Hussite Wars Part 2: Crossbowmen and Handgunners

    The execution of Jan Hus, followed by that of his freind and supporter, another priest named Jerome, who was burned at the stake in May 1516 without even the appearance of a fair trial, along with the apparent treachery of Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund spurred the Bohemian radicals to action, and  infuriated even the most conservative members of the Bohemian nobility. "The outraged sense of betrayal, usurpation of local judicial prerogatives, and besmirching of national honor was shared by Czechs of all social classes, temporarily overshadowing political and religious differences that later re-emerged." (Warrior of God, Victor Verney, pg 44). In the, in my opinion, unlikely event that Sigismund was not complicit in Hus' arrest and execution, subsequent events gave little evidence of it. He continued to pressure Wenceslaus to act against the Hussites. In 1419, Queen Sofia of Bohemia, although a staunch Hussite supporter herself, became fearful of an invasion of the country and convinced her indecisive husband to restrict Hussite services to just three Prague churches.

    This failed to have the desired effect (at least from Sigismund's viewpoint). Large numbers of clergy left Prague, and held open air, hilltop services unrestricted by capacity or outside authorities. It did convince the Archbishop of Prague to lift the interdict. As so many Bohemian clergy had left, Wenceslaus encouraged the return of anti-Hussite priests, many of them German, who had fled the previously city out of fear. In June 1419, a church rededication in Prague was interrupted by a Hussite crowd, lead by Jan Zevlisky, a former monk and firebrand preacher at on of the three remaining Hussite churches, St Mary's ijn the Snows. This prompted Wenceslaus to purge the city government of Hussite supporters in July 1419. The new, anti-Hussite city council instituted a series of police actions against Hussite supporters, and banned teaching of anything except strict Catholic Orthodoxy. This caused growing resentment throughout the country, and by the later part of July, Nicholas, a former courtier who had been exile from Prague earlier that year, organized a mass gathering outside of Bechyne, attended by over 40,000 people from all over the country, This gathering also was notable for the first use of the Biblical term "Tabor", which gave it's name to the radical Hussite movement. Back in Prague, Zevlisky continued to fan the fires of insurrection. At last as important, he had previously enlisted the assistance of a petty nobleman with military experience who was devoted to the Hussite cause - Jan Ziska.

    On July 30th, 1419, Zevlisky preached a fiery sermon to a packed church, condemning the actions of the City Council. Afterwards, he took the Sacred Host from the church and lead a protest march, supported my many armed men. The march proceeded to another Church that supported Rome, and was due for re-consecration. The mob stormed the barred doors of the church, and hanged a resisting priest. From there, they proceeded back to St Mary's, in the process, probably quite deliberately on Zevilsky's part, passing by the Prague City Hall. The frightened councilors had barred the doors here as well. The crowd demanded admission to present their grievances to the Council, The officials attempted to parley from the assumed safety of the upper story windows of the building. It was claimed that someone threw a stone at the Sacred Host, striking the priest leading the procession. The angry mob stormed City Hall and threw the councilors from the windows; those who survived the fall were dispatched by the crowd below. This event became known as the "First Defenestration of Prague (from the Latin phrase, de fenestra, "from a window"). Amazingly, there was to be a Second Defenestration of Prague at the start of the Thirty Year's War, 200 years later.

    A new City Council of Hussite supporters was declared, and a civic militia was decried, with several; captains, chief among them Jan Ziska. Learning of the rebellion, King Wenceslaus flew into a rage. In the midst of an angry tirade, he suffered a massive stroke, leaving him paralyzed on one side. At the same time as he reached compromise by which he would recognize the new City Council in exchange for their contrition, pledge of allegiance and agreement to follow the rule of law, he wrote to Siguismund (who was also his brother) requesting his swift and armed intervention. The King suffered a second stroke soon thereafter, and died on August 16, 1419. Queen Sofia spirited his body away to the Vysehrad castle, accompanied by loyal troops, but still was unable to bury the late King for another three weeks.

