Battle Of White Mountain Research Articles

Культурно-историческая роль чешского книгопечатания в XVI – начале XVII веков

The article discusses the development of book printing in the Czech in the 16th – early 17th centuries, two periods in the development of Czech book printing are distinguished: 1501–1547 and after the events of 1547 until the Battle of White Mountain. The author reveals the changes that have taken place in the working conditions of printing houses, the attitude of the royal authorities to book printing, the repertoire of Czech printed books, the number of published products.

Mezi mírností a spravedlností. Vláda Ferdinanda II. v Čechách v prvních letech po bělohorské bitvě

After the victory of the Imperial-Catholic League army in the Battle of White Mountain, the Emperor and King of Bohemia Ferdinand II opened up an unusually large space in which he could realize his ideas about governance in Bohemia. His priority was to ensure that the Habsburgs inherited the throne of Bohemia, to support the Catholic faith to become the only denomination in the Bohemian Lands, and to ensure equality between the old (faithful, Catholic) nobles and the new nobility. However, the path to these goals, which were realized at a legal level with the issuing of the Renewed Land Ordinance (ObnovenĂŠ zřízenĂ­ zemskĂŠ/ Verneuerte Landesordnung; 1627, 1628), was not easy and went through a number of tense moments, such as the execution of 27 representatives of the Bohemian Revolt and state bankruptcy caused by the systematic devaluation of silver coins. The present article attempts to answer the question of what was the role of Ferdinand II himself in these complicated processes, especially in the years immediately following his victory at the Battle of White Mountain (1620–1623), and in the context of political thought in the early 17th century.

Podíl české katolické šlechty při utváření náboženských poměrů v Čechách ve dvacátých letech 17. století

This study analyses the role of the Czech nobility in the first years of the post-White Mountain counter-reformation in the Kingdom of Bohemia. It follows this from the end of 1620, when, soon after the Battle of White Mountain, the first proposals to adjust the situation in the rebel territory began to appear. The upper limit is the middle of 1627, not only for political reasons but with special reference to the issuing of a patent by Ferdinand II on 31 July 1627 in which he first proclaimed an attempt to catholicize the Czech nobility and at the same time reiterated that he did not intend to tolerate anyone in the country who would not be willing to align himself with his landlord in faith. The first part of the article deals with the ideas of certain Bohemian Catholic noblemen about the future religious development of the kingdom, which they embodied in proposals which came into being on the initiative of Ferdinand II or on their own initiative. Other passages focus on the efforts of the landowner and governor of Bohemia Charles of Liechtenstein to influence, through normative measures, the religious situation of the aristocratic estates before July 1627. In conclusion, attention is paid to the efforts of certain Bohemian Catholic lords who advocated a fight against non-Catholic beliefs on their own estates, which they justified by the requirement for their subjects to align themselves in faith with their landlords.

"Přidává se jařmo k jařmu." Dvacátá léta 17. století a obyvatelé Brna

This study describes the situation in the leading Moravian royal city of Brno in the 1620s. Mostly evangelical Brno, where at the beginning of May 1619 there was a political coup in favour of the annexation of Moravia to the uprising of the Bohemian estates, faced far-reaching sanctions after the Battle of White Mountain. In addition to feeding the Catholic soldiers who occupied the city, the locals had to deal with severe political and economic sanctions. These were not only directed against the townspeople engaged in a defeated denominational political camp or resisting re-Catholicization pressure, but also had a negative affect on the everyday life of all people belonging to the city community. At the same time, even in the 1620s, Brno was beginning to be transformed into an important support for the power structures of the ruling Habsburg dynasty. This process was later completed by its victory over Olomouc in the competition for the status of provincial capital (1641/1642); Brno’s prestige was then increased thanks to its successful defence against the Swedes (1645). However, the awareness of deep humiliation and severe hardships entered into the collective memory of the citizens of Brno so strongly that, even after several decades, it determined the character of local memories of the immediate post-White Mountain period.

Kupní smlouvy k lenním statkům frýdlantského knížectví (vévodství)

