Czech Lands Research Articles

Companion to Central and Eastern European Humanism: The Czech Lands, Part 1. Edited by Lucie Storchová

Companion to Central and Eastern European Humanism: The Czech Lands, Part 1. Edited by Lucie Storchová

Between Opera and Oratorio. The Pasticcio Oratorios in Prague and Brno ca 1720–1760

Abstract The phenomenon of the pasticcio oratorio was quite widespread in the Czech Lands around the middle of the eighteenth century. The first evidence of this practice was a Latin oratorio based on opera arias by George Frideric Handel (Prague 1725). In Brno, the capital of Moravia, the performances of oratorios were supported by Bishop Wolfgang Hannibal Schrattenbach, who was also an important patron of Italian opera. Therefore, opera arias were frequently interpolated into the Italian oratorios produced in his palace every week during Lent. Some works from the 1730s were even created as pasticcios composed of contrafacted opera arias. The only surviving score, La vittima d’amore by Joseph Umstatt (Brno 1741) with music by Caldara, Hasse, Leo, Feo, Porta and Pescetti, shows the process of creating this type of oratorio in detail. The reprise of this work by the Crusaders in Prague on Good Friday 1744 and its favourable reception stimulated the considerable development of this practice in the mentioned church. Between 1749 and 1758, at least six pasticcio oratorios were performed here. The music was selected not only from the works of popular composers of the time (Hasse, Jomelli, Graun), but also from the compositions of the older generation (Fux, Lotti, Conti, Porpora). Based on an analysis of librettos and music sources, the paper shows some examples of this phenomenon, crossing the boundaries between the opera and the oratorio in both directions.

Jaroslav Olša, jr.: 150 Years of Hidden Ties Between Koreans and Czechs

Chapters from the history of contacts between the Czech Lands and the Korean Peninsula.

Jaroslav Olša, jr.: 150 Years of Hidden Ties Between Koreans and Czechs

Chapters from the history of contacts between the Czech Lands and the Korean Peninsula.

Companion to Central and Eastern European Humanism, Volume 2, The Czech Lands, Part 1, A–L, ed. by Lucie Storchová, Berlin–Boston, de Gruyter, 2020

Egy impozáns angol nyelvű kézikönyv első fele készült el a cseh humanistákról, amely egy fontos nemzetközi vállalkozás és kutatási program része. A Kiss Farkas Gábor által szerkesztett sorozat elméletileg a magyar humanistákkal indul, de a vonatkozó (számozás szerint első) kötet megjelenését csak 2022-re várja a kiadó. Így került időben előre a cseh szerzőket tárgyaló könyv, amely ábécérendben veszi végig a humanistákat A-tól L-ig. Lucie Storchová szerkesztői bevezetője és a rövidítések jegyzéke után alapos korszaktanulmányokat olvashatunk: Petr Voit „Humanism in the Czech Lands in the First Half of the 16th Century”, Lucie Storchová „Humanist Literature in the Czech Lands (from the 1550s until the Late 1580s)”, Jan Malura – Marta Vaculínová „The Literature of Late Humanism (from the 1590s until the Early 1620s). Ezt követik a szócikkek egységesformátumban: életrajz – művek – kiadások – irodalom. A kötetet végül egy összesített, de válogatott bibliográfia zárja, valamint a személynevek és a földrajzi nevek mutatója.

History of Arbovirus Research in the Czech Republic

The aim of this review is to follow the history of studies on endemiv arboviruses and the diseases they cause which were detected in the Czech lands (Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia (i.e., the Czech Republic)). The viruses involve tick-borne encephalitis, West Nile and Usutu flaviviruses; the Sindbis alphavirus; Ťahyňa, Batai, Lednice and Sedlec bunyaviruses; the Uukuniemi phlebovirus; and the Tribeč orbivirus. Arboviruses temporarily imported from abroad to the Czech Republic have been omitted. This brief historical review includes a bibliography of all relevant papers.

From the Communists and Post-Communists Alike: State-Paid Salaries of the Clergy in the Czech Lands 1949–2012—ERRATUM

From the Communists and Post-Communists Alike: State-Paid Salaries of the Clergy in the Czech Lands 1949–2012—ERRATUM

Wood species utilization for timber constructions in the Czech lands over the period 1400–1900

Longstanding demographic growth accompanied by rising settlement activities and development of industry led to an increasing demand on utilization of wood. Tree species were selected for their specific properties. As a consequence of regional differences of forest species composition, wood has become an extremely important trade commodity. Therefore, the utilization of individual species could substantially change in space and time. In this study, we use 8´135 precisely dated timber constructions from a dendrochronological database to investigate spatio-temporal changes in wood utilization across the Czech lands from the 15th to the 19th century. Our results suggest that the utilization of individual species in historical timber constructions was primarily limited by their availability. Species selection was also based on wood properties and stem geometry. Most of historical constructions (99.7%), represented mainly by roofs and ceilings, are made of fir, spruce, pine, and oak. While fir constructions prevail in eastern Moravia and Silesia, spruce constructions are largely spread across the western and central part of the Czech Republic. Pine and oak constructions reflect natural occurrence of such forests in lower elevated central Bohemia and southern Moravia. Although fir prevailed in timber construction in the late-Medieval and post-Medieval times, planting of spruce monocultures resulted in its significantly increased utilization by the end of the 19th century. This study demonstrates the value of dendrochronological databases as an indicator of historical wood utilization.