    Sigismund assumed the crown of Bohemia himself, and, afraid to come to Prague himself, appointed one Cenek of Wartenburg as regent in an attempt to curry favor with the Bohemians, Cenek being a Hussite himself. Further mass meetings and incendiary sermons ensued, and it became clear that the differences of the two sides, both political and religious, were irreconcilable. The Hussite Wars were about to commence in earnest with the first Catholic "Crusade" against the Hussite heretics.

Infantry armed with missile weapons, such as these crossbowmen, were vital to the defense of the Hussite "Wagon Fort" employed in battle against their invariably better armored and equipped enemies.

One Hussite regulation called for each Wagon to have a complement of 10 - 20 men, stated to include 2 Wagon drivers, 2 Hand gunners, 6 Crossbowmen, 14 Flailmen, 4 Halberdiers, and 2 Pavisers.

While it is alleged that a Hussite War Wagon could hold 15 to 20 men, clearly many of them would have to be fighting from between (or even under) the wagons

The Hussites were early adapters of gunpowder weapons, such as these early handguns. 

These relatively primitive firearms must have been hugely inaccurate, but at the close ranges involved in defending the wagons, their penetrating power against the masses of their foes in plate mail would have more than made up for this.

Being relatively novel weapons, the psychological effect of the noise and smoke they produced upon men and horses both must have been considerable as well. 

Although I have painted these crossbows with steel staves, the majority of the weapons used by the Hussites would have had the staves made from a composite of wood, sinew, and horn. These had the advantage of becoming stronger in cold weather (as opposed to more brittle for steel staves).

The crossbow was an excellent weapon for use against heavily armored foes, especially when the shooter could shelter behind cover during the lengthy reloading process, during which he was very vulnerable. 

These figures are once again Old Glory 25/28mm, with the "command" figures form the Mad Monks and Agitators" set. 

The smallest of the  Hussite guns would have been similar to those seen above. An example found at an archaeological dig at Tabor has a barrel 16.5" long with a caliber of 0.7 inches. There is a socket at the base for a wooden pole or stock to be inserted.

In contemporary illustrations, the guns are usually shown with the stock held under the left arm and fired with a lighted match applied to the touch hole with the right hands. Field trials of a replica of a similar hand gun showed that holding in under the right arm improved the accuracy of the weapon, but made it more difficult to fire.

These early hand guns could also be rested on a pavise or the sides of a wagon or mantlet when shooting, in an attempt to improve accuracy as well. 

Regardless, Crossbows heavily outnumbered hand guns within the Hussite armies.

The use of crossbows in conflicts between Christian states had been famously outlawed by the Second Latetran Council in 1139, the weapons being regarded as "hateful to God", and perhaps more importantly, the aristocracy!

An exception was made for use against non Christians and heretics; neither side showed any qualms at using them against their enemies!

The Battle of Sudomer, the first use of Hussite War Wagon tactics. 

This is great cinema from a Wargamer's standpoint, and considerable effort was made to be as historically accurate as reasonably possible. Note the scenes depicting the deployment of the Wagons, including setting up the mantlets between them, the realistic gunfire, etc. Well worth viewing!

The scenes are from the 1957 film "Jan Ziska", part of the Hussite trilogy of Czech director Otakar Vávra. Unfortunately, a version with English subtitles has never been made available. It (apparently)contains some Marxist propaganda, but  it is said to be limited, especially given the time of its production. Religious elements aside, perhaps the story of a largely underclass revolt, although more nationalist and theological than economic in origin, is not so dissonant with such ideology?!

The music heard is the Hussite hymn "Ktož jsú boží bojovníci", "Ye who are Warriors of God", parts of which are used in Smetana's patriotic tone poem, "Ma Vlast" (My Homeland). especially the last two movements, Tabor and Blanik.