Silver mining
During the Hussite Wars, the town was besieged by the troops of Jan Žižka in 1421, though it was not occupied until in 1426. Shortly afterwards, the Hussite forces under Prokop the Great could repel an attack by the Crusaders in the Battle of Tachov. In 1541 the citizens turned Protestant. Silver mining was resumed under the King Ferdinand I in 1554. Upon the Battle of White Mountain, the town was subdued to the measures of the Counter-Reformation.