John Huss and the Hussite Wars - James Aitken Wylie

enthusiasm. From all parts of Bohemia, from its
towns and villages and rural plains, the inhabitants
rallied to the standard of Ziska, now planted on
Mount Tabor. These hastily assembled masses
were but poorly disciplined, and still more poorly
armed; but the latter defect was about to be
supplied in a way they little dreamed of.
They had scarce begun their march towards the
capital when they encountered a body of imperial
cavalry. They routed, captured, and disarmed them.
The spoils of the enemy furnished them with the
weapons they so greatly needed, and they now saw
themselves armed. Flushed with this second
victory, Ziska, at the head of his now numerous
host, a following rather than an army, entered
Prague, where the righteousness of the Hussite
cause, and the glory of the success that had so far
attended it, were tarnished by the violence
committed on their opponents. Many of the Roman
Catholics lost their lives, and the number of
churches and convents taken possession of,
according to both Protestant and Catholic
historians, was about 500. The monks were
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