Battle of Vítkov Hill

2025-09-10T11:12:09Z

136.199.87.91: /* Background */ Changed anachronistic name of 'Wroclaw' to the more historically-accurate 'Breslau'. Same for 'Swidnica' to Schweidnitz'.

{{Short description|1420 battle in Prague}}
{{more footnotes|date=April 2012}}
{{expand Czech|date=January 2024|topic=mil}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of Vítkov Hill
| partof = the First anti-Hussite crusade, [[Hussite Wars]]
| image = Adolf Liebscher - Bitva na hoře Vítkově dne 14. července roku 1420.jpg
| image_size = 300
| caption = Late 19th-century depiction of the conflict by Czech artist [[Adolf Liebscher]]
| date = 12 June – 14 July 1420
| place = [[Vítkov Hill]] (outside [[Prague]], [[Czech Republic]])
| coordinates = {{coord|50.0888|14.4514|display=inline,title}}
| result = Hussite victory
| combatant1 = [[Crusades|Crusaders]]
* [[Holy Roman Empire]] and [[Kingdom of Germany]]
** [[Margravate of Meissen]]
** [[Duchy of Austria]]
** [[Margraviate of Moravia]]
* [[Kingdom of Hungary (1301–1526)|Kingdom of Hungary]]<ref>Attila and Balázs Weiszhár: ''Lexicon of Wars'' (Háborúk lexikona) Atheneaum Budapest, 2004. {{ISBN|978-963-9471-25-2}}</ref>
* [[Rebellion|Rebels]]
| combatant2 = [[Hussites|Hussite]] coalition
* [[Taborites]]
* [[Prague Hussites|Praguers]]
* [[Hussites of Žatec and Louny|Union of Žatec and Louny]]
| commander1 = '''[[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]]''' Heinrich of Isenburg{{KIA}} [[Pippo Spano]] [[Oldřich of Boskovice]]
| commander2 = [[Jan Žižka]]
| strength1 = ~7,000–8,000 cavalry
| strength2 = '''At Vitkov Hill:''' ~80 soldiers under Žižka<ref name="huskron">{{Cite book |author=Vavřinec z Březové |title=Husitská kronika; Píseň o vítězství u Domažlic |publisher=Svoboda |language=cs |location=Praha |year=1979 |page=89}}</ref> '''Reinforcements from Prague:''' ~50 bowmen Unknown number of infantry, including axemen and flailmen<ref name="huskron" />
| casualties1 = ~400–500 killed
| casualties2 = 2–3 killed (traditionally)
}}

The '''Battle of Vítkov Hill''' was a part of the [[Hussite Wars]]. The battle pitted the forces of King [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]], against [[Hussite]] forces under command of [[Jan Žižka]] (in English, John Zizka). Vítkov Hill was located on the edge of the city of [[Prague]] and the battle occurred in a vineyard established by Sigismund's father, [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles IV]]. It ended with a decisive Hussite victory.

==Background==
On 1 March 1420 [[Pope Martin V]] published a [[papal bull]] in which he ordered that Sigismund and all Eastern princes had to organize a [[crusade]] against the Hussite followers of [[Jan Hus]], [[John Wycliffe]] and other heretics. On 15 March in [[Breslau]], Emperor Sigismund ordered the execution of [[Jan Krása]], a Hussite and leader of the [[Wrocław Uprising]] in 1418. On 17 March, the papal legate [[Ferdinand de Palacios]] published the bull in Wrocław. Then, the [[Utraquist]] faction of Hussites understood that they would not reach an agreement with him. They united with [[Taborites|Taborite]] Hussites and decided to defend against the emperor.

The crusaders assembled their army in [[Świdnica|Schweidnitz]]. On 4 April, Taborite forces destroyed Catholic forces in [[Mladá Vožice]]. On 7 April, Taborites, commanded by [[Nicholas of Hus]], captured Sedlice, and they later captured [[Písek]], [[Rábí]] Castle, [[Strakonice]] and [[Prachatice]]. In late April, the crusading army crossed the Bohemian border. In early May, they captured [[Hradec Králové]]. On 7 May [[Čeněk of Wartenberg]] surrounded [[Hradčany]].

===Battles in Benešov and near Kutná Hora===
The Crusader force of 400 infantry and knights, commanded by [[Peter of Sternberg]], attempted to defend [[Benešov]] from the Taborites. After the battle, the crusader forces were destroyed, and the town was burned. Near [[Kutná Hora]], the crusader forces, commanded by [[Janek z Chtěnic]] and [[Pipo of Ozora|Pippo Spano]] (Filippo Scolari), attacked the formations of the Taborites, without success.

