p. 473 | The Missionary by Stephen N. Haskell

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 5, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 30.

The Missionary.

By Stephen N. Haskell

The Commencement of the Hussite War.

ABOUT the time that hostilities commenced, King Wenceslaus died, and the queen who had formerly favored the reformers decided in favor of the papal party. The Pope, uniting with the emperor, determined to bring to an end the heresy that was already permeating all Europe, and daily gaining ground. Several of the German States were ready to engage in a crusade against Bohemia. The Bohemians saw the terrible tempest gathering on their borders, but they were not dismayed by it. The Emperor Sigismund, now claimed the crown, his brother Wenceslaus having left no heirs. Sustained by the Pope's influence, he gathered together, some writers say ten thousand, others, thirteen thousand men with which to subdue the rebellion. The war lasted eighteen years; and the historian says that it was characterized from the beginning to the close by miraculous victories for the Hussites.

In 1419, on a great plain not far from Prague, forty thousand of the Bohemians met to celebrate the Eucharist, which was done in the most simple manner possible. Three tables were set, and the sacred emblems were brought forth and placed upon them. The priests officiating at each, gave the communion in both kinds to the people. They came to the place as pilgrims, with walking staves, and after the ceremony was over, they separated, the most part taking the road to Prague, where they arrived in the night, with lighted torches. The matter becoming known to the enemy, their second meeting of this kind did not pass off as quietly as the first. While several hundred of them were on their way, bearing as before, not arms but walking staves, they were met by the intelligence that the troops of the emperor were lying in ambuscade, awaiting their approach. They halted on the road, and sent messengers to the towns in their rear for assistance. A small body of soldiers was sent to their aid, and in the conflict that followed, the imperial cavalry, though superior in numbers, was put to flight. This was the opening of the war, and the Bohemians took this victory as an evidence that God would defend their troops and also that they were right in defending their liberties by force of arms.

The Turks without any design of granting them help, greatly assisted them by attacking Sigismund's empire on the opposite side of Bohemia, which divided the forces of the emperor. Ziska, taking advantage of these circumstances, made haste to rally the whole of Bohemia before the emperor could dispose of the Moslems, and before the armed hordes of Germany, now mustering in obedience to the Papal summons, could have time to bear down upon the little country. He issued the following manifesto, signed, "Ziska of the chalice:"

"Imitate your ancestors, the ancient Bohemians, who were always able to defend the cause of God and their own. We are collecting troops from all parts, in order to fight against the enemies of the truth, and the destroyers of our nation; and I beseech you to inform your preacher that he should exhort, in his sermons, the people to make war on the anti-christ, and that every one, old and young, should prepare himself for it. I also desire that when I shall be with you there shall be no want of bread, beer, victuals, or provender, and that you should provide yourselves with good arms. . . . Remember your first encounter when you were few against many, unarmed against well-armed men. The hand of God has not been shortened. Have courage and be ready. May God strengthen you.—Ziska of the chalice; in the hope of God, chief of the Taborites."

This appeal affected all the Bohemians like an electric shock. From town, village, and rural plains, the inhabitants rallied to the standard of Ziska, now planted on Mount Tabor. They were poorly disciplined, and still more poorly armed; but the latter defect was about to be supplied in a manner that they little dreamed of; the lack was to be made up by the visible manifestation of God's protection for this little band of worshipers. They had scarcely begun their march toward the capitol when they routed, captured, and disarmed a body of the imperial cavalry. The spoils of the enemy supplied them with material with which to arm themselves, and this they quickly did. A Roman Catholic historian says that the loss of Catholics at this time was about five hundred. The establishments of the monks in Prague, and throughout Bohemia were pillaged. In a very short time they were utterly wrecked, and their treasure, which was immense, consisting of gold, silver, and precious stones, went a long way toward defraying the expense of the war. That the emperor could be defeated, supported as he was by the whole force of the empire and the influence of the Papal Church, was a thing too incredible to be entertained for a moment; but it soon became apparent that the Hussites were not the contemptible opponents that the emperor had taken them to be. He was destined to be ignominiously beaten. His forces were driven in disgrace from the walls of Prague, and they could only avenge themselves by burning, rapine, and slaughter, which marked the track of their retreat. They fancied that they saw a Hussite in every Bohemian, and thus they destroyed, in many instances, their own friends. The battle lasted over a week. Churches and convents were pillaged, and monks driven away, and in some instances massacred. S. N. H.