Old Town Square execution

[1] After the Prague Defenestration in 1618 and subsequent Protestant uprising of the Bohemian estates against the Catholic Habsburgs resulted in the Thirty Years' War and a final defeat in the Battle of White Mountain, Habsburgs took their revenge and executed some of the key leaders of the uprising, although with some others the punishment was reduced and some were pardoned.

City clerk Mikuláš Diviš was nailed to the gallows by the tongue for one hour for welcoming Frederick V of the Palatinate on his arrival to Prague.

Martin Fruwein z Podolí (cs, de) was also expected to be executed, but he committed suicide by jumping from the White Tower of Prague Castle.

Other consequences were the possession of the Bohemian royal crown in the hands of the Habsburgs (now hereditary), which meant another nearly 300 years of their domination.

The executioner's sword, on whose blade the names of eleven executed are engraved, is in the collections of Hus House (Husův dům) in Prague.