Drink from the Chalice of War: A Hussite TL

Chapter 0: Introduction to the Hussite Wars


To have readers understand a TL on the Hussite Wars requires an explanation of the causes of the Hussite Wars. Thus, I have prepared a small prologue to help anyone who is unfamiliar with the Hussite Wars understand what they were, and why they happened. This will be a lot more informal than the TL itself, because when I'm explaining something, I feel a lot more comfortable when I'm informal. Just remember, the rest of the TL will be a lot more formal and less jokey.

Anyways, the whole thing really starts with Jan (John in English) Hus. Hus was a Czech preacher around the time of the end of the Western Schism. Most of you know about Martin Luther, so to make it simple, I'll just say that Huss was a proto-Luther (anti-indulgences, anti-Church power/wealth, anti-church officials participating in war, pro-sermons being spoken in the native language, etc). In fact, Hus was Martin Luther a century before Martin Luther!

Hus preached against indulgences being sold to finance Crusades, getting himself excommunicated and kicked out of Prague, where he preached. He then went around Bohemia preaching (in Czech) to pretty much anyone he could find, which was mostly the poor. He soon gained a following all around Bohemia, and was fairly popular (except with the non-Czechs and the powerful Catholic leadership), until the Council of Constance (Konstanz in German).

Now, the Council of Constance was interesting; it was intended to end the Western Schism (can't have two popes at the same time, you see), but it did a whole host of other things. One of these things was to elect Pope Martin V, who effectively ended the Western Schism (except for in the Kingdom of Aragon, but that's not important). Another was to condemn Jan Hus, who was tricked into coming to the Council (by Emperor Sigismund, who we'll get to know quite well later) on the grounds that he would be able to appeal for his position and defend it. He, uh, didn't get to do that. The Council burnt him to death instead, in 1415. From Hus's death until 1419, things simmered, but didn't really go crazy. The followers of Hus (known as the Hussites from then on) were outraged and started quietly sweeping through Bohemia, but didn't rebel.

Meanwhile, the Council of Constance plodded along until 1418, when Pope Martin V was elected. That election ended the Western Schism (the whole point of the Council), and Martin decided his first action would be to eradicate the last vestiges of dissension in Holy Mother Church, as it were. That is, the Hussites. Destroying the Hussites depended on the cooperation of King Wenceslas IV (Vaclav in Czech), and his stronger-willed brother, Emperor Sigismund. Siggy convinced his brother to eject the Hussites from all but three churches in Prague itself, in 1419. This didn't sit well with the Hussite preachers, who (through a series of convoluted events) chucked the city councilors of Prague out a window onto the waiting pointy spear-bits of Hussites standing below, in an action called the First Defenestration of Prague. This act of violent rebellion caused King Wenceslas to blow a gasket (either suffering a stroke or heart attack, depending on the source) and die, apparently "roaring like a lion". So apparently he got so angry he died from it. Hardcore.

Anyways, Emperor (and King of Hungary, incidentally) Sigismund claimed the throne of Bohemia for himself, which, as the one responsible for Jan Hus's death, the Hussites didn't take too kindly to. Thus began the Hussite Wars, in which my TL starts. My TL doesn't actually begin until late 1424. though. I don't feel like explaining the battles and warfare techniques of the pre-PoD Hussite wars, so here's a link to help you understand it. Besides that, all you have to know is that Jan Zizka was the greatest general of the Hussites, and basically seen as the military "father" of the movement. And that he never lost. Hope this helped with understanding the Hussite Wars! If you've got any more questions, I don't know if I can answer them, but I'll try. I will also clarify things in footnotes.

Excellent.



If the background summary is this good, the timeline proper will be awesome.

Very nice.

How will you work those darn war wagons in?

Subscribed.

Thanks for using the awesome title.

That was damn well full of information. I agree with what Elfwine said. Got to see what the TL looks like if you have this much detail in the background.

Also, i didn't mind the jokes. Actually seemed like it fit in well with the serioussnessof the story.

I am very impressed Mobster.

Eeeexcelent. Subscribed.

Can't wait for the timeline! Subscribed.

