Crusades against the Hussites 1420 to 1431: Pope Martin V called for the destruction of the "heretics" in Bohemia, and several crusading armies marched into Bohemia

What happened to the people

Who was affected? Victims and numbers

1. According to the Britannica, the vast crusading army that stood before Prague on 30 June 1420 consisted of adventurers from all parts of Europe attracted by the hope of pillage. Where the Catholics were stronger, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, they were hard on the Hussites: in Kuttenberg the miners threw hundreds of captured Utraquists into the shafts of disused silver mines.
   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Artikel Hussites

   „which consisted of adventurers attracted by the hope of pillage from all parts of Europe, arrived before Prague on the 30th of June“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 7 (1910), Artikel Hussites

   „They were hard on the Utraquists wherever they were the stronger: in Kuttenberg, for instance, hundreds of captured Utraquists were thrown by the miners into the shafts of disused silver mines.“

How were they charged and sentenced?

1. In 1420 Pope Martin V issued a bull inviting all Christians to unite in a crusade for the extermination of the Wycliffites, Hussites and other heretics. The sources date it differently: according to the Catholic Encyclopedia to 1 March 1420 (read on 17 March at the imperial diet in Breslau), according to the Britannica to 17 March 1420.
   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 7 (1910), Artikel Hussites

   „On 1 March, 1420, Pope Martin V issued a Bull inviting all Christians to unite in a crusade for the extermination of Wycliffites , Hussites, and other heretics . This Bull was read to the imperial diet assembled at Breslau on 17 March.“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Artikel Hussites

   „Martin V. issued a bull on the 17th of March 1420 which proclaimed a crusade “for the destruction of the Wycliffites, Hussites and all other heretics in Bohemia.”“

What happened to those affected?

1. Further crusading armies followed: in 1421 before Saaz (Žatec), in 1427 a third of about 150,000 men, and in 1431 a fourth, sent by the unbending Martin V, with 90,000 foot and 40,000 horse, accompanied by the papal legate Cardinal Cesarini. It fled on 14 August 1431 at Taus (Domažlice) almost without offering resistance. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, new crusades were preached year after year.
   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Artikel Hussites

   „in August 1421 laid siege to the town of Zatec (Saaz)“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 7 (1910), Artikel Hussites

   „In July, 1427, a third army of crusaders , some 150,000 strong, entered Bohemia from the west.“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 7 (1910), Artikel Hussites

   „In 1431 a fourth crusade , sent by the unbending Martin V , entered Bohemia . The crusaders numbered 90,000 foot and 40,000 horse; they were accompanied by the papal legate“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Artikel Hussites

   „On the 1st of August 1431 a large army of crusaders, under Frederick, margrave of Brandenburg, whom Cardinal Cesarini accompanied as papal legate, crossed the Bohemian frontier“

   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 7 (1910), Artikel Hussites

   „new crusades were indeed preached year after year, but not carried out“

2. The wars laid Bohemia waste. The Hussites for their part invaded Hungary, Silesia, Lusatia, Meissen, Saxony and as far as Nuremberg from 1428 to 1431; according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, by their return in 1430 a hundred towns and more than a thousand villages had been destroyed. Only after this did the Church negotiate with the Hussites at the Council of Basel.
   Evidence: The Catholic Encyclopedia, Bd. 7 (1910), Artikel Hussites

   „a hundred towns and more than a thousand villages had been destroyed“

   Evidence: Encyclopædia Britannica, 11. Auflage (1911), Artikel Hussites

   „On the 15th of October the members of the council, who had already assembled at Basel, issued a formal invitation to the Hussites to take part in its deliberations.“