A Brief History of the Hussites. And also Cyclo-cross!

It had been a while since I took a day-trip out of Prague to see some more of the Czech Republic. I had often heard people speak highly of the small town of Tábor, so when a beautiful Saturday rolled around I again hopped a domestic train and was on my way. In the main square of the city stands a statue of Jan Žižka (pictured), the famous Czech warlord who lead the Hussite armies in the 15th Century. Since Tábor was originally settled by this group of religious reformers, Žižka is seen as a folk hero. In honour my visit to I thought I give a brief history of the Hussites Movement.

In the fifteenth century you've got this Czech dude called Jan Hus. His deal is he's not content with the way the Catholic Church is running things. The Holy Roman Empire's got itself a huge chunk of central Europe, so the area now called the Czech Republic was ruled by a foreign king, the Hungarian Sigismund. Inspired by other reformation movements in Western Europe, Hus gathered followers and spoke out against the corruption in the Church. Sigismund invites a naive Hus to come and discuss his grievances before the Council of Constance, a group of soggy old bishops. When he got there he was promptly thrown in a dungeon, tried and then burned at the stake. Understandably, his followers, The Hussites, were quite upset about the matter, and they begin to take up arms. A war-hardened veteran by the name of Jan Žižka rises to task of leading a full scale rebellion and settles a great military stronghold, the town of Tábor. From here he campaigns north slowly capturing Czech towns and expelling the Hungarians and other supporters of the Empire. Eventually he reaches Prague and is able to take the city through a series of battles. To this day Žižka is considered one of the greatest generals in history, having never lost a battle. For more information consult the wikipedia articles that I ripped this all from. But moving on...

The modern city of Tábor is quite reminiscent of other Czech towns, a cobblestoned main square with a nice cathedral, built along a river. But what you wouldn't guess at first glance is that Tábor is often the host of Cyclo-cross races, essentially a BMX race with occasional obstacles. For example, at one stretch the riders actually dismount and climb a flight of stairs carrying their bike. A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to venture back to the town to see the world championship, where Czech Republic's own Katerina Nash took fourth place. Somehow we ended up hanging out in the pit area with the Mongolia team. They were nice despite finishing dead last. Other things happened that weekend, involving locked offices and unattainable Coca-colas, but I'd rather not go into it here.