400 years ago
On November 8, 1620, the battle between the armies of the Catholic League, led by the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand II, and the forces of the Confederation of Bohemian Protestants, headed by Frederick V of the Palatinate, was fought in the western outskirts of Prague, on a hill called Bílá Hora (White Mountain). The clash was resolved within a few hours and resulted in the total defeat of the Protestants. It played a central role on the Bohemian side of the Thirty Years’ War, which began just two years earlier with the episode of the third defenestration of Prague. The importance of the Battle of the White Mountain was also fundamental for the history of the Czech people, as it marked the return of the Bohemians and Moravians under Habsburg rule and the start of a phase of despotic Catholic restoration. The event was commemorated this year in the area where the battle took place, where representatives of the Ecumenical Council of Churches and the Czech Episcopal Conference erected a symbolic Cross of Reconciliation.
