on almost all occasions, were opposed to vastly superior forces. The united Bohemian army, according to the most trustworthy sources, comprised only 25,000 men, while the German forces, commanded by Boso of Vitzthum, numbered 70,000 men. The Bohemians had, however, the advantage of better discipline. As was usually the case with them all dissensions among them ceased at the moment when they faced “the enemies of God and of the Bohemian nation.” A contemporary chronicler writes:[1] “As soon as the Germans[2] arrived at Ústi, the Bohemians sent a gracious letter to them, saying: ‘Should God favour you receive us as prisoners in mercy, and should God help us we will do the same unto you.’ But the Germans answered: ‘This is impossible; for we must, because of the papal ban, kill all, women, old men, girls, children.’ Then the Bohemians decided that they would take no German prisoner, but all prayed to God, remembering their honour and their faith. Then Lord Vaněk Černohorský, a field-captain, said: ‘He who would rightly fight God’s fight must be reconciled with God. Then on Friday, early in the morning, the Bohemians heard a sermon and received the body and blood of God, that they might fight bravely for the law. Prince Sigismund (Korybutovič) also did this; with tears he prayed to God and exhorted the soldiers to fight bravely.”
The Bohemians expected to be attacked on Friday, June 14, but no fighting took place on that day, and on the 15th only slight skirmishing began. The following day—the 16th—being Sunday[3] the pious Bohemians hoped that no battle would take place on that day, but the Germans, sure of victory,
- ↑ The two principal contemporary sources are the “Scriptores rerum Bohemicarum,” which I have so often quoted and the ballad entitled “Bitva před Ustim” (“The Battle before Usti”), published in the Výbor z Literatury cěske (Selections from Bohemian Literature), Vol. II.
- ↑ i. e. the German army sent by Duchess Catherine to relieve the city.
- ↑ The Catholic writer Bartošek of Drahonic shared his countrymen’s dislike of engaging in battle on Sunday, and attributed the defeat of the Saxons to this circumstance. He writes: “Hæc facta sunt ipso die dominico, quare nullus die dominico conflictum sapiens intret quia Misnenses inceperunt” (p. 595 of Professor Goll’s edition).
