24.3. 1775 Battle of Chlumec nad Cidlinou

On 24 March 1775, the peasant army was defeated by the imperial army at the Battle of Chlumec nad Cidlinou, which suppressed the uprising. On the same day, Maria Theresa also issued a patent encouraging the peasants to return home and to work in peace.

There have been several peasant uprisings throughout Czech history. The serfs were unhappy with their oppressive status and refused to fulfil their obligations to their superiors. Nel They particularly disliked the high taxes that made it impossible for them to support their families. One of the most famous battles of the peasants is the Battle of Chlumec na Cidlinou, which took place during the reign of Maria Theresa.

The situation had been unbearable for a long time, and so the peasants of the Chlumec and Náchod estates began to rebel. This peasant uprising lasted from January to April 1775. Raids on the castles and offices of the nobility took place from 20 March. The angry serfs demolished everything they could lay their hands on. In addition, they plundered cellars and stole supplies, including beer.

Four days later, on 24 March, the entire imperial battalion marched to Chlumec, where it encountered angry serfs who had arrived an hour earlier. "They ransacked the governor's office and the administrator's flat. They took everything they could carry, broke all the windows and tore up all the files in the archives. All in all, it was about three hundred men," writes Jan Kvirenc in his book Czech History - 100 Memorable Places.

On the next day, 25 March, there was a major clash between the army and the insurgents at Chlumec nad Cidlinou. There were several hundred rebels. By then they had finished with the court, they marched to the castle, where they wanted to rampage in exactly the same way. But then the imperial army arrived and the rebels fled. Even so, 74 were captured, 2 were killed and 2 ended up in the pond where they drowned. The wounded were 11.

"The rebels even wanted to throw a scribe from Bylan into the pond during the rampage. They drove him ahead of them by one shoe, where they came to a hill, where they laid him down and beat him, once on his stomach, the other on his ass, tying a large scrotum behind him instead of a hair bag. And when he looked back, they beat him again," the old sources say.

The peasant uprising of 1775 ended on the 9th of July. Maria Theresa declared a so-called general pardon for rebellious subjects who nodded their obedience and returned home without any problems. Since then, the expression "to turn out like the peasants at Chlumec" has also been used.

Source: Jan Kvirenc in the book Czech History - 100 Memorable Places
Vácslav Vlček, František Adolf Šubert: Osvĕta - letters for insight in art, science and politics, Volume 5
www.kronoskaf.com

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