Page:Bohemia An Historical Sketch.djvu/182

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158
Bohemia

further into Bohemia, till they reached the neighbourhood of the town of Domažlice. On August 14 Prokop the Great and his troops also arrived in the neighbourhood of that town. "It was at three o'clock that the crusaders, who were encamped in the plain between Domažlice[1] and Horšův Týn, received the news that the Hussites were approaching and that the decisive battle was near. Though the Bohemians were still a (German) mile off, the rattle of their war-wagons and the song, "All ye warriors of God," which the whole army was intoning, could already be heard." The cardinal and the Duke of Saxony ascended a neighbouring hill, so as to be able to inspect the ground where the battle would take place. Suddenly they heard a great noise in the German camp, and noticed that the German horsemen were dispersing in every direction, and that the wagons were driving off to the rear. "What is this?" said the cardinal. "Why are these wagons throwing off their loads?"

Directly afterwards a messenger, sent by the Margrave of Brandenburg, arrived, announcing that the array was in full flight: the cardinal should therefore think of his own safety, and fly to the forest before it was too late. The cardinal escaped with great difficulty, menaced not by the Bohemians, but by the crusaders, who threw all responsibility for the disaster on him. To save him, the Bishop of Würsburg induced him to assume the dress of his military retinue. He thus escaped disguised as a common soldier, riding away very mournfully, and remaining a whole day and night without partaking of food or drink.[2] The victory, though for the Bohemians an almost bloodless one, was the most decisive they ever gained. The Hussites this time, better provided with cavalry than usual, pursued the enemy far into the passes of the Böhmerwald, and inflicted immense losses. This victory for a time put a stop to all attempts to coerce Bohemia. Cardinal Cesarini now became at the Council the strongest advocate of a peaceful agreement with the utraquists. About the same time that the battle of Domažlice took place Bohemia was also invaded from the north by some of the Silesian princes, and from the east by Duke Albert of Austria. Both these attacks were successfully repulsed; the priest Prokop "the

  1. In German, "Tauss."
  2. Abridged from Palacký's account of the battle, which is founded on the narrative of John of Segovia, who, as a personal friend of Cesarini, probably had many details from the Cardinal himself.