Jan Zizka of Trocnov
* after the year 1370  - U 11. 10. 1424

    The yeoman Jan Zizka of Trocnov is considered to be the greatest Czech warrior and commander. He was born about the year 1370 in the family of yeoman Rehor and his wife Jana. There is only very little news about the first 40 years of his life. He was a mercenary and lived in various countries when he was young. He  became a courtier of the king Vaclav IV in the year 1412. He participated in defenestration in the New-Town Town Hall on July 30, 1419. He left for Pilsen (Plzen) with other radical representatives of the Hussite movement in the same year. However, he was forced to leave the catholic Pilsen and he found refuge in the newly established Tabor. During his journey from Pilsen to Tabor he fought one of the most important battles of that time – The Battle of Sudomer (March 25) where he fought against troops of noble cavalry from Pisek and Strakonice and he defeated them in spite of a fact that his troops were much smaller. 
People elected him one of four captains of Tabor, and he achieved numerous victories in this position. He successfully protected Prague against the first crusade (The Battle of Vitkov on July 14, 1420). He participated in destruction of sects in Tabor. He was elected a member of a 20-member temporary government in July 1421. When fighting to capture the castle of Rabi he suffered a serious eye injury and he became blind completely. He participated in fights against the second crusade in the years 1421 – 1422 and he was very successful; the King Sigismund of Luxemburg was forced to leave Bohemia. In the years 1422-1423 he entered into ideological disputes with Taborers and he left for East Bohemia.. where he established an East-Bohemian Hussite Association with permanent field troops. He applied the “Zizka’s Army Order” there which he himself published and which declared the main principles for the members of Zizka’s Brotherhood. Moderate Hussite noblemen and citizens of Prague attempted to defeat Zizka in the Battle of Strauchuv Dvur on August 4, 1423, but they were unsuccessful. The creator of defensive military tactics based on barriers made of carriages died during a campaign near Pribyslav on October 11, 1424

Text: Tourist information centre
Proof-read by: Petr Bratka

"Living" Jan Zizka - Tabor Meetings festival

Tabor – a Hussite town, History of Tabor –a look into the mirror of time, Sights of Tabor, A small geographic atlas, Do not miss when in Tabor, Interesting places in the surroundings, In the footsteps of the Hussites, Glossary, Index

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