Čeněk of Vartenberk
Čeněk of Vartenberk was a member of the noble Markvart family and played a major role in the Hussite wars in the early 15th century. He was arguably the most powerful and highest ranked member of Markvart family until the advent of Albrecht of Valdštejn in the 17th century. Like Valdštejn, Vartenberk was an enigma, whose true motivations for the actions he took remain clouded in mystery.
At the start of the 15th century, Čeněk of Vartenberk held significant territory in the Jičín region, including the castle of Veliš, and potentially other castles in the northern section of Český ráj. He was chief Chamberlain in the court of Vaclav IV, and was appointed governor of the Bohemian territory in 1414. He was, in effect, the second most powerful man in the kingdom, after the king. That position was reconfirmed when Vaclav IV died in 1419 and Vartenberk was appointed regent of Bohemia together with Vaclav’s widow Sophia of Bavaria.
Vartenberk clearly had Hussite sympathies, and may have hosted Jan Hus in territories he controlled in 1413. After Jan Hus was executed in 1415, Čeněk of Vartenberk was one of the signatories of the strong letter of complaint issued by many Bohemian nobles to the Holy Roman Emperor.
In 1419, Vartenberk, together with other Czech leaders, attempted to negotiate terms with Charles IV’s second son, the Catholic Sigismund, who claimed the Bohemian throne. The Hussite demands were unacceptable to Sigismund, who in 1420 launched a crusade (the first of five Papal authorised crusades against the Hussite controlled territories). The Catholic crusaders arrived at the gates of Prague castle, and in May 1420, Čeněk of Vartenberg opened the gates to the claimant to the throne. This was the first of several perceived switches of allegiance by this enigmatic character.
The Prague Hussites refused to accept defeat and appealed to the radical Hussite forces in the south of Bohemia for aid. A Hussite army arrived in Prague and under the leadership of the illustrious general, Jan Žižka, and defeated the forces of Sigismund at the famous battle of Vítkov hill. Sigismund retreated, but not before having himself coronated in St Vitus cathedral inside the walls of Prague castle. The Hussites besieged and finally took the castle some months later. Čeněk of Vartemberg’s role in the defence of Prague castle is unclear, but in mid 1421 he is reported to have knelt before the effective leader of the Hussites in Prague, the radical preacher Jan Želivský, and asked for forgiveness.
Vartenberk may have been viewed by the leaders in Prague as a bridge between the moderate Hussite elements in the realm and the remaining Catholic nobility. Whatever his ultimate loyalties might have been, Čeněk of Vartenberg was almost immediately invited back into the Hussite interim government. By August 1421 he was involved in repulsing the Imperial forces when they invaded northwest Bohemia.
However, within a few months, Vartenberk was back in the Catholic camp, pledging allegiance to Sigismund, who had brought another Imperial army into the south of Bohemia. Sigismund took the strategic town of Kutna Hora, but was again defeated by the radical Hussite forces led by Jan Žižka in early 1422. By then, however, Jan Želivský was losing control of the moderate Hussites in Prague, and in February 1422, Želivský was arrested and a month later beheaded. The moderate Hussites had regained control of Prague.
Attempts were made over the following year to find a solution to the succession to the throne, but no solution was satisfactory to all parties, and the radical Hussites found themselves increasingly isolated, although still with the advantage of Žižka’s powerful army. Open warfare broke out between the Bohemian radicals and the moderate Hussites, the latter supported by the Catholic faction. The moderates turned once again to Čeněk of Vartenberk to lead them in battle against the forces of his nemesis, Žižka. Once again, at the battle of Hořic in April 1423, not far from Vartenberg’s seat in Jičín, Žižka prevailed. His famous use of battle wagons to defend a hilltop position once again routed the mostly catholic cavalry.
The defeated Vartenberk returned to Prague and reaffirmed his commitment to the alliance of the Hussite moderates and the Catholic faction. Meanwhile Žižka continued his campaigns in the countryside, including attacks on Vartemberk territory in north Bohemia. The castle of Valdštejn and other Markvart family holdings in the region were captured or destroyed. The Dominican convent in Turnov, founded by Vartenberk’s ancestor 150 years previously, was raised to the ground in April 1424. The war was becoming personal.
The catholic and moderate Hussite alliance collapsed in the face of the continued success of Žižka on the battlefield. Nothing on earth could apparently stop this gifted (and now completely blind) general. The moderate and radical Hussites reunited under Žižka’s leadership, and just as he was about to launch a campaign in Moravia he was struck down by the deadly plague. Žižka, undefeated in battle and perhaps the most famous of all Bohemian generals, was finally beaten. He died on the Moravian border on 11 October 1424.
If Vartenberk celebrated the fall of his rival, it would have been a short-lived celebration. Less than a year after the fall of Žižka , Vartenberk himself fell ill with the same fatal disease. On 17 September 1425, Čeněk of Vartenberk died of plague in the castle of Veliš. Rivals on the battlefield, Vartenberk and Žižka were finally united in death.
