Heresy

Jan Zizka

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The Hussite army

The Hussites were now being led in part by Jan Zizka, a minor noble who was a genuine military innovator. He had the idea of taking the wagons of the peasants, which in Bohemia typically had tall sides, and linking them together in a circle to form a defensive shield. He went further and designed wooden planks that could be raised and lowered, making that perimeter armored. From openings, archers could provide covering fire, while other sections could be opened to let infantry in or out.

Zizka's innovation essentially created a kind of mobile infantry force that could respond to attacks quickly, evne while on the march. This greater mobility let them strike and escape with more agility than any other European army. For a decade or two, no one could defeat the Hussites.

Sigismund got a taste of this in January 1422, when Zizka defeated him at Nemecky Brod. In the wake of the defeat, Sigismund again left Bohemia. While he sent one imperial army after another against the Hussites, he himself did not return for fourteen years.

The victory at Nemecky Brod gave the Hussites some breathing space. Another army invaded in 1427 and was again defeated.