#codex: events

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EVENTS — 228/262 — The Western Schism

A schism represents a split within the Catholic Church where multiple popes hold office simultaneously. The longest of these began in 1378, when the papal see was moved back to Rome from Avignon, where it had been forcibly relocated for 70 years by the King of France due to disagreements with Roman church officials. However, the new Pope of Rome, Urban VI, refused to share power with the cardinals who had elected him. They therefore declared the election invalid and installed a new, second pope Clement VII, once again based in Avignon. Clement VII was recognised by Scotland, Castile, Aragon, Navarre and Portugal. Germany, Bohemia, England and Ireland, Flanders, Poland, Hungary and Italy sided with Pope Urban VI. After their deaths, Boniface IX took office in Rome and antipope Benedict XIII in Avignon. All attempts to restore the unity of the Catholic Church were unsuccessful. The crisis of faith strongly affected society at the time, and voices of Church critics (such as John Wycliffe and Jan Hus) grew stronger. In 1409, there was even a move by the cardinals to declare both popes invalid and elect a third, John XXIII. However, neither pope was relegated. Only after The Council of Constance (1414-1418), convened by Sigismund of Luxembourg and John XXIII, were there to be reforms in the Church. It resulted in the deposition of all three popes and, in 1417, the election of a new pope, who was based in Rome. The schism was thus brought to an end.

TRIVIA

— On September 13 1376, the Papacy returned to Italy after seventy years spent in Avignon,. By 1376, the circumstances that had kept the papacy away from its traditional seat had evolved — the Hundred Years War and rebellions in Rome and the Papal States calmed down, and Gregory XI, intent on returning the seat of papacy to its rightful seat in Rome, returned.

Gregory did not enjoy his accomplishment for long, as he died on March 27th 1378. A few days after his death, the first Roman conclave opened since Nicholas IV was elected in 1287, close to one hundred years previous. Sixteen cardinals were present: eleven French, four Italian, and one Spanish. Regardless of internal divisions within the conclave, the cardinals chose Bartolomeo Prignano, archbishop of Bari, as Pope Urban VI, even though he was not a cardinal.

Elected on April 10th 1378, the man was changed by the office. Urban VI was rigorous and principled, but he could also be temperamental and violent. Displeased French cardinals eventually moved out of Rome to Anagni. On August 2nd 1378, the cardinals publicly questioned the election, and on August 9 they denounced Urban as illegitimate by reason of procedural impropriety, as the election had taken place under duress and violence. They labeled the pope intrusus (usurper), and publicly condemned him. For the next five centuries, the Catholic Church recognized the Roman popes as the legitimate line from 1378 to 1409, followed by the Pisan popes from 1409 to 1415. All Avignon popes after 1378 are considered to be antipopes.

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EVENTS — 227/262 — The Golden Age of Charles IV

When Charles, the young son of John of Luxembourg, inherited the title Margrave of Moravia and subsequently the Bohemian throne, the kingdom began to flourish not only economically but also culturally. This period is now known as “the Golden Age”. During his reign, many cities, towns and castles received new fortifications, new bridges and better infrastructure, as well as new churches. Many famous buildings are named after Charles because he initiated their construction, such as Charles Bridge, Karlstejn Castle and one of the oldest universities in Europe, Charles University in Prague, which he founded in 1348. He also emphasised the role of faith in society. He was instrumental in the renewal of the cults of Saints Wenceslas, Sigismund and Vitus, to whom he dedicated sacred buildings, including the cathedral at Prague Castle. He used marriage policy to strengthen his position in Europe, linking his family with prominent houses in neighbouring countries. He influenced the appointment of ecclesiastical offices. Thanks to his firm rule and a policy based on alliances, he was able to maintain peace in Europe. King Charles was an educated ruler with an interest in the arts, which was reflected in the architecture of the cities, especially Prague, which he chose as the seat of his court and which went through a considerable transformation during his reign.

