The Hussite Revolutionary Trilogy is a trilogy of films by Otakar Vávra. It consists of "Jan Hus," "Jan Žižka," and "Proti Všem." It was the most expensive Czechoslovak cinematic project in history at the time, with a total budget of 33 million Czechoslovak crowns. Vávra stated that he was inspired by the works of František Palacký, Alois Jirásek's works about Hussite Wars, and their interpretation as a class struggle by Communist Minister of Culture Zdeněk Nejedlý. The 1947 film "Warriors of Faith" is sometimes considered an ancestor of the trilogy. The 2022 film "Medieval" is set 10 years prior to the events chronicled in the trilogy and the director of the film called it a prequel to Hussite Revolutionary Trilogy.
The first part of the "Hussite Revolutionary Trilogy", completed with Jan Žižka (1955) and Proti všem (Against All Odds, 1957). The film captures the period from May 1412 to the summer of 1415, a turbulent time in the Czech Kingdom, during which there were protests in Prague against the sale of "omnipotent indulgences" whose sale throughout the kingdom was announced by Pope John XXIII. The ideological leader of this movement is the preacher Master Jan Hus, whose words, calling for the elimination of church abuses, are listened to in the Bethlehem Chapel by thousands of ordinary Praguers, Czech lords and Queen Sophie, wife of the Czech King Wenceslas IV.
The second part of the revolutionary Hussite trilogy takes place in the years 1419-1420.
After the battle of Sudoměř the Hussite teaching spreads through the whole country and people start leaving their homes to help build the fortification of Tábor. Prague citizens request help against the army of Zikmund. The Hussite army with Jan Žižka in the lead make their way towards Prague. They fortify themselves on the mountain Vítkov and engage in a bloody battle with Zikmund’s huge army.
