Troubles in Paradise: The Role of Violence in the Formation of Hussite Tabor

In Bohemia and across Central Europe, the turn of the fifteenth century was characterized by an increased demand for additional outlets for religious devotion, such as public adoration of relics, pilgrimages and new cults of images. This demand peaked between 1390 and 1410. Although early Hussite preachers rejected these forms of piety in their sermons, they did not hesitate to exploit them for their own ends in their practice. Tabor, the most radically counter-traditional community in Hussite Bohemia, thus grew out of traditional modes of religious expression: pilgrimages and celebrations of Eucharist. Tabor’s founders attempted to set up an apostolic community described in the Book of Acts, a community whose members would share their possessions and live out a collective attempt at Christian perfection. In winter of 1419-1420, the assemblies at Tabor became energized by a vision of the imminent second coming of Christ. It was at this time that the gatherings turned progressively more sinister, as Taborite priests incited the crowds to violence against actual opponents and against symbols that represented them.

The community at Tabor defined itself in terms of rejection, a rejection that manifested in violence against churches and monasteries, against persons deemed “enemies of God” and, in the end, against inconvenient members of the Taborite community.  But because Tabor’s identity was built so entirely on this rejection, it proved difficult to hold together as a community. In 1434, Tabor was militarily defeated by the conservative forces including Hussite and Catholic

nobility and in 1452 the commune finally surrendered to king George of Podiebrad. This paper offers insight into the foundation of the Taborite community and deepens our understanding of the role of violence in the formation and popular appeal of the commune.