Effects of social and climatic factors on building activity in the Czech lands between 1450 and 1950: a dendrochronological analysis

ABSTRACTThe development of settlement and building activity is the result of socioeconomic, political and demographic changes in the past. However, accurate information on temporal variation in building activity is rather limited. Dendrochronological databases containing dated historical wooden constructions provide an important resource. We used 6514 tree‐felling dates to reconstruct building activity in the Czech lands for the period 1450–1950. Comparing felling dates with historical events demonstrated that building activity was negatively associated with intense wars, particularly during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). After the Peace of Westphalia (1648), socioeconomic renewal and demographic growth were reflected in an upsurge of building activity, especially ecclesiastical buildings. While the construction of ecclesiastical and noble buildings culminated around the 1720s, rural buildings peaked in the 1780s and the 1820s. Although no direct effect of climate was demonstrated, adverse climatic conditions leading to harvest failures and subsequent famines (e.g. the ‘Hunger Years’ 1770–1772) significantly contributed to declines in building activity. In contrast, a higher number of felling dates were detected when strong and/or frequent windstorms occurred. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of building activity in Central Europe and advocates the use of dendrochronological databases for the investigation of human activities in history.

Cosmas Pragensis Chronica Bohemorum

<i>Cosmas Pragensis Chronica Bohemorum</i>

Study of Materials and Technique of Late Baroque Stucco Decorations: Baldassarre Fontana from Ticino to Czechia

From the 16th to the 18th century, many artists and craftspeople coming from villages in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, well known for its stucco tradition, worked actively in Central Europe. Baldassarre Fontana (Chiasso 1661–1733) was one of them; after a period in Rome, he was active in Moravia and Poland. This contribution presents an analytical insight into stucco works in the Ticino canton and Czech lands in order to provide an understanding of how artistic and technical skills were transferred according to local traditions, materials, or other requirements found abroad. By comparing two works that Fontana realized in his homeland and two works that he realized in today’s Czech Republic, the historic techniques used to make stucco are characterized, with an emphasis on technological aspects and materials. The detailed analyses provide information on materials and their production and processing methods in relation to the specific sites. They also reveal certain specific technological approaches which were common in all four cases that were studied. The most significant was the layered system of high-relief pieces, where the ground layer was made of lime–gypsum mortar and the finishing layer was pure air lime mortar. The construction of the finishing layer differed between the Czech and Swiss sites, suggesting some other influential factors.

From the Communists and Post-Communists Alike: State-Paid Salaries of the Clergy in the Czech Lands 1949–2012

AbstractThe article examines the development of state-paid salaries for the clergy introduced by the Communists in Czechoslovakia from their institution in 1949 until they were removed in a major change of church-state relations in 2012. In the initial years of Communist rule, it appears that the salaries were part of a “carrot and stick” strategy aiming to subject churches to the state. Later, the real value of salaries steadily decreased, leaving priests marginalized in the economic structure. Following the collapse of the Communist regime, the salaries of the clergy were significantly increased; although, in subsequent years, they followed a trend similar to the pre-1989 period. The similarity in the development of salaries in the Communist and post-Communist period and the reluctance to restitute the church property after 1989 reflects the attitudes of the Czech population and the political representation toward organized religion and the transition from assertive to passive secularism.

The Catholic Church in the Czech Lands during the Nazi Occupation in 1939–1945 and after

El presente estudio aborda la persecución religiosa en los territorios checos (Bohemia, Moravia y la Silesia checa) durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, momento en el que dichos territorios formaron parte del protectorado de Bohemia y Moravia siendo ocupados por la Alemania nazi. El objetivo de este texto es demostrar cómo la Iglesia Católica, su jerarquía y sus sacerdotes actuaron como relevantes patriotas que no dudaron en plantar oposición a las fuerzas ocupantes y expresar su rechazo a los procedimientos de aquéllas. Además, el papel de la Iglesia católica en el plano doméstico y sus lazos exteriores con la Santa Sede también serán analizados. Finalmente, se presentarán las figuras de los sacerdotes víctimas de la represión nacionalsocialista en los territorios checos.&#x0D; La metodología básica de este estudio consiste en el análisis descriptivo desde la comparación de la vida espiritual antes y después de la ocupación alemana. Además, el método analítico-sintético será empleado en combinación con la interpretación de los hallazgos realizados. A todo ello cabe añadir un último método, no siempre fácil de aplicar, como la hermenéutica. Esto es, la interpretación socio-histórica de fenómenos en un esfuerzo por revelar el carácter único de los textos analizados y demás fuentes, así como empatizar el particularismo del desarrollo cultural y espiritual de la Iglesia checa y su historia a lo largo de la primera mitad del siglo XX.

