In 1432 a Hussite army was trying to get back to Moravia. The bridges at Trenčín had been pulled down, so the only way over the Váh was the ford at Ilava — and a Hungarian army was waiting there for them. The battle was fought on the fields between Ilava and Košeca, which are still called na rudom, the red field. The town was destroyed, and to this day nobody knows by whom: one account says King Sigismund had it burned because people called Ilava a Hussite nest, the other says it simply burned in the fighting. Ilava lost its rank of civitas and sank to oppidum, a mere market town; its fairs were moved to Dubnica, and Sigismund had to order them returned in 1435.V roku 1432 sa husitské vojsko snažilo vrátiť na Moravu. Mosty v Trenčíne boli strhnuté, jediná cesta cez Váh viedla cez ilavský brod – a tam už čakalo uhorské vojsko. Bitka sa odohrala na poliach medzi Ilavou a Košecou, ktoré sa dodnes volajú na rudom, teda na červenom poli. Mesto bolo zničené a dodnes nikto nevie kým: podľa jednej verzie ho dal vypáliť kráľ Žigmund, lebo Ilavu označovali za husitské hniezdo, podľa druhej zhorelo jednoducho v boji. Ilava stratila hodnosť civitas a klesla na oppidum, obyčajné mestečko; jarmoky jej presunuli do Dubnice a Žigmund ich musel v roku 1435 prikázať vrátiť.
