In the early 15th century, the Western Schism was
dividing the Catholic Church.
At one point, there were three Popes.
There was Gregory XII in Rome,
Benedict XIII in Avignon, and John XXIII in Pisa.
John XXIII approved of indulgences, a way for people to pay to remove their sins
in Bohemia in order to raise money to fight the Neapolitans
the protector of Gregory.
Angered by this a Bohemian named Jan Hus began to preach against corruption of the church
as others like John Wycliffe had done beforehand.
Meanwhile in 1414, Sigismund of Hungary and the future ruler of the Holy Roman Empire
which Bohemia was apart of
ended the schism at the Council of Constance by electing pope Martin V as the only pope.
Hus was invited to the council but he was executed and Sigismud threatened to kill any of his followers
the Hussites
after declaring them heretics.
So the Hussites began to hold meetings, gather supporters, and prepared for war
Then in July 1419 under the leadership of Jan Želivský, the Hussites stormed the town hall in Prauge
and threw the king's officials out the window.
They took control of the city and continued to fight the imperial armies
until a truce was signed in November.
However some Hussites like Jan Žižka refused to accept a truce
especially because the king of Bohemia, Wenceslaus, had died in August
and Sigismund was set to inherit the throne.
So Žižka left Prauge, created an army, and defeated the imperial forces at Sudoměř in the spring of 1420.
He then created a new settlement, Tábor, and his followers, the Taborites set up an early democracy
and abandoned many of the sacraments of the Catholic church.
They also abandoned private property and made the society somewhat equal
but they also believed the world was coming to an end punished people according to biblical law.
Želivský's Hussites in Prauge, the Utraquists, were more moderate
and were willing to accept Sigismund as king
as long as he followed their four articles of Prauge and reformed the church.
However the pope called for a crusade against the Hussites
Although thousands joined the crusades, the Hussites had revolutionized battles
by deploying cannons onto the battlefield and using wagon forts
armored carts which carried soldiers with handguns, crossbows, and pikes.
So although the crusaders besieged Prauge, Žižka relieved the city in July 1420
and the crusaders left Bohemia shortly afterwards.
A second crusade was called in 1421 and this time the crusaders beat Želivský and he Battle of Brod.
Želivský was as a punishment removed from his post and later executed
but the crusaders were again defeated by Žižka at the Battle of Kutná Hora and left Bohemia.
Meanwhile with no king of Bohemia the Hussites offered the throne to Jagiełło, the king of Poland
and enemy of Sigismund.
He rejected the throne, but his nephew, Sigismund Korybut, accepted it in 1422.
But the Hussite factions had by this point become distrustful of one another
and in Taborite stongholds Žižka's authority was being challenged by more extreme factions.
So in 1423 when Jagiełło signed a treaty with the Holy Roman Empire
and forced his nephew to return home
a civil war broke out amongst the Hussites.
They temporarily reunited in 1423 to stop another crusade and they tried to invade neighboring Moravia
but Jan Žižka died and Prokop the Great took over the Taborites as the civil war resumed.
Korybut returned to Bohemia in 1424 and helped end the civil war
and together they crushed yet another crusade in 1426 at the Battle of Aussig.
But Korybut began to negotiate peace with the Catholics so the Taborites imprisoned him
nevertheless the Hussites still managed to beat the imperial forces at Tachov in 1427 and ended the crusades for a few years.
This temporary peace allowed the Hussites to increase their raids on neighboring lands
sometimes even as far as the Baltic coast.
However these beautiful rides encouraged more people to join later crusades
and even Joan of Arc threatened to join the war against the Hussites.
In 1431 another crusade was called, but this quickly failed at the Battle of Domažlice.
But again a civil war erupted shortly afterwards
so at the Council of Basel in 1433 the Utraquist made peace with the empire
and defeated the Taborites at the Battle of Lipany 1434.
Now in control of Bohemia the Utraquists accepted Sigismund as king of Bohemia in exchange for religious reforms.
These reforms remained the doctrine of the Bohemian church until the 30 Years War.
But the Hussites continued to influence within the region
in 1439 they fought along side of a Polish nobleman, Spytek of Melsztyn
against the Bishop of Kraków who effectively governed Poland at the time.
and in Bohemia a Hussite, George of Poděbrady, acted as a regent when the infant Vladislaus took the throne in 1439
and George himself became king in 1457
The Hussites also later helped prevent Matthias Corvinus of Hungary from invading Bohemia.
Plus the Hussites also helped pave the way for the reformation
and many would go on to follow the teachings of Luther and Calvin.