houses were constructed, and Tabor, as the place was named, became quite a town. During the whole of the Hussite wars Tabor remained the asylum of disaffected spirits of all kinds. Not only the peasants, but the large land-owners came here, ready to sacrifice all for their religion. Here all were equal; here all enjoyed both religious and political liberty; and here there arose the most extreme views in regard to government and religion. Indeed, in this little town could be found the germs of most of the modern Protestant sects, and also of modern Socialism.
The extreme views held by some of the Taborites were not at all in harmony with the religious ideas of the leaders, Žižka and Nicholas; but finding themselves powerless to stem the general current of thought, they strove to turn the enthusiasm into channels that would lead to the general good. Žižka organized a regular form of military government, placing the town under four lieutenants but as he excelled all in wisdom, dignity of bearing, and military skill, he soon became the acknowledged head of all the Taborites.
Žižka possessed the rare gift of being able to adapt himself to all conditions of men, and to turn to his own advantage the most adverse circumstances. As his troops were composed almost entirely of peasants, he adopted weapons that they could use with the greatest advantage. Flails heavily covered with iron, clubs covered at the end with heavy iron spikes, were the ordinary arms, with which his men did such fearful execution that the Royalists feared more the flail of the peasant than the sword of a regular soldier. As the war went on, Žižka developed the method of forti-
