitková Gora near the city, to which it was turned by its eastern slope. The Taborites fortified themselves on the top of the Vitková Gora, having built two wooden log cabins from the side of Prague, which they reinforced with walls of stone and clay, and dug deep ditches. It turned out to be a small field fortress. After that, the Czech soldiers began to wait for the attack of the crusader knights.

The first enemy attack was repelled by a detachment of Taborites, armed with heavy peasant flails for threshing grain. When the second attack of the knights on the top of the mountain followed, the inhabitants of Prague came to the aid of the army of Jan Zizka, among whom there were a large number of archers. Before that, the citizens of Prague watched the course of the battle from the fortress walls and towers. As a result, the battle on Vitkova Gora ended in a complete victory for the Taborites and the townspeople.

After this failure, many German feudal lords with their detachments left the imperial army, and Sigismund I considered it best to leave Prague and go into his possessions.

The victory of the Czech soldiers at Vitková Gora over the superior forces of the crusaders glorified the military leader of the Hussites and demonstrated his military leadership abilities.

Jan Zizka began his hetmanship with the reorganization of the Taborite troops. Under his leadership, the Hussites created a standing army, recruited from volunteers. Detachment commanders (hetmans) were elected.

In 1423, Jan Zizka developed the first military charter in Western Europe, which clearly defined the rules for the behavior of soldiers in battle, on a campaign and on vacation.

The Hussite army differed significantly from the troops of the crusaders. Its main force was not heavily armed knightly cavalry, but well-organized infantry. The primary tactical unit of his army was a wagon with a "crew" of 18-20 people: a commander, two arrows from arquebuses or squeakers, 4-8 archers, 2-4 chainmen who fought in battle with heavy peasant flails, 4 spearmen, 2 shieldmen covering in battle with large wooden shields of horses and people, 2 riders who controlled horses and coupled wagons in the parking lot. The wagons were organized organizationally into dozens with a common commander, and dozens into ranks, larger military detachments capable of solving combat missions on their own.

All infantry was divided into tactical units - fifty. The hetman commanded the Hussite infantry. The cavalry of the Hussites was light and not numerous, in contrast to the enemy, knightly. It usually constituted the commander-in-chief's reserve in battle and was used to conduct a counterattack and pursue a defeated enemy.

The pride of the army of Jan Zizka was artillery, consisting of field and siege weapons. The first included a short-barreled howitzer (howitzer), which fired stone cannonballs, and a long-barreled tarasnitsa on a wooden carriage, which fired stone and iron cannonballs. One such field gun accounted for five wagons. The main siege weapons were bombards with a caliber of up to 850 millimeters (one per row), with a firing range of 200-500 meters. The Hussites successfully used their numerous artillery in clashes with the heavy cavalry of the enemy.

The battle formation of the Hussite army was unusual for that time. Depending on the conditions of the terrain, they created various fortifications from heavy carts linked together by chains and belts. Such a fortification was later called "Wagenburg". Artillery guns were placed between the wagons, behind which the infantry and cavalry were securely hiding. In this case, the knights had to dismount and attack the Hussites in obviously unfavorable conditions.

The Hussite army was trained to fight day and night, in any weather. According to the military regulations, field fortifications from interlinked wagons had to rest against natural obstacles and, if possible, be installed in high places.

In battle, the Hussites usually waited for the attack of the knightly cavalry and met it with the fire of their numerous artillery, arquebus and squeaker bullets, arrows with blunt armor-piercing tips. When it came to hand-to-hand combat, chainmen and spearmen entered the fray. The Hussites pursued and destroyed the defeated enemy, while the knights, after the battle won, did not pursue the fleeing enemies, but robbed the killed, wounded and captured opponents.

In the summer of 1421, during the siege of Rabi's castle, Jan Zizka was wounded and lost his sight, but remained at the head of the Hussite army. He saw the battlefield through the eyes of his closest assistants and gave the right orders.

In January 1422, the Hussite troops defeated the main forces of the European Catholic knighthood, which participated in the second campaign, in the decisive battle at Gabr (the pursuit of the defeated crusaders was carried out to the German Ford). In the same year, Jan Zizka lifted the blockade from the Czech city of the Zatec (Zaac) fortress, besieged by the crusaders of Emperor Sigismund I, with a sudden blow, and then successfully avoided the enemy encirclement near the city of Kolin.

