Rate Historical Figures: Jan Žižka

I must admit that I don't know a whole lot about this man, even though what I have read so far has impressed me. Normally I would add a poll to this, but am far more interested in finding out what people know of this man. So please contribute and extend my knowledge. Thank you in advance.

Jan, Count Žižka, (born c. 1376—died Oct. 11, 1424, Přibyslav, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/71528/Bohemia - Bohemia [now in Czech Republic]), military commander and national hero of http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/71528/Bohemia - Bohemia who led the victorious http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/277581/Hussite - Hussite armies against the German king http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/543594/Sigismund - Sigismund , foreshadowing the revolution of http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/635532/war - military tactics two centuries later in his introduction of mobile http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/37179/artillery - artillery .

Žižka grew up at the court of the German king http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/639705/Wenceslas - Wenceslas (King Wenceslas IV of Bohemia). He early lost an eye. After spending most of his life as a mercenary for the Poles and fighting with them at the Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg; 1410), he returned to Bohemia and became a follower of the religious reformer http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/277400/Jan-Hus - Jan Hus . When Wenceslas died in 1419, his half-brother http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/543594/Sigismund - Sigismund attempted to ascend the Bohemian throne, but the Bohemians, aware that Sigismund would try to suppress Hussitism, organized a resistance. Žižka became a leader of the http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/579853/Taborite - Taborites , one of the newly formed peasant military communities that, with their tight discipline and religious and nationalist zeal, were vastly superior to the undisciplined feudal levies that they opposed.

Žižka revolutionized warfare through the introduction of cannon mounted on mobile, armoured farm wagons. He was one of the first commanders to handle infantry, cavalry, and artillery as one tactical body. Reduced to the tactical defensive by his cumbersome wagons, he became a master at forcing his enemies to attack at a disadvantage. Žižka’s system proved practically unbeatable. He crushed Sigismund near http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/473739/Prague - Prague in 1420. Losing the sight of his remaining eye shortly thereafter, he continued to lead his forces to victory against both Roman Catholics and rival http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/277581/Hussite - Hussite elements, finally dying of plague in 1424. Hussite armies continued to defeat foreign invaders, finally succumbing after a decade and a half as a result of internal rivalries.

Despite his obvious success, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/195686/Europe - Europe failed to heed Žižka’s military system for 200 years. Only with the advent of the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf and his reintroduction of mobile artillery in the 17th century did Žižka’s system become incorporated into European http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/580081/tactics - tactics .

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/657643/Jan-Count-Zizka - http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/657643/Jan-Count-Zizka

-------------
What a handsome figure of a dragon. No wonder I fall madly in love with the Alani Dragon now, the avatar, it's a gorgeous dragon picture.