The Duchy of Frýdlant, this “state within a state”, as characterized by many authors, existed only for a very short period of time. The fief estates, which were acquired by the imperial military leader Albrecht von Wallenstein (Valdštejn) in the sale following the Battle of White Mountain, were first declared a principality in 1624 and then a duchy in 1627. Immediately after Wallenstein's assassination in 1634, this remarkable constitutional unit was immediately liquidated. Wallenstein kept most of the acquired estates under his direct control, and they thus became chamber ducal estates (this was especially true for all larger, economically strong towns). He left only a relatively small part of his property to the institutions of the Catholic Church – logically, although he provided them with political and property support, in the latter respect he certainly did not dazzle with excessive generosity. On the other hand, he left large estates to various persons (his relatives, subordinate officers, officials, in some cases the original pre-White Mountain owners, etc.), who took them over from him as a Frydlant fief (de iure actually sub-fief, as Wallenstein himself was a vassal of the emperor who was the Czech king). Some of these people received the property as a gift (“Donatio”) as a sign of Wallenstein's generosity. In most cases, however, it was a standard property transaction, where the acquirers paid a more or less adequate amount of money for the fief estate, or their receivables from the Frýdlant landowner were offset. The legal title of the transfer of possession thus became the standard purchase (“Erblehenkauf”), recorded in a contract approved, sealed and signed by both parties. Copies of these contracts are concentrated in the manuscript sign. B 16, stored in the National Archives in Prague, other originals and copies of individual documents of this type can be recorded in other archives. This study is devoted to their content analysis. Purchase contracts for Frýdlant fief estates represent a set of documents, the significance of which can be seen on at least four levels. From the most general point of view, they contribute to the knowledge of early modern legal culture and legal language (although German, not Czech). Secondly, they are evidence of the administrative practice of the court office of the Duchy of Frýdlant, which prepared these documents. They are also a contribution to the history of fief law in the Czech lands. Finally, they provide a number of specific information about individual fief estates, and thus also about the regional history of northeastern Bohemia, where Wallenstein's “terra felix” was located. The surviving contracts relate to more than forty larger and smaller estates, which fell into the hands of the vassals in the short days of Wallenstein’s rule over this region. The court office of the Duchy of Frýdlant, on whose premises the contracts were created, was a relatively advanced bureaucratic body with several lawyers – the former prosecutor Jan Jezber of Kolivá Hora had probably the greatest reputation, who himself bought the Choteč fief estate in 1624. Štěpán Ilgen from Ilgenau, a native of Leipzig, reached the significant position of Frýdlant Chancellor. Many office councilors were also graduates of law education. However, it is very interesting that the set of surviving contracts is largely characterized by its variability. Although a more or less uniform structure was followed (dating, definition of the contracting parties, and the subject of the contract, determination of the price and the method of payment, set of rights reserved to the landlord, confirmation of will and corroboration), contracts offer various and in some cases significantly different specific solutions. On the other hand, different wording did not always mean a difference in content. For example, the extent of the landlord reservations, which Wallenstein reserved in the treaties as chief lord of the Duchy of Frýdlant and among which brewing played the most important role, apparently had a standard scope, regardless of the specific diction. Purchase contracts related to Frýdlant fief estates represent only one type of documents framing the development of this extremely interesting state law unit. The study of others and, in the future, comprehensive elaboration of the history of the Frýdlant estate, or of the entire duchy, remain urgent challenges for further legal historical research.

(DIS)KONTINUITA ČEŠTINY 16.-18. STOLETÍ NA PŘÍKLADU HLÁSKOSLOVÍ

A majority of the earlier scholarly publications (literary and linguistic) contain negative assessments of the Czech language from the 17th and 18th centuries. This valuation is in accordance with the political, social, religious and cultural developments in Bohemia after the battle of White Mountain (Bílá hora) on 8 November 1620. Following the battle, the Habsburg Monarchy was established and Bohemia was yet again subjected to the Catholic Church. The function of the Czech language was limited with German becoming the main language spoken by the Bohemian aristocracy and city dwellers. German was the official language and, along with Latin, the language of science. As a result of the functional restrictions, Czech books were printed in limited literary fields, especially religious, historical and practically-oriented texts. The language in which they were written was described as degraded, unstable and incorrect. It was connected with the decline of the standard language, deformed by dialectisms, neologisms and an enormous number of loan words from German. However, is this interpretation of the Czech language from the 17th and 18th centuries correct? I have analysed over 100 prints from the 16th to the 18th centuries, focusing on four phonological phenomena: prothetic v-, dipthongisation ú- > ou- and ý (í) > ej and the change é > í. These changes occurred in texts from the 16th century (or even earlier), then some of them were repressed (ej, í in word ending, prothetic v-) or fixed as a part of Czech print (initial ou-, v- by words stabilized with this nonetymological consonant). It is evident that 1) there was continuous development instead of discontinuity, 2) the earlier negative estimation of the Czech language after 1620 was inaccurate. It is imperative to investigate the Czech language from a historical perspective in detail, without prejudice or ideology.

Kircher’s Bohemia: Jesuit Networks and Habsburg Patronage in the Seventeenth Century

This study analyzes the relations between the Jesuit polymath Athanasius Kircher (1602–1680) and his correspondents in Bohemia and elsewhere in Central Europe. This research began as a digital humanities project. By analyzing data from Kircher’s correspondence with the Palladio visualization tool, we discovered a remarkable number of letters that had been sent from Bohemia, especially early on. The Jesuit network proved crucial for Kircher’s early career advancement, and he benefited, for example, from Jesuit immigration to Bohemia after the Battle of White Mountain. Our research considers how a correspondence network, that was Jesuit in origin, had expanded to include scholars, noblemen, and even the emperor and his court. All of them supported Kircher, discussed his works, and were highly invested in them. Finally, we turn to explore why Kircher ultimately fell out of favour with the imperial court, while remaining a major figure in Jesuit scholarship in Central Europe throughout the seventeenth century.

