John Ziska, the blind warrior, leading his army to victory after
victory, stands alone in the gallery of history. There were none like
him, before or after.
He is pictured as a short, broad-shouldered man, with a large, round,
and bald head. His forehead was deeply furrowed, and he wore a long
moustache of a fiery red hue. This, with his blind eye and his final
complete blindness, yields a well-defined image of the man, that
fanatical, remorseless, indomitable, and unconquerable avenger of the
martyred Huss, the first successful opponent of the doctrines of the
church of Rome whom history records.
The conclusion of the story of the Hussites may be briefly given. For
years they held their own, under two leaders, known as Procop Holy and
Procop the Little, defying the emperor, and at times invading the
empire. The pope preached a crusade against them, but the army of
invasion was defeated, and Silesia and Austria were invaded in reprisal
by Procop Holy.
Seven years after the death of Ziska an army of invasion again entered
Bohemia, so strong in numbers that it seemed as if that war-drenched
land must fall before it.
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