TRIVIA

— Charles IV was crowned emperor in Rome on April 5th 1355. Between November 1355 and January 1357, he called together a court of secular and ecclesiastical representatives of the empire to discuss with them a set of rules he had compiled, based on already existing traditions and custom. The 31 chapters written in Latin, later titled Bulla Aurea, the Golden Bull, would be the first written codification of the Holy Roman Empire and remain in force until 1806. For the court days during Christmas mass, Charles would read the Christmas story from the Gospel – on the census issued by the first Roman Emperor Augustus, leading to Christ's birth in Bethlehem and to the fulfilment of God's prophecy – and with this position himself as the ruler of an empire much older even than the Christian Church. Prior to Charles's election, the Pope had gained increasing control over the election of the German king, with the right to approve and veto against candidates, and substitute for the monarch in the event of his absence. With the Golden Bull, election would only rest in the hands of the seven prince-electors, and the coronation would take place with or without the pope's approval. The Golden Bull also established the privileges and duties of the prince-electors, such as the various regalia (the coinage, mining, and Jew regal), protection from conspiracy or harm, free local courts, and succession through primogeniture. The prince-electors also had to provide education: with the multi-ethnicity of the empire, Charles thought it necessary for the electors to speak and understand the languages of those over which they ruled. They should thus educate themselves, next to German, also in the various Slavic and Italian dialects and provide teaching for their children, so that, between the ages of 7 and 14, they would learn to speak these languages – more or less fluently, according to everyone's own God-given talents.

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EVENTS — 226/262 — The conquest of Kuttenberg

While Wenceslas was imprisoned in Vienna, Sigismund attacked Kuttenberg in December 1402. The city remained loyal to the king, and the miners in particular defended the city tenaciously. When they finally surrendered, they had to follow Sigismund to his camp at Kolin to kneel before him in the mud. Additionally, they had to pay him huge sums of money to prevent the city from being plundered. The surrounding villages were not so lucky and many were looted or burned down. By capturing the city, Sigismund seized the largest silver deposits in the country, which enabled him to continue his campaign. The city’s treasury contained valuable jewels as well as money; all of which fell prey to the enemy. When King Wenceslas IV returned to the throne, he estimated the wealth seized by Sigismund at one million gold coins of that period. At the time of our game, the city is under Sigismund’s control, though the army itself is camped elsewhere. The top officials and members of the city council have been replaced, but otherwise the city has been left to its own self-government.

TRIVIA

— The conquest of Kutná Hora was an event that took place within the context of the power struggles of the Luxembourg dynasty. In March 1402, Sigismund had his brother Wenceslas IV arrested in Prague with the support of a faction of Czech nobles, effectively seizing control of the kingdom. This act triggered armed resistance across Bohemia, as factions loyal to Wenceslas started mobilizing and began attacking Sigismund’s supporters and their estates.

Sigismund’s campaign against Kutná Hora was part of a larger military effort to consolidate his authority in Bohemia. At the end of November 1402, he gathered a sizeable force composed of both Hungarian troops and Cuman mercenaries, and allied Bohemian nobles. His army advanced into central Bohemia, sacking and looting the countryside between Kolín, Čáslav, and Kutná Hora while demanding that local lords and towns submit or be declared enemies.

The defence of the city was organised in part by Konrád of Vechta, who rallied the miners, many of whom remained loyal to Wenceslas IV. Fights in the nearby area emerged as well — the Suchdol fortress was attacked, in which skirmish the Prague commander Markvart von Aulitz perished due to an arrow shot at him during the siege, on December 27th 1402.

The Kutná Hora siege lasted less than two months. Besides the attacks, the city was subject to plundering by Sigismund's forces, who stole the valuables and the silver from the Italian Court. Following the surrender in January of 1403, according to some sources, the officials of Kutná Hora were brought near Kolín and were made to kneel in the mud while begging for forgiveness.

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EVENTS — 225/262 — The burning of Skalitz

Silver Skalitz is the town which Henry comes from, and which was burned down during the events of the first part of KCD. Regarding the war from 1402 to 1403, when Sigismund invaded Czech territory in an attempt to seize power, little is known or the information is quite uncertain. One of its known victims, however, was Silver Skalitz, which was burned on 23 March 1403. We know the exact date because Sigismund signed a certain document in the siege camp, thanks to which we know he was there that day. Skalitz was undoubtedly chosen by Sigismund because silver was mined there and administered by a supporter of the king, Sir Radzig Kobyla. Sigismund likely wanted to stop the flow of money to the king’s side. Legend has it that Kobyla and his people, who had taken refuge in the castle before the village was attacked, managed to escape because a great storm had begun and the besiegers postponed their attack until morning. The defenders took advantage of this and fled under cover of darkness to nearby Rattay. In the morning, Sigismund’s men found only a goat in the empty castle (as depicted in the game). Sigismund then razed the town and castle to the ground and the castle was never rebuilt afterwards. Today, only foundations remain visible.