Chapter 1: Cyclopean Wills

"The heretics had the Devil's own luck. Every defeat became a victory, every death traded for ten of our own. Even the death of Zizka gave them a king! Damn that Hus, and his misbegotten preaching!"
-English Cardinal Henry Beaufort[1] recounting his experiences in the Hussite Wars


In October 1424, Jan Zizka, leader of the Hussite armies, lay sick with the plague in his tent.[2] The once one-eyed (and completely blind) general had caught the plague at Přibyslav, while planning the invasion of Imperial-held Moravia.

As the Moravian expedition stalled with the sickness of the general, Zizka had thought deeply on his own mortality and the divisions of the manifold Hussite brotherhoods. Whenever the threat of a Crusade was gone, the Hussite armies had fought amongst one another; moderate Utraquist[3] against radical Taborite[4]. Even Zizka's own Orebites[5] had their factions and infighting.

The weak and sickly (as well as blind[6]) Zizka needed to unite the factions under one banner, the banner of a kingly figure, but how? Any native leader would be enscorcelled in the intrigues of the Taborites or the Utraquists. A foreigner would always hold the danger of finding more power and influence in being the Pope's lackey. Only a foreigner who had proven his worth by fighting alongside the Czechs could possibly become a good king.

Zizka's chronicler (and biographer) Adam of Prague writes that Zizka "thought for a while, then as if possessed, dictated letters with the steadiness of a monk, and the fury of a Turk", generally carrying on a correspondence with a person whose identity Zizka refused to reveal to any but his scribes. He further writes that Zizka never stopped dictating letters until the old general finally dropped dead on December 14th of 1424.

Adam of Prague, in his considerable writings, notes that "half the realm gathered to mourn the loss of Zizka of the Chalice." He writes that several notable figures attended the funeral; King Wladyslaw II of Poland[7], his nephew Sigismund Korybut, an un-named representative of the Duke of Brandenburg[8], and various minor and major Hussite-aligned nobility, including Cenek of Wartenberg, a notoriously traitorous noble who had been aligned with the Crusaders and the Hussites at various times[9] throughout the two Crusades launched against Bohemia. The chronicler humorously mentions that many Hussites were physically restrained from striking Cenek when they saw him at Zizka's funeral.

But the main event of the funeral was the reading of Zizka's will; none but the scribes had any idea what was in it, and the scribes were all staunch partisans of Zizka's, unwilling to say a word about the will.

After the requisite funerary events, a local Hussite bishop read the will. Zizka had given the regular platitudes, but had several curious orders for the Hussites. Among the most important were:

1. "Accept Sigismund Korybut as King of Czechia[10]; for he has fought alongside we brethren; he can be trusted, and will not accept Judas's price from the Bishop of Rome."
2. "If the wily Emperor falls into thy grasp, ransom him; if he rides against thee again, kill him. We do not deserve to be called common murderers, but if he proves his foolishness by fighting against those who released him, no man would judge us if he fell beneath our blades."
3. "Trust not the Bishop of Rome nor his messengers; it was he and his lackey the Emperor that killed Holy Hus[11]."
4. "Support your poor, and the poor of your foes; for the poor in wealth are often rich in spirit."
5. "I give my fortune to pay for the holy fight against vile Sigismund, I give my library to the priests and preachers in our ranks, and I give my castle Kalich to the new king to serve as a fortress and a home apart from Prague. Let him do the same when he too, is struck down by the hand of God.[12]"

The first order of Zizka's will surprised many; for while most Hussites had heard of Sigismund Korybut, they did not think of him as a ruler over them. Still, Adam of Prague writes that most who had fought alongside Korybut seemed satisfied with Zizka's logic, and accepted him, and that Korybut and his uncle King Wladyslaw seemed exceptionally pleased by Zizka's order. A coronation was scheduled for the first day of 1425.


The rest of the orders seemed noncontroversial (though many of the radical Taborites were disappointed in Zizka's plea to ransom Emperor Sigismund), but would prove to become a vital force in shaping Bohemia in the years to come.

But that would come later. The year to follow Zizka's death however, would prove to be one of the most difficult years for the Hussite movement, and would feature some of the most destructive battles of the Hussite Wars.

Zizka's will was often referred to by later historians as "The Gospel of Zizka" for how often it was quoted by and applied by the Hussites for nearly a century after his death.



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How did you like my first real update? I feel that it wasn't as high quality as I would like, (and that it jumps all over the place) but please, feel free to comment however you like.

