Jan Zizka

Zizka, Jan (c.1376-1424), Hussite general. Serving in the court of King Vaclav (Wenceslas) IV of Bohemia, Zizka took part in numerous campaigns in Poland, where in addition to gaining much experience, he lost an eye. Returning to Prague after the battle of Tannenberg (1410), he became a devoted follower of the Hussites, a fundamentalist Protestant sect under the leadership of Jan Huss.

After the Catholics under the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund began suppressing the Hussites, Zizka went from Prague to the Hussite stronghold of Tabor and helped organize their army. Drawing upon his experience of fighting against the Russians and Lithuanians, he developed revolutionary tactics, which served his army well in their battles against the Catholics. He knew about the effectiveness of wagon barricades in defending against enemy heavy cavalry and took the idea further, creating the wagenburg of armoured wagons from which crossbowmen and gunners could fire through loopholes cut in the sides.

Zizka's army would penetrate deep into the enemy's territory and then set up a laager of these wagons at a suitable defensive position. They would be deployed in a circle, joined together by chains to prevent the perimeter from being broken and further reinforced by a defensive ditch along the perimeter and by light artillery pieces. From the safety of the armoured wagons, Zizka's crossbowmen and gunners would be able to hold off any enemy assault and after they had been repelled, pikemen and cavalry would debouch to complete their ruin.

Using these tactics the Hussite army was able to defeat Sigismund repeatedly between 1419 and 1424. At the siege of Rabi in 1421, Zizka lost his remaining eye, but retained command and was still able to lead his army to victory over Sigismund's forces. He died of the plague when leading a Hussite invasion of Moravia.

— Robert Foley