Budweis (České Budějovice) was one of the three towns which remained loyal to King Ferdinand of House Habsburg when Bohemia revolted.

After the Habsburg victory at Sablat, the Bohemians were forced to raise the siege of České Budějovice.

On 15 June 1619, Georg Friedrich of Hohenlohe-Neuenstein-Weikersheim retreated to Soběslav where he awaited reinforcement by Count Heinrich Matthias von Thurn.

After taking control of the strong places of southern Bohemia, Ferdinand sent a force under Dampierre to Moravia, which had chosen the side of the Bohemian rebels.

However, Dampierre was defeated at Dolní Věstonice (German: Wisternitz) by Moravian forces under von Tiefenbach (brother of Rudolf von Tiefenbach) and Ladislav Velen ze Žerotína in August 1619, which left Moravia in the Bohemian camp.