page_title: Taborites
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Taborites / History
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Ferdinand Hetteš - Upálení Adamitů
context_page_description: The Taborites, known by their enemies as the Picards, were a Radical Hussite faction within the Hussite movement in medieval Lands of the Bohemian Crown.
  Although most of the Taborites were of rural origin, they played a major role in the city of Tábor's union. Taborite politics were also encroached upon by their very radical priests. The most important Taborites included the governors Jan Žižka of Trocnov, Mikuláš of Hus, Bohuslav of Švamberk, Chval Řepický of Machovice, Jan Roháč of Dubá and the priest Prokop Holý. The main center of the association was the town of Tábor.
context_section_description: In the spring of 1420, a group of South Bohemian Hussites led by Petr Hromádka managed to seize the town of Sezimovo Ústí and the nearby Hradiště Castle. In this place they began to build the model Hussite town Hradiste Mount Tabor - shortened to Tábor - named after Mount Tabor in Galilee. Social and economic equality was promoted in the city and the Taborites addressed each other as brothers and sisters. Hussites flocked to Tábor from all over the country. Economically supported by Tábor's control of local gold mines, the citizens joined local peasants to develop a communal society. Taborites announced the Millennium of Christ and declared there would be no more servants and masters, all property would be held in common and there would be no more taxation. They promised that people would return to a state of pristine innocence. Some historians have found parallels to modern nationalist revolutionary movements. Murray Bookchin argues that this was an early example of anarcho-communism.
  Hussites in Pilsen also learned about the chosen city, and went to Tábor under the guidance of Břeňka Švihovský and Jan Žižka of Trocnov. These Hussites were attacked by Catholic knights near  Sudoměř on 25 March 1420. The repulsion of the knights encouraged the Hussites, and then they managed to reach the under-construction Tábor. The Taborites chose four military commanders (Hetmans) among themselves. They were Jan Žižka, Mikuláš of Hus, Chval Řepický of Machovice and Zbyněk z Buchov. Under their leadership, the camps made many sorties in southern Bohemia. At the end of May, Táborite troops headed towards Prague, threatened by Catholic armies during the first anti-Hussite crusade. In June, Tábor was unsuccessfully besieged by the troops of South Bohemian noble Oldřich of Rožmberk. Cavalry led by the governor Nicholas of Huss dispersed the siege. On 14 July at Vítkov, near Prague, there was a battle in which Jan Žižka managed to thwart an attempt by Hungary and the Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg to dominate the capital. The crusade then disintegrated without further struggle. In July, the Hussites negotiated about a possible future successor to the Czech throne. In response to the Four articles of Prague, the Taborites published twelve revolutionary articles in Prague. However, the Praguers did not meet their demands and the troops left the city. At the end of August, Jan Zizka launched a large offensive against the estate of Oldrich of Rosenberg. The governor seized Prachatice, Vodňan and Lomnice. Young Rožmberk was forced to conclude a ceasefire with Tábor until February 1421. Mikuláš of Pelhřimov was elected bishop of Tábor in September 1420. In December, Hetman Nicholas of Hus died as a result of a fall from a horse. The leader of the Taborites was now the governor Jan Žižka of Trocnov.
   
  Jan Žižka commanded his rag-tag Bohemian army in defense against the crusading Imperial Army under Emperor Sigismund. Žižka did not believe that all prisoners should be slain and often showed clemency to those he defeated. After one battle, when his army disobeyed him and killed many prisoners, Žižka ordered the army to pray for forgiveness. That experience partly inspired him to write a famous military code of conduct, "Žižkův vojenský řád" – a document partly inspired by the biblical book of Deuteronomy. Žižka eventually left Tabor because that community became too radical for his beliefs and took over the leadership of the more moderate Orebites in Hradec Králové. In response to the numerous attacks launched against Bohemia, the Taborites and Orebites often set aside their religious differences and cooperated militarily.
  Once the external threat was removed by Hussite victories, the various Hussite factions turned on each other. At the beginning of 1421, the Adamites (the most radical group of Hussites), who completely rejected the Eucharist, were expelled from Tábor. Under the leadership of priests Petr Kániš and Martin Húska, they settled in Příběnice, where the Adamites fell. Žižka suppressed their movement, and most sectarians, inc
caption: Burning Adamites
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