[1] English Cardinal who in OTL fought in the Hussite Wars. In this ATL, he's considerably more bitter about it.

[2] Zizka died in late October in OTL; the PoD is that he survives more than a month longer, and sets his affairs in order.

[3]The phrase "Utraquist" is taken from a Latin phrase meaning "of both kinds", referring to the Communion; basically, this faction wasn't that far off from the Catholics, besides their insistence on wine and bread being given to the congregation, rather than just bread. Also, they wanted services to be given in Czech.

[4]The Taborites were a varied (but usually radical) bunch; they're anything from the clothings-optional Adamites, to wanting to elect captains and kings (in the 1400s, remember), and etc.

[5] Named after Mount Horeb in the Bible, and generally a middle-ground between the Taborites and Utraquists.

[6] He lost one of his eyes in the 1410 Battle of Grunwald, against the Teutonic Knights. According to most sources, he was shot in the other eye with an arrow in 1421 during the siege of Rabi. Here's what sets him apart from say, Harold Godwinson. When Zizka was shot in the eye, he didn't die like a chump; he pulled it out and went blind, still winning battles all the while.

[7] Oh, you'll see a lot of Wladyslaw in the next few chapters, especially in the chapter quotes. He loves this TL.

[8]This will be important later.

[9]Ol' Cenek here is described in my Osprey "The Hussite Wars" book as "one of the serial turncoats of history". Basically, he's more self-serving than the "Protestant" nobles in the Thirty Years War in OTL.

[10] One of the first recorded (in ATL anyway) mentions of "Czechia" rather than "Bohemia". It won't catch on for a while, but it'll eventually be the accepted term.

[11]I'm debating whether I should have the Hussites have saints or not; the "Holy Hus" bit is basically my compromise measure. If it makes sense for the Hussites to have saints, then Holy is a sort of proto-reference to what will become Saint Jan Hus. If not, then it's just Zizka's opinion of Hus as a reformer inspired by God.

[12]This will cause problems later with how it's interpreted.

Quite interesting. The Reformation of OTL, one based less on true reform and more on the political expediency of rulers, is butterflied away in favor of a more grassroots approach TTL.

And Czechia might secede from the Empire soon enough.

Interesting times ahead.

Not much to comment on besides that and praise to the writer's skill, but looking forward to seeing how people react to the idea of a King of Hussite Bohemia (I'm using that term for the time being, until Czechia catches on).

SavoyTruffle said:

Quite interesting. The Reformation of OTL, one based less on true reform and more on the political expediency of rulers, is butterflied away in favor of a more grassroots approach TTL.

And Czechia might secede from the Empire soon enough.

Click to expand...

But its always that the grassroots gets co-opted by ruler who see political oppourtunity in it.

Nicksplace27 said:

But its always that the grassroots gets co-opted by ruler who see political oppourtunity in it.

Click to expand...

Well, yes, but TTL sees fewer political leaders willing to use the movement to increase their power anyway.

Interesting timeline.

MormonMobster said:

[11]I'm debating whether I should have the Hussites have saints or not; the "Holy Hus" bit is basically my compromise measure. If it makes sense for the Hussites to have saints, then Holy is a sort of proto-reference to what will become Saint Jan Hus. If not, then it's just Zizka's opinion of Hus as a reformer inspired by God.

Click to expand...

Well I know the more radical did not have use for saints or anything they deemed extra-biblical, it may be quite a dispute if they want to keep the idea of saints.

Don't worry, this isn't dead. I'm just having computer issues (namely, my desktop which holds all the info for this TL is dying by way of ancient hard drive giving out).

The TL will continue, and I can give hints of what is to come:

-A war of six factions, all bastard brothers scheming for the Czech throne
-An Elizabeth Bathory-type Queen arising
-The Teutonic Knights relocating out of Prussia
-Dramatic speeches and propagandized events
-A somewhat united Germany under a very isolationist HRE.
-A Czech Empire arising
-A Hungarian royal dynasty.

All this and more!

Im gonna bump this, out of hope of soliciting an update. Sorry if it's been to long, but I honestly think you have a really good start and I can't wait for more.

Enigmajones said:

Im gonna bump this, out of hope of soliciting an update. Sorry if it's been to long, but I honestly think you have a really good start and I can't wait for more.