Then the crusaders suffered another setback when they surrounded the Taborites' camp on Mount Vladar, near the town of Zlutice. In this battle, the Taborites, unexpectedly for the enemy, launched an attack from the top along with their wagons. The crusaders fled in fear, fearing an inglorious death under the wheels of heavy carts rushing at them.

The defeat of the crusader troops, commanded by Rino Spana di Ozora, at the German Brod and the capture of the fortified city of German Brod by the Hussites were so impressive that the third campaign in the Czech Republic took place only in 1426. In the Holy Roman Empire for a long time they could not forget the complete defeat of the second campaign against the Czech Republic.

This time, the crusaders gathered in a huge army of 70,000, which, it seemed, could sweep away everything in its path. However, Jan Zizka, at the head of a 25,000-strong army of Taborites, resolutely moved towards her. A big battle took place near the city of Ust. The Hussite commander once again applied his usual tactics of warfare.

The knights, clad in armor, and this time proved powerless in the attack of the field fortress, built from 500 wagons, firmly fastened to each other, and against the well-aimed fire of the Czech field artillery. The counterattack of the Hussite cavalry outweighed the scales in this battle. Despite their almost threefold superiority, the crusaders were utterly defeated, and they had to retreat.

To prevent new crusades against the Czech Republic, Jan Zizka moved military operations to the territory of his opponent. In the middle of 1423, he undertook a large campaign in Moravia and Hungary. Having crossed the Small Carpathians, the army of the Taborites went to the Danube. Then it deepened into the territory of Hungary for 130-140 kilometers. Hungarian feudal lords gathered large forces.

All the time of the campaign of the Taborites, the Hungarians constantly attacked them, but they never managed to break through the defensive ring from their wagons. The warriors of Jan Zizka fired cannons so accurately on the move that the Hungarian cavalry had to stop the parallel pursuit of the Czech troops.

During the Third and Fourth Crusades - in 1427 and 1431 - the Hussite army, led by their hetmans, successfully repelled enemy attacks, and the crusaders had to leave the Czech Republic.

The last victorious battle of the Czech commander Jan Zizka was the Battle of Maleshov in June 1424. This time, the opponents of the first hetman were not German and other European knights, but their fellow citizens - chashniki, former allies in the Reformation.

In the same year, the first hetman of the Hussite army died during a plague in the besieged fortress city of Přibislav, in central Bohemia. So the Taborite army was left without its illustrious commander, whose name alone inspired fear in the crusaders. There was no worthy replacement for Jan Zizka in the Hussite army. This circumstance largely predetermined her defeat.

The Hussite wars ended with the defeat of the Taborites in the Battle of Lipany in 1434 and eventually brought the long-awaited state independence to the Czech Republic.

A monument was erected to the great commander near Przybislav, and on the Vitkov Hill in the north of Prague there is a National Memorial with an equestrian statue of Jan Zizka.

The monument to the national hero of the Czech Republic Jan Zizka returned to Vitkov Hill after restoration. On the evening of October 24, a solemn opening ceremony was held.

The weight of the monument is 16.5 tons, the width is five meters, and the height reaches nine meters. Back in 2006, experts recorded the deplorable state of the monument.

The restoration of one of the largest equestrian sculptures in the world began in April 2011.

About one million euros (23 million kroons) were spent on the reconstruction. During the restoration work, a parcel was placed inside the sculpture, in which, as a greeting to the descendants, there are photographs, coins and stamps.

From the moment the monument was opened, for three days, Praguers and guests of the Czech Republic can admire the magnificent monument under spectacular lighting. The equestrian sculpture was created by Bogumil Kafka, he worked on it for 11 years until his death in 1942.

It was possible to cast the monument only in 1946, and on July 14, 1950, on the day of the 350th anniversary of the victory of the Hussites, the monument was erected on Vitkovo.

Pan Žižka is rightfully considered the greatest military talent in Czech history. An excellent commander with an iron will, he was extremely cruel in dealing with enemies. There are many stories about his gloomy character and severity, because of which he even bore the nickname "Terrible Blind Man" for some time.

Jan Zizka - invincible

How a highway robber became a folk hero.

On Vitkov Hill in the north of Prague, there is the National Memorial with one of the symbols of the Czech capital - the equestrian statue of Jan Zizka from Trocnov, the famous commander of the early 15th century, the hero of the Hussite wars, the echo of which then resounded throughout Europe. A few years ago, when the voting game “The Greatest of the Czechs” was held on Czech television, during which the audience chose the most prominent figures in national history, Jan Zizka took an honorable fifth place, ahead of, in particular, Jan Hus, Antonin Dvořák and Karel Capek.