White Mountain as a Place of Remembrance

Emperor Ferdinand II’s Catholic troops won a crushing victory over the Protestants’ army at the battle of White Mountain (Bílá Hora), near Prague, on 8 November 1620. Shortly after that, White Mountain became a place of remembrance and a symbol of prevail for the Catholic Bohemians. Servite monastery and a church attached to it, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, were built on the battlefield, with support from the Emperor, which symbolised the victory of the Emperor’s troops and that of the Catholic Church. White Mountain was an important place for Protestants as well. For Protestant Bohemians, the defeat was the beginning of the end of their religious freedom. Their works keep quiet about the events leading to and succeeding the battle. However, their narratives about the events of their personal lives and sufferings did use the name of this symbolic place as a point of reference for a new time frame. For them, White Mountain was a place, a cause, and a take-off of losing their homes and properties, and those of their compelled escapes and exiles.

Osadnictwo braci czeskich i morawskich w regionie łódzkim

Tematem artykułu są migracje i osadnictwo braci czeskich i morawskich na ziemi łódzkiej od XVI do XIX w. oraz pozostałości ich dziedzictwa kulturowego. Pierwszy etap tego osadnictwa to migracje z Czech do Polski na przełomie XVI i XVII w. Drugi etap rozpoczął się na początku XIX w. równocześnie z kolonizacją niemiecką. Większość Czechów osiedlonych na ziemi łódzkiej stanowili bracia czescy, którzy zgłosili akces do Kościoła Ewangelicko-Reformowanego, ale zachowali odrębność języka i nabożeństw. Po drugiej wojnie światowej znaczna część zamieszkałych w regionie Czechów wróciła do ojczyzny. W Zelowie jednak nadal mieszka kilkaset osób deklarujących narodowość czeską i kultywujących swoją kulturę. Bracia morawscy to denominacja religijna, założona w pierwszej połowie XVIII w. na Górnych Łużycach przez protestanckich uchodźców religijnych z Moraw. Zakładali oni swoje osady na całym świecie, w tym także w Imperium Rosyjskim. Największymi placówkami braci morawskich na ziemi łódzkiej były Nowosolna koło Łodzi i Lwówek koło Gąbina. Na przełomie XIX i XX w. zintegrowali się oni z wyznawcami innych kościołów protestanckich w regionie. Pozostały jednak po nich charakterystyczne elementy kultury materialnej: układy urbanistyczne, cmentarze i domy modlitwy.

Paměti Přibíka a Jana Bukovanských Pintů z Bukovan. Teze edičního projektu

The main aim of the prepared research project is to make the rare copy of the memoirs of Přibik and John Bukovanský Pinta of Bukovany accessible in the form of an edition and to interpret it insightfully. This is, in terms of content, a very colourful ego-document which puts on display and testifies to the values, ideas and concepts and also the public presentation of the members of two generations of this not so well known lesser noble family. As one of the few compact documents relating to the means of sophisticated self-presentation of a knight from the time before the battle of White Mountain, it deserves to be published as a modern critical edition equipped with an extended foot-note apparatus. One important part of the work is represented by a study that will focus, from the historical-anthropological point of view, on the lives of both authors of the memoirs. Their notes help, along with the messages of aristocratic correspondence, bonds, bills, testaments and other items of material culture, to carry out research not only into the lives of each of the knights of Bukovany, but also into a wide range of topics that are, in the wider context, applied in Czech as well as in foreign historical research into the changes of noble society. The final publication, due to its wide range of topics, will be a contribution to the social, political and economic history of the Bohemian lesser nobility in the 16th and in the first half of the 17th century.

Ediční zpřístupnění písemností Pětipeských z Chýš a Egrberku (1570-1620)

The study presents a project, the aim of which is to publish the family correspondence of the knightly family Pětipeský of Chýse and Egrberk. They belonged to lesser nobility which makes these letters exceptionally valuable for they provide a unique testimony of the lifestyle and mentality of this social group before the Battle of White Mountain. The study provides a valuable survey of critical editions of similar documents that pertain to nobility in sixteenth-century Bohemia.

Moc, válka a společenský vzestup v dějinách rodu Robmhápů ze Suché od 16. do 18. století a jejich rodinné paměti

The article contains a short edition of a manuscript with chronological notes on the history and family events of the Robmhap of Sucha. They are a useful testimony of the lifestyle of lesser nobility before and after the battle of White Mountain.