Treason upon treason

In spring 1619 České Budějovice had already been under siege for long months. In the Estates’ uprising they stayed on the Habsburg side, and an imperial garrison stood inside the walls. Before the town lay the Estates army. In those conditions unfolds the story that Budějovice legend places in April of that year.

According to the telling, on the evening of 17 April two men left the Svinenská Gate. Across a wooden footbridge they headed toward Rybní street. One of them was Kristián Weisbach, a captain in Buquoy’s army, wrapped in a wide cloak. His sword knocked against his armour as he walked. A few steps ahead of him went Janek Laštovka.

Janek knew the country around Budějovice, all its paths, dikes and marshes. He was unusually strong, and Weisbach used him as guide and messenger. He had sent him to the Estates camp before; people in the area knew Janek and his presence raised no suspicion.

At the end of Rybní street a guard stood. Weisbach answered its challenge with the password, stepped up to the watch commander and whispered a few words. At once he vanished with his guide into the fields.

The land before the walls was marshy, laced with meadow ditches and pond dikes. Janek carefully avoided the obstacles and the officer kept in his tracks. At a wide brook the guide stopped. Nearby the outlines of the Šmelcovna building showed.

“The bridge is gone; I must carry you.”

He gripped Weisbach round the waist, slung him over his shoulder and stepped into the water. On the far bank he set the officer down. From there they went on in silence toward the place of execution.

At the gallows Weisbach drew flint and steel and struck a spark three times in succession. Almost at once the same signal appeared from the direction of Dobrá Voda. Soon footsteps of several people were heard. Without being told, Janek stepped behind the gallows post and Weisbach drew his sword.

“Password!”

“Chalice and sword,” came the reply.

Weisbach sheathed his weapon. Among those arriving was Pavel Kaplíř of Sulevice, an officer of the Estates army. He greeted the captain and both stepped a little away from the gallows.

They agreed on the next night. Weisbach was to occupy the Svinenská Gate with his detachment and at two o’clock open it to the Estates army. For this service he was to receive money and a place in their ranks. They spoke in German so that Janek would not understand — yet someone else overheard the plan.

According to legend it was a woman who carried the warning into the town. The conspiracy was uncovered. Weisbach was arrested and on 7 May 1619 executed in České Budějovice.

The siege ended only after Buquoy’s victory at Záblatí on 10 June 1619. What remains of the story is that core: someone wanted to open the gates from within, someone betrayed him, and he paid with his head.