By killing Hus, the church authorities provided the Czech reformers with a martyr. From then on, the movement, hitherto known as Wycliffite, took the name Hussite, and it grew rapidly. The Hussites reacted emotionally against the Council of Constance, the German king Sigismund, and the conservative clergy. A letter of protest, signed by 452 members of the nobility, was dispatched to Constance in September 1415. The contemptuous reaction of the council, which indicted all the Bohemian signatories, increased the Hussites’ discontent, as did the burning at the stake of another reformer, Hus’s friend Jerome of Prague, in May 1416.

Hus had not developed a system of doctrine, nor had he designated his successor. The most faithful of his disciples, Jakoubek of Stříbro, was not strong enough to keep the movement under his control. Ideological differentiation set in and resulted in divisions and polemics. The moderate Utraquists (or Calixtins; respectively, from the Latin utraque, “each of two,” and calix, “chalice”), named after the Hussite practice of serving laypersons the Eucharist under the forms of both bread and wine, were entrenched in Prague. The radicals came mostly from smaller boroughs and the countryside. The Germans in Bohemia and in the incorporated provinces remained faithful to the Roman Catholic Church, and, thus, the deep-seated ethnic antagonism was accentuated.

The death of the Bohemian king Wenceslas IV in 1419 hastened the political crisis. The Hussites were resolutely opposed to Sigismund’s inheritance of the Bohemian throne, but the Czech Catholics and the Germans were willing to recognize him. Sigismund, determined to break the Hussite opposition, initiated a period of bitter struggles that lasted more than 10 years. He had the support of opponents of Hussitism within the kingdom, of many German princes, and of the papacy. Invasions of Bohemia assumed the character of crusades but were successfully repelled by the Hussites, who pulled together in times of danger.

In 1420 the radical Hussites—who by this time were centred at a fortified settlement called Tábor in southern Bohemia—reached agreement with the moderate Utraquists on the fundamental articles of their faith. The accord, which became known as the Four Articles of Prague, stressed that (1) the word of God should be preached freely, (2) Communion should be administered in both kinds (i.e., both bread and wine, rather than bread only) to laypersons as well as to clerics, (3) worldly possessions of the clergy should be abolished, and (4) public sins should be exposed and punished. However, a wide range of disagreements between the Utraquists in Prague and the radicals (known as Taborites) at Tábor was left open, often resulting in mutual accusations and embitterment. A third party of Hussites arose in northeastern Bohemia, around a newly founded centre at Oreb, but it had a much smaller following than those of Prague or Tábor.

Meetings were held at which attempts were made to give the country a national government; the most significant was an assembly at the city of Čáslav (June 1421). A regency council was set up, but it lacked sufficient authority, and the virtual master of the country was the leader of the “warriors of God,” Jan Žižka. He was originally attached to Tábor, but he became disgusted with the endless disputes of its theologians and left the radical stronghold to organize a military brotherhood in northeastern Bohemia (1422); its members became so devoted to Žižka that after his death in 1424 they called themselves the Orphans.

Žižka strove tenaciously for two goals: the protection of Bohemia from Sigismund and the suppression of those whom he perceived as enemies of the law of God within Bohemia and Moravia. He scored brilliant victories in battles against Sigismund’s forces but could not unite the country under his banner. A Roman Catholic minority, stronger in Moravia than in Bohemia, resisted the overtures of the Hussite theologians and Žižka’s attacks. After Žižka’s death, his heirs, headed by the preacher Prokop the Bald, lost interest in protracted warfare with Catholic lords at home and undertook instead highly successful foraging raids into the German territories bordering on Bohemia. In response, the Roman Catholic Church mounted altogether five abortive crusades against the Hussites. Whenever a crusade menaced Bohemia, however, the radical military brotherhoods joined the conservative forces to push back the invader. The last encounter at Domažlice in 1431 was bloodless; the crusaders reportedly fled in panic upon hearing the Hussites singing their chorals.

Meanwhile, a general council of the church opened in 1431 at Basel, Switzerland, and determined to find a peaceful settlement. At a conference at Cheb (German: Eger) in Bohemia the following year, delegates from Basel and the Hussite spokesmen resolved that in controversial matters “the law of God, the practice of Christ, of the apostles and of the primitive church” would be used to determine which party held the truth. The Hussite envoys reached Basel and opened debate on the cardinal points of their doctrine. It soon became clear, however, that the council was unwilling to abide by the Cheb agreement and that theologians representing the Tábor and Orphan brotherhoods would not acquiesce to a lean compromise. The Utraquists ultimately joined forces with the Catholics to defeat the radical Hussites in a fratricidal battle at Lipany in May 1434.

Under the leadership of Jan Rokycana, the future archbishop of the Hussite church, the Hussites’ dealings with the Council of Basel advanced markedly after the battle. The final agreement came to be known as the Compacts (Compactata) of Basel. The agreement followed the Four Articles of Prague but weakened them with subtle clauses (e.g., the council granted the Czechs the Communion in both kinds but under vaguely defined conditions). After the promulgation of the compacts in 1436, an agreement followed with Sigismund, now accepted as the legitimate king of Bohemia. But he died in 1437, and Bohemia was neither united in religion nor consolidated politically.

Various forces hindered religious pacification. The Catholic clergy refused to respect the Compacts of Basel because they were not sanctioned by the pope; the Catholics would not accept Rokycana as archbishop of the Hussite church either. The radical parties, although gravely weakened at Lipany, also stood in uncompromising opposition to Rokycana. His bid for recognition was defied as well by the Utraquist wing, which had seized key positions during Sigismund’s brief reign.