TRIVIA

— Theories on how exactly the sack of Skalice took place differ greatly. With Sigismund's Hungarian army already having besieged Kutná Hora as well as the castles of Bezděz and Blankso in 1402 and 1403, some sources claim that burgrave Racek Kobyla must have known of the nearing attack beforehand, thus bringing all his people to safety and leaving behind only an old woman and a pig (not a goat). Others believe that while Racek and some people of Skalice managed to flee, not all made it out alive, as the castle's garrison stayed behind to fend off the attackers but were eventually defeated and slaughtered. Some even speak of a wife of the burgrave trying to escape through a secret passageway with her maids, when getting caught and murdered, before the whole castle was eventually burned down. More likely than an overnight escape or a fierce but short fight, however, is a siege, according to archaeological finds. From 1890s onwards, during excavations around the Church of St. John of Nepomuk – a church erected in 1730 on the spot and out of the remaining masonry from the ruins of the former castle –, granite trebuchet stones could be discovered (15 so far) with the heaviest weighing 110 kilograms, said to be around 600 years old. Due to their likely history they earned the nickname “Sigismund's balls”, yet they frequently get mistaken to be “Zizka's balls” – a mistake that is believed to be responsible for the silent disappearance of a few of these stones, as they were taken by local residents in “national pride”. Some of them were since rediscovered in the private houses of Stříbrná Skalice, as ornaments in walls, gardens or kitchens.

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EVENTS — 224/262 — The battle of Nicopolis

The Battle of Nicopolis took place on 25 September 1396 between the Hungarian king, Sigismund of Luxembourg and the Ottoman Turks, led by Sultan Bayezid. Sigismund’s army was made up of soldiers from France, Burgundy, Germany, England, Italy, Bohemia, Poland and other countries. In total, it numbered between 10 and 15 thousand men. The Ottomans, to whom the Balkans belonged at the end of the 14th century, numbered nearly 20 thousand. The experienced Turkish warriors completely crushed the Christian knights, mainly due to undisciplined French knights who disobeyed orders, they attacked the Turkish vanguard thinking it was the main army, and were subsequently crushed. Those who did not die on the battlefield were brutally executed - reportedly up to 3,000 men. The richest were captured and saved only by ransoms, which they repaid over decades. When news of the defeat reached Paris, no one believed it, and those who initially spread it were sentenced to death by drowning for “spreading lies.” The Ottoman victory was a triumph of Islam over Christianity. Turkish troops posed a real threat to European countries, especially to Hungary.

TRIVIA

— With the tremendous impact the lost Battle of Nicopolis had on the Christian world, it made a perfect blank canvas for narratives of all sorts. Ottoman sources are lacking, the earliest surviving historical records ignore the battle completely, later texts mark Sultan Bayezid I's win as that of a "Holy War" against the infidels. Chroniclers such as the scholar Ibn al-Jazarī, who had been present himself at the battle, thus exaggerate the enemy armies by a lot when mentioning 200,000 crusaders, with “every hero and champion of all the Christian kingdoms, each of whom thought he could repel a thousand men”, approaching on 2,000 ships (the fleet that the Venetians provided measured 44), and yet Bayezid defeated them “in no time”. Similarly, Johann Schiltberger, a 16 year old servant of a Bavarian nobleman who would write his autobiography after spending the following 30 years in Ottoman captivity, mentions 200,000 men in the sultan's army and 10,000 people (valid estimations range from 300 to 3,000) that Bayezid had massacred in his rage and strive for revenge after battle in an execution that lasted from early morning to late afternoon. Schiltberger also notes on the headless escape of Sigismund's allies onto boats that were so full that soldiers pushed each other off to drown, and the biography of French Marshall Jean II. Le Maingre “Boucicaut” turns the events into a story of brave knights being betrayed by their Hungarian allies. Most French contemporaries, like the former soldier, then diplomat and writer Philippe de Mézières, blamed the French's own lack in chivalric virtues for the defeat, busying themselves more with expensive garments, feasts and drinking, dice game and prostitutes than with actual war efforts, and so does the Parisian chronicle of Michel Pintoin, that speaks of clergymen trying to urge the French knights to show some discipline, though “they might as well have talked to a deaf ass”.