The half-blind, gray-haired horseman with the traditional weapon of the Hussites - a club in his hand remains one of the most expressive figures of Czech history. But in the guise of Zizka there are not only heroic traits. His fate is an example of how courage and cruelty, devotion to the idea and ambition, military talent and recklessness merged together in the turbulent era of the Hussite wars...

Jan Zizka - sculpture in Prague's Vitkov

For most of the life of Jan Zizka from Trotsnov, no detailed information has been preserved. It is only known that he was born around 1360 in the south of the Czech Republic and came from a poor noble family. According to legend, his mother gave birth to him during a summer storm under a huge oak tree. In 1908, Prince Adolf Schwarzenberg, the owner of the local estate, erected a memorial sign there. Before that, there was a small chapel in the same place, in which there was an inscription: "Jan Zizka from Trocnov, a blind man of bad memory, was born here." The chapel was Catholic, and the Catholics, as we shall see, had no reason to keep a good memory of Zizka. By the way, about Zizka's blindness: most historians are inclined to believe that he lost one eye as a result of an injury in childhood or early adolescence, while he lost the other during the Hussite wars. Therefore, in portraits depicting the commander at the beginning of his career, the rag usually covers his right eye, in later portraits both already.

What exactly Zizka did until about 1405 is not exactly known. There are references to the purchase and sale of several small estates in southern Bohemia. There is evidence that Zizka was married, his wife died early, but they had a daughter, whom her father later married off as one of the offspring of a noble family of gentlemen from Dube. In the early years of the 15th century, references to Jan Zizka of Trocnov appear in Czech chronicles and other documents that tell of rampant bandits on the roads of the kingdom, which, under the indecisive and alcoholic Wenceslas IV, fell into a fair decline. In the court book of the princes from Rožmberk for 1406, data are given on the interrogation of one of the captured bandits with passion: Matei took the money from the merchants, and Zizka killed one of the servants. From other documents we learn about the attacks of the Zizka detachment on merchants in the vicinity of the city of Ceske Budejovice, where cloth became the prey of the robbers. It should be noted, however, that in those years, robbery was not out of the ordinary among the impoverished nobles; dozens of wandering knights and hundreds of their commoner assistants hunted for it.

Jan Zizka - sculpture in the city of Tabor

In 1409, the townspeople of Budějovice managed to catch and hang many robbers operating in the vicinity of the city. Zizka is not destined to escape justice either. But here, when the ghost of the gallows is already looming before him, the unexpected happens: King Wenceslas himself stands up for the robber knight. We do not know on what basis the royal amnesty applies to Jan Zizka - we can only assume that even earlier he managed to acquire influential patrons at court. However, having been released, Zizka leaves for Poland, where, according to some information, he participates in the famous Battle of Grunwald in the summer of 1410. In it, the Polish-Lithuanian army of King Vladislav Jagiello defeats the knights of the Teutonic Order. On the side of the Poles, a small Czech detachment also fought, which included Jan Zizka.

Zizka at the Battle of Grunwald (painting by Jan Matejko)

Returning to his homeland, Zizka begins a court career, enters the retinue of the wife of Wenceslas IV - Queen Sofia. It is possible that it was at this time that he fell under the influence of supporters of religious reform, led by the popular Prague preacher Jan Hus. Hus's teaching was a continuation of the theories of the English theologian John Wycliffe, who called on the church to be non-possessive and insisted that the only source of religious truths was the Holy Scripture. “Faithful Christian, seek the truth, listen to the voice of truth, learn the truth, love the truth, speak the truth, hold on to the truth and defend the truth to the death,” Jan Hus urged his parishioners. In 1415, by decision of the Cathedral of the Catholic Church in Constance, he was declared a heretic and sent to the stake. But the religious ideas of the Prague preacher became a moral guide for thousands of people dissatisfied with social injustice and the growing influence of prosperous German colonists in the Czech Republic. Social, religious and national ferment led to a revolutionary explosion.

On July 30, 1419, unrest breaks out in Prague. After the city government scornfully rejects the demands of the reformers led by the young preacher Jan Zhelivsky, the crowd storms the town hall in the New Town and throws the city council members out of the windows - right on the spears and pikes of armed demonstrators. The chronicle reports that Jan Zizka was a participant in these events: "... And Jan Zizka, a servant and close associate of King Wenceslas, was at this throwing out and an unheard of murder." Probably, he not only participated, but was also one of the leaders of the uprising, otherwise he would not have been soon appointed leader of the Prague army. Meanwhile, Wenceslas IV died. Supporters of the Hussite doctrine and in general all those who were dissatisfied did not find a common language with his conservative and despotic successor - Sigismund of Hungary, nicknamed the "Red Fox". The Czech Republic embarked on the path of disobedience.

