Huss was burned at the stake, in the year 1415, after he had been condemned by the Great Council of Constance, before which he had been summoned to renounce his heresies. The righteous indignation of his loyal followers was voiced in a solemn protest to those in power: "We hold it to be a perpetual infamy and disgrace to our most Christian Kingdom of Bohemia and the most renowned Margravate of Moravia, as well as of us all."[1] A great army of "God's Warriors" was raised, which, under the leadership of John Žižka the One-Eyed, harassed the military forces of so-called Christian Europe for sixteen years, never losing a battle. The great battle hymn of the Czechs was a spiritual folk-song, beginning "Ye Warriors who for God are Fighting."[2] Whenever this was sung in a charge it sowed terror and confusion broadcast among their enemies. The chorale contains two motifs: The
- ↑ Dickinson: Excursions in Musical History. 1917.
- ↑ This chorale was used by Bedřich Smetana as the main theme in two symphonic poems, Tábor and Blaník.
