The crazy blind king of Bohemia #shorts

[soupordave]

John the Blind was 50 years old and had been blind a decade. This was likely a suicide charge so that he could die in battle rather than stay a blind old man. Before he was led forward by his bodyguards he told his other retainers "Just take good care of my son."

[incredibilisman]

We need to know more about this madlad. It might've been dumb, but I respect the madlad energy.

[jaywu]

John of Bohemia: "So anyways I started swinging"

[remainprofane]

He died how he lived. Not knowing where the hell he was going.

[messiusonline]

imagine being one of hes bodyguards trying to not get stabbed by enemy and not being stabbed by your king thinking ur an enemy cause hes blind lol

[spartanwolf]

Should’ve used Jan Zizka as example of a blind man capable of leading men.

[jiripazour]

The charge was to not betray his mentality of "Never will it happen that a czech king will run from battle!"

[A.R._Ironstar]

Bohemia had both the worst example of a blind leader (this guy) and the best, Jan Zizka, the blind general of the Hussite Wars.

[arthurfisher]

Bidyguard Knight: "Hey you, squire. Come over here and keep this saddle warm for me, there's a good lad."

[empire_racing]

:Too battle and glorious death my friends" the

[Hollows]

As an Englishman, anytime Crécy is mentioned, I smile.

Up there in the pantheon of great English - and latterly British - victories with Trafalgar and Waterloo.

[alexanderfrederickson]

I mean there is another "John" from Bohemia who was actually a good leader; one of the greatest actually. I am, of course, referring to Jan Zizčka. Granted he only became fully blind after a few battles, but still won battles even while blind. Also he is considered to have never lost a battle, despite always being extremely outnumbered. So the initial comment was not technically wrong, if applied to the right John.

[notribadsvault]

Coincidentally another blind/semi-blind commander I can think of is also Czech. Jan Cizcka was first blinded in one eye and then later another, but he basically never lost a battle even the ones he fought after becoming blind.

[jordanmcgrory]

Historically if your noble enough, the result of the battle doesn't actually matter. The main thing is to die in a way which will make a good story for descendents.

[jaykaufman]

I actually have a lot of respect for Blind King John. He was a warrior his entire life, and his eyesight gave out while crusading against the still-pagan Lithuanians. While he was king of Bohemia (modern Czechia), he owed fealty to the King of France for some of his western, Luxembourgish lands -- and he didn't truckle, but was present at Crecy as duty demanded, blind or not. By this time he used a mace on a chain as his personal weapon. He stayed in the reserve, and when French defeat was inevitable, the aged monarch said his last good byes to his men, except for four bodyguards, and they resolved to die together. His final words were "Ich Dien" (I serve), and he went down fighting rather die in his bed, and his young guardsmen died in the same way. He's often regarded as the last flower of classic chivalry. The opposing commander was the Prince of Wales, and he adopted John's last words as his own motto, and also adopted the plume worn by the King of Bohemia -- retained by the Prince of Wales, the British heir apparent, to this day.
In the medieval world, John's adherence to his duties as a subject lord of another king, and his refusal to use even blindness as a reason to not bring his army to his sovereign's side was the height of "the right stuff, " medieval-style. The prestige he earned later won the Luxembourg dynasty the imperial throne for his heirs.
Oh, and he married Margarethe "Maultasche" (sack mouth), reputedly the ugliest woman in Europe (again -- blind) and heiress to the County of Tyrol, a useful addition to his Central European state.

[Ovasiig]

If I were to pick anyone blind to lead I’d pick this guy who my sword master knew and who taught me how to heighten my senses. He was a blind swordsman and is still insanely talented even at 66

[FalkonNightsdale]

Blind king, Jan Lucemburský, was listening to his bodyguards, who were telling him grim news about how battle is unfolding and he knew there is a little he can do about it for he was old (50), and for a decade blind…

His advisors suggested retreat, but he refused - during his years of rule, he became to be recognized as a great diplomat and military leader…

So he told his men:
"Deus dabit illud non erit ut fugeret rex Bohemie a pugna"
[God will grant that it will not be so that the king of Bohemia should flee from the battle]
(🇨🇿 Toho Boh dá nebude, aby král český z boje utíkal)

So he just asked his bodyguards to shove him forward, so enemy is at sword's length before him, leading his last charge - and so they did…

He is thus remembered not only as a great diplomat, but also as one of the mist brave and heroic kings and his last words are part of elementary education…

Few centuries later, from the darkness of the crypt, german occupants got their answer for a surrender request:
"We are Czechs! Do you understand? We will never surrender!"

[ixelhaine]

John of Bohemia: "So anyway, I start slashin..."

[Getpojke]

It's said that Edward, the Black Prince took the ostrich feathers from John of Bohemia's body at the Battle of Crécy as a sign of respect of his bravery & added them to his own heraldry. They are still part of the Prince of Wales heraldry to this day.

[brianhull]

I mean, the guy had balls, I’ll give him that. My guess is that he wanted to die in battle, and the battle was probably lost already.