At the end of 1419, a truce was concluded between the royal troops and the rebels, but Zizka does not comply with it, preferring to leave Prague and move to Pilsen. The Hussites crack down on Catholic landowners, attack monasteries, partially destroying and partially distributing their property. In response, the new king, rich nobles and foreign knights gather troops against them. Battles follow one after another, and Zizka's military talent is manifested in them. Already in his first major battle, at Sudoměř in March 1420, he successfully used the favorite fortification of the Hussites from fallen and stacked wagons (in Czech - vozová hradba). A few months later, in July, after Pope Martin V announced a crusade against the Hussites, the crusader army entered into battle with Zizka's detachments on the same Vitkovsky hill near Prague, where the monument to the commander now stands. And again, luck was on the side of the one-eyed warrior - with an unexpected counterattack, he put the enemy to flight. By that time, Zizka is a member of the council of 12 hetmans - the actual government of the rebels.

All the last years of his life, Zizka has been continuously fighting, not only with the royal army and the crusaders, but also with opponents in the ranks of the Hussist camp itself. In 1421, he led virtually punitive operations against the Pikarts and Adamites, two radical Hussite sects. Zizka knew how to be ruthless: dozens of people were executed and burned. At the same time, the Hussites continue to persecute the Catholic clergy, especially the monastic brethren. More and more power is concentrated in the hands of Zizka. From the end of 1420, he was the sole military leader of the Taborites, as they call the most organized and consistent part of the Hussite movement, the center of which is the city of Tabor, turned into a military-religious camp.

Against the crusaders

In June 1421, during the siege of the town of Rabi, Zizka was wounded in his only eye. He finally goes blind, but does not stop organizing new campaigns, repelling the invasion of knightly detachments from Saxony and Bavaria. The glory of Zizka is such that in several cases the enemy prefers to retreat without even engaging in battle with him.

The fighting is a tangled tangle of campaigns and pursuits, in which detachments of different cities, nobles, knightly orders, individual Hussist leaders and royal military leaders participate ... But the figure of Zizka, thanks to his military talent, rises above everyone. The forces are gradually leaving the blind commander - he is already over 60, for those times it is a deep old age - but he still manages in June 1424 at Maleshov to inflict a crushing defeat on the army of Catholics pursuing him and the Praguers who joined them. At the same time, his army captures and burns Kutna Hora - one of the largest centers of crafts and trade in the then Czech Republic.

Wars ravage the country, but there is no end in sight. True, in the autumn of 1424, negotiations for a general truce in the kingdom begin - once again. But Jan Zizka is not destined to wait for their end: during the siege of the city of Przebyslav on November 11, 1424, he dies - without losing a single battle.

Painting by Josef Manes "Death of Jan Zizka"

His soldiers, as a sign of grief, begin to call themselves "orphans". The Hussite wars continue for a good decade after Zizka's death. This man, who has lived such a stormy life, as if he cannot find peace even after death. He is buried in the Church of the Holy Spirit in Hradec Kralove, later the body is transferred to the city of Caslav. In 1620, after the Catholics defeated the Protestants at the Battle of White Mountain, the remains of the Hussite leader were hidden. They were only rediscovered in 1910.

Modern Czech historians assess the merits of Jan Žižka from Trocnov as follows: “He created a permanent army with a certain order of organization, significantly improved the conduct of defensive operations using wagons and regularly used artillery. The name of Zizka is associated with the defensive phase of the Hussite revolution and the strengthening of the state structures created during it. To the credit of the blind commander is the fact that, when he died, he had almost no property. Jan Zizka is rightfully considered the most outstanding military talent in Czech history"...

The most famous and beloved historical hero of the Czech Republic is Jan Hus - scientist, writer, priest. Jan Hus was a native of the town of Husinec (South Bohemia). He was born in 1371 into a peasant family. In the Czech Republic, he became a national hero during his lifetime. Until now, centuries after his death, Jan Hus enjoys great respect. Among the people […]

The most famous and beloved historical hero of the Czech Republic is Jan Hus- scientist, writer, priest.