The Hussite preponderance

Sigismund had no son, and the problem of succession to the Bohemian throne caused a split among the nobility, which had been enriched during the Hussite wars by the secularization of church properties and which had grown accustomed to the absence of monarchy. The conservatives accepted Sigismund’s son-in-law Albert II of the Austrian house of Habsburg, but the more resolute Hussites favoured a Polish candidate. Albert’s death in 1439 ushered in another interregnum. In January 1440 an assembly was held to set up provincial administration for Bohemia; its composition demonstrated clearly the steady rise in the importance of the wealthy barons, who functioned as the first estate. The lesser nobility, large in number, was considered the second estate. The upper classes recognized the royal boroughs as the third estate but were reluctant to share power with them. In the January assembly the political alignments were not identical with religious divisions; nonetheless, the first estate included a powerful Catholic faction, and the second estate was predominantly Hussite. The assembly did not elect a governor of Bohemia. Instead, in the counties into which Bohemia was subdivided, leagues were organized to promote the cooperation of local lords, knights, and royal boroughs, irrespective of religious orientation.

The problem of succession became urgent when Albert’s widow, Elizabeth, gave birth to a boy called Ladislas Posthumus (the future Ladislas V). Several foreign princes challenged this Habsburg claim, but in 1443 the estates recognized Ladislas as the legitimate heir to the throne of Bohemia. As he resided at the court of his guardian, the German king and future Holy Roman emperor Frederick III, the interregnum was extended. The barons voted George of Poděbrady as their leader, but for several years the destiny of Bohemia was determined by the efforts of Oldřich of Rožmberk, the most powerful Bohemian magnate, and his allies, who undermined George’s plans.

Apart from political and economic consolidation, George strove for a papal sanction of the Compacts of Basel and for the confirmation of the Hussite leader Rokycana as archbishop. In 1448 George decided to act. He seized Prague and appointed Rokycana head of the Utraquist consistory. Although Frederick III was, like Rožmberk, a Roman Catholic, he realized that an alliance with the Hussite George would strengthen Ladislas’s chances of succession. In 1451 Frederick designated George governor of Bohemia. From that position of strength, George moved energetically against both the Rožmberk coterie and the remnants of the radicals, entrenched at Tábor.

In October 1453 the teenage Ladislas, German-speaking and brought up as a Roman Catholic, was crowned king of Bohemia in St. Vitus’s Cathedral. George served as his chief adviser. (Analogous arrangements existed in Hungary, where the minor Ladislas also was king, but the authority lay in the hands of his guardian, the general János Hunyadi.) Above all, George hoped the king could reestablish Bohemia’s connection with the crown provinces, especially the populous and rich Silesia, that had deteriorated during the Hussite wars. But in 1457 Ladislas suddenly died. Although several foreign princes competed for the throne, the estates of Bohemia reaffirmed the elective principle and decided unanimously for George, who became king in 1458.

Although attached to the Utraquist party, for George the Hussite revolution was finished. He endeavoured to rule as a king of “two peoples”: the Utraquists and the Catholics; the Czechs and the Germans. As he was eager to be crowned according to the rites prescribed by Emperor Charles IV, in the presence of two foreign bishops he obliged himself to defend the true faith and to lead his people from errors, sects, and heresies. Because the Compacts of Basel were not mentioned, George did not hesitate to make his pledge; since the agreement with the Council of Basel, the Utraquists considered the Communion in both kinds as a lawful concession and not a heresy. Both the election and coronation took place in Prague, and so George’s principal concern was to have his title recognized by the estates of the incorporated provinces. He was mostly successful, but he had to accept the friendly help of papal envoys to obtain in 1459 a provisional recognition by the Catholic and predominantly German city of Breslau (modern Wrocław, Poland) in Silesia.

During the next three years, thanks to his superior diplomatic skills, George enhanced his prestige both at home and abroad. Feeling that no lasting peace could be achieved without the speedy settlement of religious issues, George attempted in 1462 to have the Compacts of Basel sanctioned by Pope Pius II. Instead of approving the compacts, however, the pope declared them null and void. When informed of the pope’s action, George affirmed his devotion to the Hussite practice of Communion in both kinds. Although neither the pope nor the king showed any intention of retreating, armed conflict did not take place, and several princes, including Frederick III, were willing to use their influence to arrange a compromise.

But a new pope, Paul II, elected in 1464, soon adopted an aggressive policy that encouraged George’s foes, especially the city of Breslau. A group of Catholic noblemen from Bohemia, headed by Zdeněk of Šternberk, formed a hostile league at Zelená Hora (1465) and entered into negotiations with Breslau and other Catholic centres. Shortly before Christmas 1466, the pope excommunicated George and released his Catholic subjects from their oath of allegiance. In the spring of 1467 George’s troops attacked the rebel forces. George was, on the whole, successful in desultory campaigns against the insurgents’ strongholds, but his position became more awkward in the spring of 1468, when Matthias I of Hungary, his son-in-law and rival, brought support to the Czech rebels. Matthias claimed that he needed the resources of the imperial and Bohemian crowns in order to launch a great crusade against the Turks. The Hungarians invaded Moravia, and, by tying down a considerable portion of the Bohemian army, they facilitated rebel successes in other parts of the kingdom. In May 1469 the opposition, controlling all provinces except Bohemia, proclaimed Matthias king of Bohemia. In 1470 George achieved some successes over his rivals, but he was unable to consolidate them because of deteriorating health. He died in March 1471, mourned by both the Utraquists and loyal Catholics.