Battle of Domažlice

The Battle of Taus in West Bohemia on August 14, 1431 ended the fifth and final crusade against the reform movement of the Hussites in Bohemia.

After negotiations, the Roman Catholic Church and Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg to the subjugation of the Hussites had been unsuccessful, gathered in August 1431 one from Frederick I (Brandenburg) of Hohenzollern -positioned crusader army at a strength of allegedly 130,000 mercenaries to Weiden in der Oberpfalz. The militia was led by Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini of the papal legate, and penetrated early August, intent on fast prey to Bohemia before. From the 8th of August, the city Taus ( Domažlice) was besieged in West Bohemia, which was under the rule of the Hussites since the battle of Mies.

When approached under the generals Andreas Prokop the Great standing, about 50,000 -strong army of the encampments to defend the city Taus on August 14, a large part of the crusaders fled headlong. Supposedly, the battle song of the attacking Hussites, the famous chorale " Kroz JSU bozi bojovníci had" ( " The fighters are because of God " ), the imperial- Catholic soldiers in terror added.

The Battle of Taus ended with a massacre of the fleeing in the Upper Palatinate crusaders of the Empire army. Narrowly escaped Cardinal Cesarini, disguised as a simple soldier. His precious robe, its equipment and the crusade causative papal bull fell into the hands of the Hussites.

The defeat of the crusaders at Taus was in Catholic Europe of that time as a difficult could cope with embarrassment and led to renewed fears that the armies of the Hussites would continue to penetrate beyond the borders of Bohemia addition. The defeat in the battle was decisive for to aim at the Council of Basel by Pope Martin V a negotiated solution with the reform movement of the Hussites.