ŽIŠKA, JAN Z TROCNOVA. — The first commander of the Hussites, born ca. 1353–58 at Trocnov (southern Bohemia), died of plague on 11 October 1424 during the siege of the castle of Přibyslav.
Ž., originally from the lesser Czech nobility, first served in the troops of powerful local lords, then in the armies of the king of Poland and those of the king of Bohemia, Venceslaus IV. In 1419 he took part in the first Hussite uprisings in
Prague (v. HUS) and soon became their military and political leader. Ž. followed the more radical current of the Hussites, centered at Tabor (hence Taborites) in southern Bohemia, in opposition to the moderate Prague party. The Taborites, largely peasants and artisans, proclaiming themselves «soldiers of God and of his law», fought fanatically for the Hussite reform, and Ž. believed himself called by God to make it triumph by sword and fire. Although completely blind from 1421 onward, Ž. won great victories over the numerically superior armies of King Sigismund and his supporters. In addition to Ž.’s strategic genius, this was also aided by his particular military technique: armored wagons equipped with bombards and loaded with troops, which he moved and deployed with great mastery. In the cities he conquered, Ž. put to the sword all those who refused to join the Hussite movement and destroyed all «worldly vanities», that is, monuments of art, libraries, archives, etc. Ž., solicitous of his soldiers with paternal concern, served the Hussite movement sincerely and disinterestedly, but the Taborite sectarian fanaticism did not allow him to derive lasting benefits from his military successes, not even for the political and national aims of the movement. Without Ž., the Hussite movement would probably never have emerged from the sphere of theological discussions and ecclesiastical reforms, nor degenerated into the long fratricidal wars that profoundly disrupted the religious, cultural, and political life of the Kingdom of Bohemia, causing enormous material and moral damage.