title: Siege of Pilsen
text: # Siege of Pilsen
  
  The siege of Pilsen (or Plzeň) or Battle of Pilsen was a siege of the fortified city of Pilsen (Czech: Plzeň) in Bohemia carried out by the forces of the Bohemian Protestants led by Ernst von Mansfeld. It was the first major battle of the Thirty Years' War. The Protestant victory and subsequent capture of the city enlarged the Bohemian Revolt.
  
  ## Eve of the battle
  
  vteThirty Years' War :
  
  Bohemian Revolt (1618–1620)
  
  Pilsen
  
  Lomnice
  
  Sablat
  
  Wisternitz
  
  Bautzen
  
  White Mountain
  
  Neu Titschein
  
  Palatinate campaign (1620–1623)
  
  Bad Kreuznach
  
  Oppenheim
  
  Bacharach
  
  Jülich
  
  Mingolsheim
  
  Wimpfen
  
  Höchst
  
  Bergen op Zoom
  
  Heidelberg
  
  Fleurus
  
  Mannheim
  
  Frankenthal
  
  Stadtlohn
  
  Transylvanian invasions of Hungary (1619–1621, 1623–1624, 1626)
  
  Humenné
  
  Érsekújvár
  
  Tyrnau [de]
  
  Hodonín
  
  Vlach uprisings
  
  Danish intervention (1625–1629)
  
  Breda
  
  Dessau Bridge
  
  Oldenzaal
  
  Lutter am Barenberge
  
  Groenlo
  
  Stralsund
  
  Wolgast
  
  's-Hertogenbosch
  
  Swedish intervention (1630–1635)
  
  Swedish landing
  
  Frankfurt
  
  Magdeburg
  
  Werben
  
  1st Breitenfeld
  
  Bamberg
  
  Rain
  
  Maastricht
  
  Nuremberg
  
  Wiesloch
  
  Alte Veste
  
  Fürth
  
  Lützen
  
  Oldendorf
  
  Pfaffenhofen
  
  Steinau
  
  Konstanz
  
  1st Breisach
  
  1st Rheinfelden
  
  Liegnitz [de]
  
  1st Nördlingen
  
  Strasbourg Bridge
  
  Swedish-French Period (1635–1648)
  
  Les Avins
  
  Leuven
  
  Schenkenschans
  
  Ray-sur-Saône
  
  Dömitz [de]
  
  Haselünne [de]
  
  Raon
  
  Tornavento
  
  2nd Magdeburg
  
  Somme
  
  Wittstock
  
  2nd Breda
  
  Venlo
  
  Leipzig
  
  Hanau
  
  2nd Rheinfelden
  
  Saint Omer
  
  Fuenterrabía
  
  Kallo
  
  Wittenweiher [de]
  
  Thann [de]
  
  Vlotho
  
  2nd Breisach
  
  1st Freiberg
  
  Chemnitz
  
  Melnik
  
  Thionville
  
  Salses
  
  Cambrils
  
  Montjuïc
  
  Preßnitz
  
  Plauen
  
  La Marfée
  
  Dorsten
  
  Wolfenbüttel
  
  Kempen
  
  Honnecourt
  
  Schweidnitz
  
  2nd Breitenfeld
  
  2nd Freiberg
  
  Rocroi
  
  Tuttlingen
  
  Kolding
  
  Freiburg
  
  Philippsburg
  
  Jüterbog
  
  Bysjön
  
  Jankau
  
  Mergentheim
  
  2nd Nördlingen
  
  3rd Hulst
  
  Brünn [de]
  
  Korneuburg [de]
  
  Totenhöhe [de]
  
  Hohentübingen [de]
  
  Triebl
  
  Naples
  
  Zusmarshausen
  
  Wevelinghoven
  
  Lens
  
  Dachau [de]
  
  Prague
  
  Naval battles
  
  Gibraltar
  
  Genoa
  
  The Slaak
  
  1st Saint Martin
  
  Lizard Point
  
  Dunkirk
  
  Calais
  
  The Downs
  
  Cape St. Vincent
  
  2nd Saint Martin
  
  Lister Dyb
  
  Colberger Heide
  
  Fehmarn :
  
  $_{Treaties}$ :
  
  On 23 May 1618 the Protestant nobles overthrew the rule of King Ferdinand II and threw the Roman Catholic governors of Bohemia from their office at Prague Castle in the Defenestration of Prague. The new government formed of Protestant nobility and gentry gave Ernst von Mansfeld the command over all of its forces. Meanwhile, Catholic nobles and priests started fleeing the country. Some of the monasteries as well as unfortified manors were evacuated and the Catholic refugees headed for the city of Pilsen, where they thought that a successful defence could be organised. The city was well-prepared for a lengthy siege, but the defences were undermanned and the defenders lacked enough gunpowder for their artillery. Mansfeld decided to capture the city before the Catholics were able to gain support from the outside.
  
  ## Siege
  
  On 19 September 1618 Mansfeld's army reached the outskirts of the city. The defenders blocked two city gates and the third one was reinforced with additional guards. The Protestant army was too weak to start an all-out assault on the castle, so Mansfeld decided to take the city by hunger. On 2 October the Protestant artillery arrived, but the calibre and number of the cannons was small and the bombardment of the city walls brought little effect. The siege continued, with the Protestants receiving new supplies and recruits on a daily basis, while the defenders lacked food and munitions. Also, the main city well was destroyed and the stores of potable water soon depleted.
  
  Finally, on 21 November, cracks were made in the walls and the Protestant soldiers poured into the city. After several hours of close hand-to-hand combat, all of the town was in Mansfeld's hands.
  
  ## Aftermath
  
  After capturing the city, Mansfeld demanded 120,000 golden guldens as war reparations and an additional 47,000 florins for sparing the city and not burning it to the ground. [Between the previous and next sentence, two years passed.] However, soon the Holy Roman Empire, led by Bavaria, gathered enough forces and crossed the border with Bohemia, heading towards Pilsen and Prague.
  
  The newly elected Bohemian king, Frederick V of the Palatinate was aware of the huge superiority of his enemies' forces and ordered his own army to regroup and attack each of the advancing armies separately. However, he was abandoned by most of his allies and his armies dispersed in the dense forests between Pilsen and Prague, which resulted in a decisive defeat in the Battle of White Mountain.
  
  