By Mike Markowitz with Charles Morgan for CoinWeek …..
On February 11, 2025, Czech videogame developer Warhorse Studios will launch the a lot anticipated sequel to their 2018 motion roleplaying sport Kingdom Come: Deliverance. The sport, set in Fifteenth-century Bohemia, follows the occasions of the battle between King Wenceslaus IV and Sigismund, then King of Hungary. For the sequel, Warhorse Studios will proceed the story of the primary sport and supply gamers an excellent richer and extra practical expertise, together with an expanded map that brings the medieval metropolis of Kutná Hora to life in addition to a big playable space within the Bohemian countryside.
This realism is entrance and heart in each video games, with native customs, clothes, and structure well-researched and faithfully introduced. Even the sport’s financial system is predicated on the coinage of the interval – and players may be shocked to know that many of those cash are reasonably priced and collectible. On this article, CoinWeek Ancients author Mike Markowitz supplies an necessary overview of these cash and the historic occasions surrounding their challenge. This deep lore undoubtedly will elevate one’s understanding of the sport upon its launch.
Bohemia and Kutná Hora By way of the Fifteenth Century
Ringed by mountains and threaded by rivers, Bohemia lies within the coronary heart of Central Europe. Starting within the sixth century, Slavic ancestors of the fashionable Czechs migrated into this fertile land. By the tenth century, the inhabitants was largely Christianized, and a strong kingdom–the “Lands of the Bohemian Crown”–emerged within the thirteenth century. The Bohemian crown was elective (by the nobles), and the king of Bohemia was usually additionally ruler of neighboring German, Polish, Hungarian, or Austrian lands.
A wealthy silver mine at Kutná Hora (Kuttenberg in German; 54 km/32 miles east of Prague) offered bullion for a profitable coinage, the Prager Groschen that circulated broadly in Central Europe. Launched within the reign of Wenceslaus II (c. 1300-1305), the coin initially weighed 3.5 to three.7 grams with silver content material over 93%. Unskilled laborers sometimes earned one groschen per day; expert craftsmen may earn two. By the top of the century, the coin was right down to 2.7 to 2.9 grams and was solely about 61% silver (Frynas, 21). Minor coinage was offered by small crudely struck single-sided heller, so-called “black cash”, with lower than 25% silver. Fourteen hellers exchanged for one groschen.
In 1415, Czech scholar and priest Jan Hus was burned on the stake for heresy on the Council of Konstanz[1] in southern Germany. Influenced by English church reformer John Wyclif (c. 1327-1384), Hus had denounced the wealth and corruption of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, advocated translation of the Scriptures into the language of the widespread individuals, and insisted that Communion be provided to the devoted in each bread and wine (in Catholic doctrine, solely clergymen obtain the wine that turns into the Blood of Christ within the Mass).
On July 30, 1419, a Hussite priest led an indignant mob to storm the City Corridor within the Bohemian capital, demanding the discharge of some prisoners. A choose, the mayor, and a few city councilors have been thrown to their deaths from a excessive window. This “First Defenestration of Prague” is taken into account the outbreak of the Hussite Wars, which wracked Bohemia and surrounding lands for many years.
Wenceslaus IV
Wenceslaus IV[2] turned King of Bohemia on the dying of his father, German Emperor Karl IV[3], one of the crucial highly effective European monarchs of his time. Wenceslaus (Wenzel in German, Václav in Czech) reigned from 1387 to his dying in 1419. He was additionally Duke of Luxembourg and titular “King of Germany” from 1376 to 1400 (failing to acquire election as Holy Roman Emperor). A weak ruler, he was usually in battle with Bohemian nobles and his youthful half-brother Sigismund, King of Hungary. Wenceslaus supported the spiritual reforms of Hus and his followers, however after he died in 1419, occasions rapidly spiraled uncontrolled.
Wenceslaus issued uncommon undated gold florins (gulden in German) from the mint of Prague, and a uncommon gold gulden[4] from Auerbach in Franconia (at this time a part of the German state of Sachsen), which he managed. On the obverse, St. Wenceslaus holds a banner and a protect emblazoned with the imperial eagle. The Latin inscription (“Wenceslaus, by the Grace of God”) continues on the reverse (“King of Bohemia and the Romans”) which bears the heraldic lion of Bohemia. Used primarily for international commerce in luxurious items, gold coinage didn’t flow into a lot in Bohemia.