Jan Hus was a native of the city Goose (Husinec)(South Bohemia). He was born in 1371 into a peasant family. In the Czech Republic, he became a national hero during his lifetime. Until now, centuries after his death, Jan Hus enjoys great respect. The people consider him a saint, although he was not canonized. The Pope has repeatedly expressed his reverence for the personality of Jan Hus, but he refused to rank this person as a saint.

During his lifetime, Hus preached against the evil inflicted on the people by the church.
He graduated from the University of Prague, became a bachelor, master, dean of the faculty of liberal arts, and later - rector of the university. He was a scientist, wrote scientific work in linguistics. His research is still used today in Czech grammar. At the same time (in 1402) Hus served as a preacher and rector of the Prague Bethlehem Chapel. Thousands of townspeople gathered in the chapel to listen to the preaching of the accuser-priest. Hus mercilessly condemned the greed of the rich and the bribery of the church.

Jan Hus is considered by many to be a fiery revolutionary, but he did not make a coup - neither in politics, nor in religion. From the church, he sought one thing - that she observe the Law of God and act in accordance with Christian teaching. Hus was a harsh critic of the institution of the church. He was criticized for the sale of indulgences, drunkenness and the rampant behavior of priests. He described terrible incidents in the life of the clergy. So, one Prague kanovnik (high church rank) lost money and clothes in a tavern; returned home at night, practically naked. With a knock and a cry, he woke up the whole street. This priest made such sprees three times. What example could he set for the parishioners?

It was this behavior of the ministers of the church that Jan Hus criticized. He himself was by no means a saint, he especially sinned as a student. In this he later honestly admitted.

There is a lot of controversy regarding the appearance of Jan Hus. In the 19th century, he was often depicted in the guise of Christ, although he called himself fat. Several surviving images prove that the reformer was rather stout, bald and did not wear a beard.

There is another misconception. It is believed that because of Hus was convened Constance Cathedral. This is wrong. The Council was convened to discuss issues of faith, it took several months. This information was hidden from the people for a long time. Only after the uprising in the Czech Republic everything changed. It became public knowledge that the Pope, who sentenced Jan Hus to death, was a pirate in the past. (Pope John XXIII fled the Czech Republic. Another Pope subsequently took his name to purify him.)

Many associate the concept of "Hussite wars" with the personality of Jan Hus. However, Hus was burned on 07/06/1415 in the city Constanta. The Hussite wars began only in 1419 (they lasted until 1434). Jan Zizka- the hero of the Hussite wars - did not know Jan Hus. Theoretically, of course, he could attend the sermons of a reforming priest in the Bethlehem Chapel, but this has not been proven by anything. And all the stories in literary works about the friendship that existed between two folk heroes are just a creative fiction.

Hus did not want war and bloodshed. He only wanted the truth and wanted everyone to live righteously. In their scientific papers and sermons, he often referred to the ideas of an Englishman John Wycliffe- professor and priest. (Wycliffe was highly respected in Bohemia.) The English professor was sharply critical of the church, especially the idea of ​​transsubstance. This refers to the Christian rite of the mass, during which the believers are given a host (among the Orthodox - prosphora) and wine. It is believed that in the mouth of a believer, these substances turn into the body and blood of Christ. John Wycliffe called this idea nonsense.

Hus was also critical of the practice of the sacrament. At that time the priests took communion with wine and bread; the laity were given only bread during Mass. Hus tried to prove that in the days of early Christianity everyone took communion in the same way. These were not just the details of a church ritual - such an approach equated ordinary parishioners with priests. (Followers of Jan Hus began to commune the laity with both bread and wine).

At one time, Wycliffe was also called to the Council. Hus was accused of following the ideas of an Englishman. After the condemnation of Jan Hus, the churchmen decided to "deal with" Wycliffe as well. Since the English professor had been dead for a long time, his bones were dug out of the grave and solemnly burned.

The Catholic Church still calls John Wycliffe the most dangerous heretic. Because of his ideas John Paul II and refused to canonize Jan Hus. In addition to connections with Wycliffe, Hus is accused of criticizing the Catholic Church. It is believed that with his critical statements, Jan Hus changed the rank of the clergyman.

The Czech people consider Jan Hus a saint and a national hero. He left a huge literary heritage, contributed to the Czech language, its spelling and spelling. This contributed to the spread of literacy among ordinary Czechs.

The writings of Hus were accessible and understandable to the people. He developed his own style of polemic, establishing a new type of prose in Czech literature.

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