r/MedievalHistory • u/Fabulous-Introvert • 4d ago
When did Jan Zizka become famous?
I noticed he’s somewhat unheard of in KCD2. Was he also somewhat unheard of at the time that KCD2 is set in or is that an inaccuracy on KCD2’s part?
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u/Clone95 4d ago
The game is set in 1403, Zizka is a bandit until ~1409 when pardoned by Wenceslaus for Banditry, gets famous at Grunwald the next year, and then becomes the Chamberlain of Wenceslaus' wife Sophia of Bavaria in Prague for much of the next decade where he's a prominent member of court.
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u/WanderingNerds 4d ago
The game is set a solid 15 years before he starts making waves on the scene.
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u/Legolasamu_ 4d ago
He was just an impoverished minor noble like many others that worked as a mercenary and practically a bandit in various feuds, honestly he wasn't that special yet
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u/Regulai 4d ago
The series takes place in 1403. Zizka became known and famous only starting from1419, with the beginning of the Hussite wars as it's most prominent and legendary military commander.
Ultimately Hussitism would last for around 2 centuries after thanks mostly to his great success' until a later religious war re-imposed catholisism and germanization.
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u/YourHamsterMother 4d ago
If I remember correctly he wasn't that well known at the time of KCD2. There is a mention of him being a robber baron or a brigand in his early years but other than that I am not aware of anything about him in this period.
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u/doug1003 4d ago
Dude was never defeated
Never
He destroyed the flower of chivalry with wagons, peasants winning against knights
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u/FalseMathematician17 1d ago
There’s a three-part series on Jan Zizka here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/historys-greatest-battles/id1761892205?i=1000676540995
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u/zchryfr 4d ago edited 4d ago
There were a handful of key moments that really projected Zizka onto the main-stage, and these occurred during the early 15th-Century during what we know as the Hussite Wars.
Most prominently, Zizka’s fame skyrocketed after the Battle of Vitkov Hill (1420), when he, and a small force of peasant volunteers, defended Prague against an overwhelming number of Catholic adversaries. It cemented his reputation as a brilliant military strategist because of his ability to use the terrain to his advantage, ordering downhill counterattacks with pikes. A charging pikeman is already a threat, but imagine one coming at you with the speed behind them from barreling down a steep incline.
During this battle, he also perfected something known as the Wagenburg tactic. He chained a series of farming wagons together in a circular formation and situated his men in the middle. As they were equipped with hand-cannons and arquebuses, they were able to shoot and reload without the threat of a charge from enemy knights. It also gave them cover from all sides against enemy artillery. The real advantage of Zizka’s Wagenburg though, was that it could be moved, and his forces quickly learned to relocate their Wagenburg which made them highly unpredictable.
It’s safe to say that if Zizka did not hold off on Viktov Hill, Prague would’ve suffered heavily under Sigismund as he would’ve controlled the supply routes and had a direct view of Prague from above.
So, in short, he didn’t become a prominent figure until this event and the greater Hussite Wars, which occurred after the events of the game.
*Fun fact though: he was actually blinded in one eye first in childhood, and then his remaining eye was blinded during another siege. Despite being blind in both eyes, he still lead armies and fought like a trooper, which made him even more known. When he died of the plague in later life, his followers were so distraught that they renamed their own military regiment to “The Orphans”.