30 May 1434, from about 3 in the afternoon
Two wagon forts
The field armies’ wagon fort stands at the foot of the north slope of Lipská hora, the only high ground near the field, with the long slope behind it. By most accounts its right flank rests on a small pond, the Jordán. The league’s wagons stand in 11 or 12 rows on the open plain, out of range of the field armies’ guns. Out of sight below the slope towards the Bylanka brook, the league keeps a body of horsemen, lords who had once fought beside Tábor. Few of its own commanders know they are there.
The battlefield of Lipany seen from the memorial on Lipská hora, looking north-westWikimedia Commons, Miaow Miaow, Public domain (P101lipanyksz.JPG)
Between 3 and 4 in the afternoon, by two accounts, the field armies open fire. The shots fall short, but the league’s foot grow restless under the fire and call for an attack. The lords dismount and have their spurs taken off, to show the foot that they will stand and die with them.
Handgunners of the field armies cover their wagons, a detail of Luděk Marold’s panorama of the battle, 1898Wikimedia Commons, Luděk Marold, Public domain (Skupina bratrské pěchoty.jpg)
Sources
- Petr Čornej, Lipanská křižovatka (1992).
- Bartošek of Drahonice, Chronicle, and the letter of the Plzeň men of 1 June 1434, in František Šmahel, Die Hussitische Revolution (2002), vol. 3.
- Stephen Turnbull, The Hussite Wars 1419–36 (2004).
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