The battle quickly made its way into French narratives as a whole, spawning a whole new subgenre of knightly tales in which the evil “Saracen” was now replaced with "the Turk” as a synonym for everything Muslim or Arabic. Survivors of the battle and the following imprisonment became the heroes of adventurous stories such as the “Cent nouvelles nouvelles”, a Burgundian version of the Decameron. But the events also fostered a new interest in Muslim studies – even more so since the ransom payments for captive knights and noblemen led to first diplomatic contacts with the Ottomans. Philip the Good, who became Duke of Burgundy in 1419, is said to have shaped the Burgundian court into a seminar for Turkish studies, and the young son of John the Fearless, the prior Duke of Burguny who had been captured for ransom during the battle, is said to have dressed up “as a little Turk” when being taught about the world of the Orient. More on Nicopolis here.

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EVENTS — 223/262 — Abduction of Margrave Prokop

At the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries Moravia was plagued by wars between the brothers Prokop and Jobst of Luxembourg. At issue was the legacy and power of a dynasty that had aspired to the Polish and Hungarian Crowns. After the death of Charles IV, both brothers supported the policies of Hungarian King Sigismund, but when he imprisoned King Wenceslas IV in 1394, Prokop sided with the Bohemian King. In return he was granted the right to occupy episcopal castles which led to his excommunication by the Pope and his subsequent capture by Sigismund. In 1402, Sigismund again imprisoned Wenceslas IV and tricked Prokop into captivity in Pressburg (Bratislava). That same year, Jobst switched sides from Sigismund to support Albrecht of Austria in Hungary, where an anti-royalist uprising had just begun, aiming for the release of his brother and the Czech king. Prokop gained his freedom through a peace agreement brokered between Sigismund and Jobst, after more than two years of imprisonment. The fraternal conflict between Jobst and Prokop led to anarchy in Moravia, which was exploited by a whole host of robber-barons, who set about attacking castles and villages. After Prokop’s death, Jobst became the sole ruler of Moravia, and gradually dealt with his cousins. In 1411 Jobst died childless, just as Prokop had done, and the title of Margrave of Moravia reverted to Wenceslas IV.

TRIVIA

— The Moravian Margrave Wars (1381–1405) were a series of dynastic and political conflicts within the House of Luxembourg over control of the Margraviate of Moravia. The main conflict was between the brothers Jobst and Prokop of Luxembourg, who, after the death of their father John Henry, were originally meant to rule Moravia together. However, this arrangement of course very quickly became unstable, and rivalry over power, income, and territory soon led to growing tensions between the brothers.

The conflict expanded beyond a family dispute as other members of the Luxembourg dynasty became involved, especially king Wenceslas IV, and Sigismund of Luxembourg. Their involvement, along with changing alliances among Moravian and Bohemian nobles, turned the dispute into a wider regional conflict in Central Europe. Many of the nobles supported different sides, often based on their own local interests and opportunities to increase their power. Initially, Wenceslas IV sided with Prokop, and Jobst sided with Sigismund. In the end, Jobst and Sigismund were on the same side, along with Wenceslas who had grown tired of Prokop.

The wars were marked by repeated fighting and infighting, sieges of castles and towns, and widespread raiding by robber barons. Attempts at negotiating peace repeatedly failed because alliances kept changing and claims to power were constantly thrown around.

The final phase of the conflict took place in the early 1400s, when Sigismund’s growing influence helped shift the balance of power. The wars effectively ended by 1405, with Jobst becoming the main ruler in Moravia. Prokop’s position was greatly weakened, and he died soon after being released from imprisonment in Pressburg (Bratislava), courtesy of Sigismund. Only after Jobst’s death in 1411 was Moravia more directly brought under the control of the Bohemian crown.

The Moravian Margrave Wars weakened Luxembourg authority in the region and greatly increased political instability in Bohemia and Moravia. These conflicts are often seen as part of the wider unrest in Central Europe in the late 14th century (the crisis of the Late Middle Ages) and as one of the main incidents that contributed to the outbreak of the Hussite Wars.

