Jan Želivský

Memorial plaque for Jan Želivský
in Prague's Old Town

Jan Želivský (* around 1380 in Humpolec (uncertain); † March 9, 1422 in Prague ; German Johann von Seelau or Selau ) was a priest of the Hussites , and next to Jan Žižka and Jan Hus one of the most colorful personalities of the Hussite movement.

From the time before 1418 it is only known that he was a religious, then a priest of the Premonstratensian monastery in Želiv in South Bohemia and after 1416 at the parish in Jiřice . From 1418 he preached in the New Town of Prague in the Church of St. Stephen and from 1419 in the Church of St. Mary in the Snow . His radical social sermons were well received by the people and over time he advanced to become a popular leader.

On July 30, 1419, he led a gathering of people who stormed the New Town Hall and ended with the first Prague defenestration. As a result of the events, there was a radicalization of many Prague citizens, which is seen as the beginning of the Hussite Wars . Selau / Želivský was elected one of the four captains and later councilor of the rebels.

In 1420 he began to seize power, encouraged by his great popularity with the people. He used this newly won power to destroy his opponents. He was already in command of the army when the Prague and Taborites went to Eastern Bohemia, and also in the summer of 1421 when the train to Brüx (Czech: Most ). At the synod on July 4, 1420, he was finally given absolute power in Prague, which, however, aroused many envious people and also aroused distrust. Gradually the opposition to him grew . At the beginning of February 1421 a commission came into being, which already partially disempowered him on February 5, 1421 and left him only a few responsibilities. In the summer of 1421 Želivský led the campaign to northern Bohemia, which ended on August 5th with the defeat in the Battle of Brüx .

In 1422 he was imprisoned on the orders of Jakobellus von Mies for the violence during his reign and on March 9, 1422 executed by the sword. After the execution of the still popular Želivský, bloody riots broke out in Prague. The mob's hatred was particularly directed against the residents of the Jewish quarter, although Jews were not responsible for the death of Želivský.

His successor to the priesthood in Prague's New Town was Jakub Vlk .

literature

• Božena Auštecká: Jan Želivský jako politik (= Husitský Archive. Vol. 2, ZDB -ID 2619090-4 ). Nákladem Společnosti Husova Muzea, Prague 1925.

Web links

• Literature and other media by and about Jan Želivský in the catalog of the National Library of the Czech Republic