On 22 May, the Taborite forces entered Prague. Jan Žižka destroyed the crusaders' relief column, which had to secure supplies that were sent to [[Hradčany]] and [[Vyšehrad]]. Meanwhile, the crusading army captured [[Slaný]], [[Louny]] and [[Mělník]].

==Battle==
[[File:Josef Mathauser - Jan Žižka s knězem Václavem Korandou roku 1420 hledí s Vítkova na Prahu.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Late 19th-century illustration of [[Jan Žižka]] with a priest looking over [[Prague]] at the [[National Monument in Vitkov|Vítkov Hill.]]]]
[[File:Po bitvě na Vítkově.jpg|thumb|upright|left|After the Battle of Vítkov Hill (1923), by [[Alphonse Mucha]], ''[[The Slav Epic]]'']]
{{Campaignbox Hussite Wars}}
The siege of Prague began on 12 June. The crusaders' forces were reported contemporaneously by chroniclers to number 100,000–200,000 soldiers, but according to modern historian Victor Verney, it was significantly fewer, probably only about 8,000 soldiers.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Warrior of God: Jan Zizka and the Hussite Revolution|last=Verney|first=Victor|publisher=Frontline Books|year=2009}}</ref> When the crusaders approached the city, they knew a direct attack on the walls would be disastrous, so they planned to encircle it. To do this, all of the fortifications around Prague would need to be destroyed or occupied. The crusaders committed most of their forces to these raids in an attempt to prevent the defenders at key points from being reinforced by the Prague garrison.

===Vítkov Hill===
One of the most important of these fortifications surrounding Prague was Vítkov Hill, which dominated the area east of Prague and overlooked roads needed for the crusaders' supply lines. The fortifications on the hill were made primarily from timber, with the walls reinforced with stone and clay and [[moat]]s dug around the base of the hill. On the southern part of the hill was a free-standing tower made from timber, and the remaining northern flank was covered by a steep cliff. Traditionally, the fortifications were said to be defended by Žižka with only 26 men and 3 women under his command, but it was probably higher—60 or more soldiers, according to J. Durdik—and it is unclear if Žižka was on the hill. The men on the hill were armed mostly with guns and flails. On 13 July, the crusaders' cavalry crossed the river [[Vltava]] and began their attack on the outer ring of fortifications. Vítkov Hill was attacked by a detachment of Austrian and Meissen cavalry under Heinrich of Isenburg, governor of Meissen. An hour before sunset, the horsemen advanced from the south towards the hill, but the terrain and fortifications of the hill forced them down a narrow path and prevented them from utilizing their greater numbers. The tenacity of the defenders held the attackers off for some time, but the heavily outnumbered Hussites were slowly pushed back. Shortly thereafter, reinforcements from the garrison of the [[New Town, Prague|New Town]] broke off and headed towards Vítkov Hill, outflanking the knights and attacking through the vineyards on the southern slope.<ref name="BideleuxJeffries2006">{{cite book|author1=Robert Bideleux|author2=Ian Jeffries|title=A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xdGEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA234|date= 2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-71984-6|page=234}}</ref> Trapped between the counter-attack and the steep cliff on the northern slope, the crusaders quickly panicked as they were forced off the hill. As they retreated, many knights drowned in the Vltava.

The battle was a clear victory for the Hussites. The crusaders lost between
400-500 knights. In honour of the battle, Vítkov Hill was renamed [[Žižkov]] after Jan Žižka. As a consequence of the Hussite victory on Vítkov, the crusaders lost any hope of starving the city into submission and their army disintegrated. The [[National Monument in Vitkov|National Monument]] still exists on the hill, and in 2003, local officials were attempting to replant the vineyard.

Sigismund and his troops then held the castles of [[Vyšehrad]] and [[Hradčany]]. However, they soon capitulated, and Sigismund had to withdraw from Prague. The crusaders later withdrew to [[Kutná Hora]] and began local warfare.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Piotr Marczak "Wojny Husyckie" (English, "Hussites Wars") pp. 61–67 published 2003 by "Egros" Warsaw

==External links==
* [http://bellum.cz/en/battles-of-vitkov-hill-and-vysehrad.html Bellum.cz – Battle of Vítkov Hill 4 July 1420]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitkov Hill 1420}}
[[Category:1420 in Europe]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Battles of the Hussite Wars]]
[[Category:Battles involving Hungary]]
[[Category:Battles involving Hungary in the Middle Ages]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1420]]
[[Category:Jan Žižka]]
[[Category:Military history of Prague]]

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Battle of Vítkov Hill