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EVENTS — 222/262 — Crisis of the Late Middle Ages

In the late middle ages, the world was shaken to its foundations, old certainties were crumbling as new dangers and risks emerged. This crisis was particularly evident in demographic, political and religious (cultural and ideological) spheres. From the mid 14th century, Europe was ravaged by plague epidemics, but the Czech lands were mostly spared. Even before the outbreak of plague, agriculture was experiencing a crisis, as its production was no longer sufficient to feed the growing continental population. The west was ravaged by the Hundred Years’ War between England and France, while in Eastern Europe the Teutonic Order and the Polish state were engaged in a long term conflict in the Baltic region. The Russian state was subjugated by the Mongol rulers of the Golden Horde and further south, the Ottoman Empire, which would later become a traditional enemy of Europe in the early modern period, was growing ever stronger. In addition to these major conflicts, there were numerous peasant uprisings, especially in the west. Universal unity, an important pillar of the medieval world order, was shaken by papal schisms, the long-term inability to resolve this situation, conflicts within the Church itself, and the weakening of the emperor’s position. During the Middle Ages, imperial power, the secular counterpart of universal unity, was limited to rulers over Central Europe, especially the German lands, albeit with varying degrees of real power.

TRIVIA

— The crisis of the late Middle Ages was intensified by a series of environmental and economic disruptions linked to climate change. The end of the Medieval Warm Period and the onset of the Little Ice Age brought colder and wetter conditions, particularly from the early 14th century. Beginning in 1314 led to repeated harvest failures and culminated in the Great Famine of 1315–1317, which affected much of north-western Europe and may have reduced the population by more than 10%.

Food supply was further reduced by disease among livestock. The Great Bovine Pestilence (1315 to 1320) caused heavy losses in cattle populations (up to 60% in parts of England and Wales). Additional outbreaks of disease in both animals and humans occurred in the following years, worsening the effects of famine. All of these conditions made perfect grounds for the impending Black Death, a plague epidemic that would ravage 50% of the European population from 1346 to 1353. This period includes the English Wars of the Roses, the French Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War, the Hundred Years' War, the Byzantine–Ottoman wars, the Bulgarian–Ottoman wars, and the Hussite Wars. The Catholic Church underwent the Western Schism, and the Holy Roman Empire lost much of its central authority following the Great Interregnum (1247—1273). Along with these, this period included many of the major peasant revolts across Europe.

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EVENTS — 221/262 — Abductions of Wenceslas IV

Wenceslas IV was not a very capable ruler. During his reign, he was kidnapped several times in an attempt to remove him from power. The first time he was captured in Königshof near Beroun in 1394 and taken to Wildberg Castle (Upper Austria). The abductions was carried out by the opposition nobles, the so-called League of Lords. In 1402, Wenceslas’ brother, King Sigismund of Hungary, who aspired to the Bohemian throne with the support of the high nobility, imprisoned his brother a second time. Wenceslas was taken to Vienna, from where he managed to escape in November 1403 with the help of allied lords. In the meantime, however, Sigismund managed to impose higher taxes on both towns and monasteries. The towns that refused to submit to him were conquered and plundered. The conflict escalated into a long civil war, which did not subside even after Wenceslas’ death.

TRIVIA

— Wenceslas hesitated to act amid renewed unrest in Bohemia, and on 20th of August 1400 the electors meeting at Lahneck Castle declared him deposed as King of the Romans, citing his "futility, idleness, negligence and ignobility". Invoking the Golden Bull of 1356, they claimed the right not only to elect but also to depose a ruler, and the following day chose Rupert of the Palatinate as his successor. Wenceslas refused to recognise him but took no action. He, however declared:

"I will avenge this or be dead for it. Rupert shall sink as low as he was placed high on the throne. I will stab him to death, or he must stab me to death".

On 29th of June, 1402, Wenceslas was captured by Sigismund, who at first intended to escort him to Rome to have him crowned Holy Roman Emperor, but Rupert III heard of this plan and tried to prevent the passage to Italy; thus Sigismund had Wenceslas imprisoned, at first in Schaumberg and from 16th of August in Vienna, in the charge of William, Duke of Austria. On 20th of November, Wenceslas was forced to sign his renunciation of all his powers to Sigismund and the Dukes of Austria. In exchange, the conditions of his imprisonment were relaxed. As a coronation of Wenceslas was no longer a possibility, he was no longer under strict guard, and he managed to escape on 11th of November. He crossed the Danube and was escorted by John II of Liechtenstein back to Bohemia, meeting his supporters in Kutná Hora before moving on Prague, which he entered on Christmas.

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