Prokop the Great

Prokop the Great (Czech: Prokop Veliký, Latin: Procopius Magnus) or Prokop the Bald or the Shaven (Czech: Prokop Holý, Latin: Procopius Rasus) (c. 1380 – 30 May 1434) was a Czech Hussite general during the Hussite Wars.

Initially, Prokop was a member of the Utraquists (the moderate wing of the Hussites) and was a married priest (having received the tonsure early in life) who belonged to an eminent family from Prague. He studied in Prague, and then traveled for several years in foreign countries. On his return to Bohemia, though a priest and continuing to officiate as such, he became the most prominent leader of the advanced Hussite or Taborite forces during the latter part of the Hussite wars. He was not the immediate successor of Jan Žižka as leader of the Taborites, as has been frequently stated, but he commanded the forces of Tabor when they obtained their great victories over the Germans and Catholics at Ústí nad Labem in 1426 and Domažlice in 1431. The crushing defeat that he inflicted on the crusaders of the Holy Roman Empire at Domažlice led to peace negotiations (1432) at Cheb between the Hussites and representatives of the Council of Basel.

He also acted as leader of the Taborites during their frequent incursions into Hungary and Germany, particularly when in 1429 a vast Bohemian army invaded Saxony and the territory of Nuremberg. The Hussites, however, made no attempt permanently to conquer German territory, and on 6 February 1430 Prokop concluded a treaty at Kulmbach with Frederick I, burgrave of Nuremberg, by which the Hussites engaged themselves to leave Germany. When the Bohemians entered into negotiations with Sigismund and the Council of Basel and, after prolonged discussions, resolved to send an embassy to the council, Prokop the Great was its most prominent member, reaching Basel on 4 January 1433. When the negotiations there for a time proved fruitless, Prokop with the other envoys returned to Bohemia, where new internal troubles broke out.

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