What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on 10 May 2022.

Tachovské náměstí / Tachov Square, which has had this name since 1958. It’s home to the southern entrance to Žižkov Tunnel.

Between 1875 and 1958, it was Žižkovo náměstí / Žižkov Square. There’s now another square called that instead, 800 metres away.

The Battle of Tachov took place in 1427 (four years before the Battle of Domažlice, covered on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2022/11/19/prague-3-day-14-domazlicka/). It’s sometimes known as the Battle of Mies, as it took place near both towns (Mies is now known as Stříbro).

Part of the Hussite Wars (specifically the Fourth Crusade), it was fought between the Hussites and armies led by Cardinal Henry Beaufort of England and the Archbishop of Trier.

Putting it briefly: the Hussite movement aimed to reform the Catholic Church and was based on the ideas of the theologian Jan Hus. This guaranteed them a range of internal and external enemies.

The crusaders placed their camp north of Tachov; however, fear and demoralisation caused many of them to flee. When the Hussites invaded on 4 August, it was a pretty easy victory. Casualties were in the hundreds, mainly on the Crusaders’ side.

The Hussites gained an aura of invincibility, and there were no further Crusades until 1431 (again, see Domažlice).

Full disclosure: this is *really* not my area of expertise (I said in May 2022… it became something more of an area of expertise as this series went on). But, with more Hussite-related street names to come, I’m quite looking forward to putting pieces of this story together in my head.