Wenceslaus issued silver groschen from the mint of Kutná Hora. The obverse bears a stylized crown surrounded by the royal title and title in two concentric traces. On the reverse the coin identifies itself: GROSSI PRAGENSES (groschen of Prague) inscribed across the Bohemian lion[5]. The identical mint issued a debased heller weighing only a fraction of a gram that bears the king’s dealing with topped head on the obverse[6].
Sigismund
Wenceslaus died with out an inheritor on August 16, 1419. Sigismund claimed the Bohemian crown, however Bohemian nobles, angered by the execution of Hus, refused to simply accept him and revolted. Sigismund’s complicity within the dying of the priest is debated by historians. He had granted Hus protected conduct and protested in opposition to his imprisonment, however Church authorities insisted that guarantees to heretics have been invalid.
As King of Hungary, Sigismund issued gold cash[7] from a number of mints to finance his battle in opposition to the Hussites, notably Kremnitz (Körmöcbánya in Hungarian; at this time Kremnica, Slovakia). His cash bear the Bohemian lion quartered with the arms of Hungary, asserting his declare. Data of heraldry (the research of coats of arms) is beneficial in medieval numismatics!
From the mint of Breslau[8] in Silesia, Sigismund issued a tiny (0.26 gram) nameless silver heller, bearing the top of John the Baptist (the town’s patron saint) on the obverse, and the usual Bohemian lion on the reverse[9].
With the encouragement of Pope Martin V (Oddone Colonna, Pope from 1417 to 1431), Sigismund led a sequence of failed “Crusades” in opposition to the Hussites. In 1420, Sigismund invaded Bohemia and captured Prague, the place he was topped. Led by the sensible navy commander Jan Žižka, the invasion was defeated by a largely peasant military impressed by spiritual zeal, utilizing progressive techniques based mostly on a cellular fortress of circled wagons filled with crossbowmen and gunners. Successive invasions in 1421, 1422, 1426, 1427, and 1431 met with comparable repulses, and Hussite armies launched profitable raids into enemy territory. Following the dying of Žižka in 1424, management handed to Prokop the Bald (c. 1380-1434). In accordance with legend, Žižka’s dying want was that his pores and skin be made into drums, so he may proceed to steer his troops.
In 1420, Hussites established a neighborhood at Tábor[10], 70 km (43 miles) south of Prague, named for the Biblical Mount Tabor, the location of the Transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew, 17:1-3). The novel wing of the Hussites was referred to as “Taborites”. The extra conservative faction, who sought compromise with the Catholic Church, have been referred to as “Utraquists” (from the Latin phrase utraque (“each collectively”), a reference to their insistence on Communion in each bread and wine).
The Hussites
The Hussites managed Prague, whereas management over the silver mines of Kutna Hora often modified arms. The Hussites initially minted Prague groschen, pfennigs, and hellers from confiscated Church silver. These… used the identical designs as cash of Wenceslaus IV and it isn’t potential at this time to differentiate them from cash minted earlier than 1420. When the silver ran out, the Hussites minted copper groschen and copper pfennigs (Czech flutek, plural flutky)… (Frynas, 22)
Engaged in a battle of survival, the Hussites had restricted sources for minting cash, particularly after the sack of Kutná Hora by imperial troops in 1422. Many of the Hussite coinage consists of the crude single-sided heller[11] in debased silver and the tiny (0.3 g) copper flutek[12]. These often seem in central European numismatic auctions and are cheap at this time.
Albert
The Austrian duke Albert married Elisabeth, daughter of King Sigismund, in 1421 and supported his campaigns in opposition to the Hussites. When Sigismund died with out an inheritor in 1437, Albert claimed the Hungarian and Bohemian crowns.
In 1439, Albert died of plague on marketing campaign in opposition to the Turks, and 4 months later his spouse bore a son, “Ladislaus the Posthumous”(Ladislav Pohrobek in Czech), who turned a VIP hostage of his relative Frederick III of Habsburg, who dominated in his title.
Launched in 1452, younger Ladislaus was topped as king of Hungary and Bohemia in 1453, with a Bohemian noble, George of Podiebrad, the son of a Hussite chief, serving as regent.
George of Podiebrad
When Ladislaus died out of the blue from leukemia on November 23, 1457, George of Podiebrad[13] (Czech: Jirí z Podebrad) turned Bohemian king. He dominated till he died in 1471. As a boy of 14, he fought on the facet of the average Utraquists[14] once they defeated the novel Taborites on the Battle of Lipany (June 16, 1434). George resumed the difficulty of silver groschen at Kutná Hora[15], in addition to nameless single-sided hellers bearing a picture of the Bohemian Crown[16].
