Battle of Maleschau

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In the Battle of Maleschau on June 7, 1424 , an army of radical Hussites under the command of Jan Žižka defeated a joint army of moderate Prague Hussites and the Catholic nobility.

Course of the battle

Despite being numerically inferior, Žižka was able to win the battle through clever use of the terrain. With a group of Orebites , he lured the Prague troops into ideal terrain for him by placing his forces at a height above the Prague route. In contrast to many other battles, Žižka did not attack from a wagon castle at Maleschau , but from an open position. In the center of his march column there were several ballast wagons, on either side of which were the chariots equipped with cannons (probably around 300), accompanied by around 7,000 infantry . The flanks formed Žižka's cavalry , a total of around 500 riders.

Žižka waited until about half of the Prague position had taken up the attack, then gave the order to the infantry to push the ballast wagons down the slope into the center of the Prague. The surprise attack was supported by cannon fire and caused confusion among the attacked. A general attack by the foot soldiers led to a clear defeat of the Prague, who lost around 1200 men, while the losses on the Žižka side are given as around 200. According to another representation, it was the cavalry that, after the ballast wagons were deployed, led the decisive attack into the battered center of the Prague.

Consequences of the battle

Hašek von Waldstein was one of the commanders on the part of the Prague Hussites . He had initially stood at the side of King Sigismund (in the battle of Vyšehrad in 1420) , but was captured by the Hussites and changed to the side of the moderate Prague Hussites under the threat of losing his Moravian lands . After the defeat at Maleschau, he took the side of the future emperor, who appointed him Moravian commander ("captain").

literature

  • The Hussites. The Chronicle of Laurentius von Březová, 1414–1421 (= Slavic historian. 11). Translated from Latin and Old Czech, introduced and explained by Josef Bujnoch. Verlag Styria, Graz et al. 1988, ISBN 3-222-11813-2 (title of the original: Chronicon. ).
  • František Palacký : The History of Hussiteism and Prof. Constantin Höfler. Critical Studies. 2nd Edition. Tempsky, Prague 1868, ( digitized version ).
  • Friedrich von Bezold : King Sigmund and the Imperial Wars against the Hussites. Division 2: The years 1423-1428. Ackermann, Munich 1875.
  • Adolf Kutschera: From the days of the Hussite Wars. King Siegmund in the battle for Prague (= From Austria's past. Vol. 5). Haase, Leipzig et al. 1917.
  • Jan Durdik: Hussite army. German military publisher, Berlin 1961.
  • Heinz Rieder: The Hussites. Casimir Katz, Gernsbach 1998, ISBN 3-925825-71-1 .
  • Piotr Marczak: Wojny husyckie (= W kręgu średniowiecza. 4). Egros, Warsaw 2004, ISBN 83-88185-31-4 .