Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/232

 can not win success. Then, too, the troops were disheartened by the unsuccessful attacks upon the city. When, therefore, the news came that the Prague army was coming under the command of Žižka, who had never yet lost a battle, the crusaders were seized with a panic, and, setting fire to their camps, fled in wild disorder. The besieged, seeing this, sallied out, pursued the flying enemy, killing large numbers, and bringing many prisoners into the city.

The German princes attributed this defeat to Sigmund’s failure to co-operate with them, as had been agreed; but the common soldiers themselves mocked the cowardice of their leaders, saying that they were possessed of so great a hatred for the faithless Bohemians that they not only refused to meet them, but would not even look into their faces.

It would almost seem incredible that so vast an army should be defeated by so small a force; and that not in one instance, but in many. But the reason for this is not strange. The Bohemians were upon their own territory, fighting for their homes, their country, and their religion, It often happened that their wives and children were in the camp with them, so that defeat meant death to those they held most dear, and, generally, suffering and insults worse than death.

The crusaders, on the other hand, had no such interests at stake. Their wives and children were safe at home. Many of them were fighting for a principle that they only half believed, and many more merely for the plunder they hoped to gain. Defeat, therefore, did not mean much to them—a little disgrace that could easily be attributed to the lack of ability of their commanders.