A succesful and average ruler, George maintained the independence of Bohemia in the course of the advanced dynastic struggles of the Fifteenth century. Nearly all of the Czech individuals accepted average Hussite beliefs, and this continued till the Habsburg empire crushed a Bohemian revolt on the Battle of White Mountain[17] (November 8, 1620) and enforced Roman Catholic orthodoxy.
Jan Hus
A Czech nationwide hero, Jan Hus has been commemorated on quite a few cash and medallions. In 1615, two centuries after his dying, a silver medal was struck. Copied and recopied in varied alloys for additional centuries, it bears the top of the martyred cleric on the obverse and a dramatic picture of him tied to the stake on the reverse[18]
In 1965, on the 550th anniversary of his dying, the Czech Republic issued a silver 10 koruna Proof coin[19] together with his youthful portrait on the obverse and the Bohemian lion on the reverse. In 1999, Pope John Paul II expressed “deep remorse for the merciless dying” inflicted on Hus, and praised his “ethical braveness.” July 6, the anniversary of Hus’s martyrdom, is a public vacation within the Czech Republic.
Accumulating the Hussites
The usual historical past of the Hussite Wars in English is Lützow (1914). Francis Lützow (1849-1916), an Austrian diplomat and historian, was a “tireless champion of Bohemian independence.” Numismatic literature on the Hussite period is principally written in Czech and German; the usual reference in English is Frynas (2015).
Cash of this era primarily seem in Central European auctions. The agency of Macho & Chlapovič[20], situated in Bratislava, Slovakia, has significantly robust experience in Bohemian numismatics.
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Notes
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Constance
[2] Not the “Good King Wenceslaus” of the English Christmas carol, who was the martyred Duke of Bohemia from 921 to 935, later commemorated as a saint.
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV,_Holy_Roman_Emperor
[4] Sincona Public sale 33, October 25, 2016, Lot 2037. Realized CHF 22,000 (about $22,082 USD; estimate CHF 15,000).
[5] Tauler & Fau Public sale 105, March 1, 2022, Lot 4331. Realized €260 (about $290 USD; estimate €80).
[6] Macho & Chlapovič, Public sale 33, April 28, 2024, Lot 714. Realized €80 (about $86 USD; estimate €40).
[7] Macho & Chlapovič, Public sale 3, October 20, 2012, Lot 6. Realized €800 (about $1,042USD; estimate €500).
[8] Then a part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, at this time Wrocław, Poland. Borders change so much in jap Europe!
[9] Katz Cash, E-auction 126, Could 18, 2024, Lot 102. Realized €50 (about $54 USD; estimate €5).
[10] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A1bor
[11] Solidus Numismatic Public sale 123, July 25, 2023, Lot 227. Realized €21 (about $23 USD; estimate €15).
[12] Antium Aurum Public sale XVII, October 10, 2022, Lot 1011. Realized €8 (about $8 USD; estimate €5).
[13] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_of_Pod%C4%9Bbrady
[14] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utraquism
[15] Macho & Chlapovič, Public sale 18, Could 3, 2019, Lot 2127. Realized €100 (about $112 USD; estimate €15).
[16] Macho & Chlapovič, Public sale 30, April 21, 2023, Lot 1283. Realized €30 (about $33 USD; estimate €30).
[17] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_White_Mountain
[18] Stack’s New York Public sale, January 13, 2023, Lot 40609. Realized $60 USD, (estimate $100-$200).
[19] Katz Cash, E-Public sale 133, July 24, 2024, Lot 747. Realized €115 (about $125 USD; estimate €5).
[20] https://machochlapovic.com/en/about-us
References
Frassetto, Michael. Heretic Lives: Medieval Heresy from Bogomil and the Cathars to Wyclif and Hus. London (2007)
Frynas, George. Medieval Cash of Bohemia, Hungary and Poland. London (2015)
Klassen, John. “Hus, the Hussites and Bohemia”, The New Cambridge Medieval Historical past: Quantity 7. Cambridge (2008)
Lützow, Francis. The Hussite Wars. London (1914)
Grierson, Philip. Cash of Medieval Europe. London (1991)
Riley-Smith, Jonathan. Atlas of the Crusades. New York (1991)
Spufford, Peter. Cash and Its Use in Medieval Europe. Cambridge (1988)
Walker, Ralph S. Studying Medieval European Cash. Fairfield, CT (2009)
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