IV.

The Hussite Wars

Even before the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund, king of the Hungarians, was crowned in 1419 as king of Bohemia, the Hussites in Bohemia had achieved virtual independence. Sigismund was determined to suppress them, but when Pope Martin V, with Sigismund's support, declared a crusade against them, the Hussites gave the invading armies several stunning defeats. The Hussites at first fought only defensive battles under the leadership of John Zizka. Attempting to unify and solidify their position, Zizka suppressed dissidence throughout Bohemia and expelled thousands of anti-Hussite Germans from the country. After Zizka's death, his followers called themselves the Brotherhood of Orphans. Under Procopius the Great, Zizka's successor, the Bohemians won several more important defensive victories and then took the offensive, attacking Catholic strongholds in Slovakia, Silesia, and Lusatia. See Hussite Wars.