He was arguably one of the most famous yet mysterious figures of his era in Bohemia.
He is the subject of a vast number of theories, a blend of historical fact and legend. Notably, the story of his lost eye is actually more closely linked to his youth; his nickname, "Žižka," appears to date back to the 1370s.
Only a few details are known with certainty, such as his status as a minor nobleman, complete with a coat of arms, and his extensive travels. In the early XVth century, he was both a bandit and a mercenary; he is believed to have frequently served powerful figures at the royal court of King Wenceslaus IV during the Margraves Moravian Wars. The powerful Rosenberg family, who supported the Hungarian King Sigismund as members of the League of Lords, recorded an interesting entry in their Black Chronicles: "Jan Žižka stole a wagon and killed a Rosenberg man"
Despite the many controversies surrounding him, his rise from a wandering minor nobleman to commander of the Hussite armies in 1419 was a remarkable feat. This achievement was underpinned by over twenty-thirty years of military experience, most notably his participation in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410, where he fought as one of the mercenaries sent from Bohemia (indirectly by King Wenceslaus IV) alongside his companion, Jan Sokol of Lamberg.
Today on Oct 11, Jan Žižka died of plague in 1424.
The one eyed, then fully blind Hussite commander that invented the war wagon went to his grave undefeated in battle.