Click to expand...

I'm actually almost done with the second "chapter", but I'm also starting on a totally different TL, and this is effectively dead for now, as my other project takes priority. Now that you've reminded me of it though, that might change. I just need more resources; I can't do much with only Wikipedia, and due to that lack of resources, I'm losing interest in the specific time-frame the TL is supposed to be in.

I may actually rewrite a bit; nothing that's posted will change, but my own notes will change.

Update is in Demand.

Okay, here's what I've got.
Chapter 2: The Coronation of Otakar the Blessed.



"I speak Czech to God and man, French to women, and German to my dogs[1]."-Otakar III Požehnaný "the Blessed"



Sigismund Korybut's coronation, now celebrated across Czechia on January 6, was a rustic, yet unique affair. Indeed, Adam of Prague writes that "all Czechs were dressed in riding clothes, as if ready to flee at a moment's notice", and that the Hussite Crown was originally "a humble circlet of iron".

Adam goes in to mention that two priests had been tasked to officiate over the coronation, one Hussite (of the moderate Utraquist sect), and one Catholic. The Catholic priest was to take the more important role of consecrating and proclaiming Korybut as king, while the Hussite priest was given the comparatively lesser task of crowning the king. This conciliatory move to mollify Catholic Czechs was seen with outrage by many of the more radical Hussite brotherhoods, but none did more than murmur against the monarch-to-be.

As with Zizka's funeral, various dignitaries attended the event. Korybut's uncle King Wladyslaw of Poland and arrived with 100 Polish horsemen as a gift for his nephew. Wladyslaw's son, also named Wladyslaw, came as well. King Eric of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden sent his youngest and most beautiful daughter Christina[2] to the coronation, with an honor guard composed of ten Danish knights. The lesser known chronicler-monk Petar Blazek commented that "The lewd among us focused overmuch on Christina's beauty, and overlittle on the writ of alliance she brought with her."

Other dignitaries included a representative from the Tartars, the Duke of Brandenburg[3], and even a Papal representative, who asked for hospitality so that he could "simply watch" the coronation. More local Czech figures were mostly chroniclers and peasants, but included among their number was the eminent Prokop the Bald, Jan Zizka's successor as leader of the Oriebrites, and the turncoat Cenek of Wartenberg.

According to the monks who witnessed it, the ceremony itself was a simple affair; though the foreign representatives were richly attired and showed their wealth openly, the Czechs were poor and in any case, disliked the opulently-furnished displays of their allies, preferring simple and symbolic representations.

When the time came for Korybut's crowning, the fusion of Catholic and new Hussite traditions went smoothly. The priest of the Utraquist faction placed the circlet of iron upon Korybut's head, and directly following the crowning, the king's personal confessor consecrated Korybut's head with holy oil, and proclaimed to the entire gathering that Sigismund Korybut was now Otakar, third of his name, rightful king of all Czechs. The few Hussite brotherhoods present roared with approval at the change of names, for months before in a rare display of unity, they had declared that a king named Sigismund was unacceptable, and had advised Korybut to take a name of a past Czech king.

After the crowning, the celebrations began. Adam of Prague somewhat sardonically describes the songs used in the festivities; most were a mixture of tradition Catholic liturgy and several Hussite hymns created specifically for the occasion[4]. The less pious belted out bawdy tunes like "Chop off the Head of Sigismund". Food was served freely to peasant and noble alike, and the newly crowned Otakar took great pains to show respect to the peasant-born leaders of the Hussite brotherhoods.

The day of celebration ended with a rousing ceremony in which one of the prime appeals of all Hussites was fulfilled: the Eucharist was administered, and all of the celebrants were given the bread and wine, not merely the clergy.

However, despite the successful coronation, not all was well; Adam of Prague writes that as the Eucharist was given, an exhausted Czech scout rode up to the new king Otakar with a message: Emperor Sigismund was on the move.

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[1] I couldn't resist taking that fairly well-known quote and twisting it.

[2] I actually don't know if Eric of Pomerania/the Kalmar Union had any daughters; Wikipedia is lacking in that regard. So I made one up. If I continue this, she will be somewhat important, however.

[3] Also important.

[4] I can't think of any good names for Hussite hymns, so you can fill in the blanks for that.