The Work of Karel Boublík

The article presents the first detailed examination of the life and work of Karel Boublík (1869 – 1925), a Lviv architect of Czech origin, who from 1897 to 1914 designed many residential buildings in the city. Boublík also headed the Czech Conversation Club (Česká beseda) in Lviv – the oldest Czech association in the world outside the original Czech lands – where he was also an amateur actor and director. The activities of Karel Boublík assumed an important place in the artistic life of Lviv at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century; consequently, it is important and urgent not only for the study of the architecture of the city to research, preserve and popularize the heritage of this artist. His personality and work have not yet been examined in detail in the intentions of art history and in his homeland, in the Czech Republic, Boublík is still unknown among experts. The purpose of the article is to uncover and define the specifics of Boublík’s architectural legacy. The study is based on a comprehensive approach, using biographical and historical-cultural methods, including artistic analysis. Archival sources and information from the press at the time are an integral part of the study. Boublík’s buildings are an example of the stylistic transition from Historicism in its Neo-Baroque version to Art Nouveau and the second wave of Historicism in 1909 – 1914, with elements of modernized historical styles. His buildings were exceptional in their originality, with a special emphasis on sculptural decoration and metal ornaments. The architect’s tendency to highlight protruding spherical and prismatic forms has been demonstrated, with a sharp vertical accent of roofs, often pyramidal, with complex ends – with multi-level wavy and rounded attics, towers and dormers.

Okupační politika v průmyslu protektorátu Čechy a Morava na příkladu Škodových závodů

Occupation Policy in Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Industry: An Example of Ĺ koda Works The study describes occupation policy and administration, including goals in the Pro-tectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. It analyses measures carried out by the occupation administration in the manufacturing, more specifically in the armament industry, and presents selected specific measures and their impacts on the industrial sector and arms production. In this regard, the company Ĺ koda Works, the largest arms manufacturer, serves as an illustrative case study. The measures affected the Protectorate industry, which was completely restructured based on the needs of the German war economy. By analysing selected principles of the administration's operation, specific measures and their real effects on the arms industry, the study shows the potential and real economic significance of the German occupation of the Czech lands.

Patterns of Reception of the Chronicon pontificum et imperatorum by Martin of Opava in the Late Medieval Lands of the Crown of Bohemia

The paper analyses general patterns of usage of the chronicle of popes and emperors by Martin of Opava in Late Medieval Czech Lands. It brings a chronological overview of witnesses of the chronicle including their socio-cultural classification, i. e. primarily identifications of scribes, owners and institutions. It also attempts to reveal repetitive patterns of composition in codices containing the chronicle by Martin of Opava. The paper argues that frequent occurrence of concrete texts proves the codex composition is not accidental. Such codices indicate that the chronicle by Martin of Opava was used not only as historical, legal and theological handbook, but together with travelogues to the Near and Far East or Historia Orientalis and history of Alexander the Great it was also read as a systematization of both sacral and profane power as a stable framework of phenomena of the known world. The usage of the chronicle was based on genre classification and in the same time on its political functionality.

Landscape of Dolní Kounice from the perspective of the authors of the Franciscan (“Stabile”) Cadastre

The aim of this contribution is to refer to the exceptional function of the Franciscan, so-called “Stabile” Cadastre in landscape description of the first half of the 19th century. The Franciscan Cadastre is an outstanding piece of work, both for its high historic and aesthetic value as well as for its detailed depiction of not only land use but also elementary description of social and economic aspects of the settlements during the beginnings of the Industrial and the Agricultural Revolution in the Czech lands. The Franciscan Cadastre is a perfect tool for research on landscape structures, as it consists of the map records in which the actual landscape situation was recorded with the assistance of precise cartographic techniques, and thus allows us to study its spatial structure; the written records provide us with quantitative information about land use and way of farming. The essence of this contribution is the data analysis making use of the Franciscan Cadastre of Dolní Kounice, and creating a compact “picture” of the area on the basis of social, material-technical and economic situation, which is described in the written records of the Franciscan Cadastre of the town. The pillar of such picture is the data concerning population and its way of living, farming methods, crops cultivated and animals bred. Specific attention is paid to ten categories of land use in Dolní Kounice, which are delimited in the written records of the Franciscan Cadastre. They are: arable land, pastures, vineyards, gardens, builtup areas, forest, arable land with fruit trees, pastures with fruit trees, pastures with trees and shrubs, and crop-fallow rotation, with which we can further on specify the way of farming, proprietary relations and the size of land blocks, using the map cadastral records. The landscape structure described in the Franciscan Cadastre (1841) is compared with the data from 1845 that is used when studying long-term changes of land use based on the statistical data (LUCC UK Prague database). <b>Krajina Dolních Kounic z pohledu autorů Františkánského („Stabilního“) katastru</b> Stabilní katastr, podle panovníka který inicioval jeho vznik též Františkánský katastr, je ucelené, na svoji dobu maximálně objektivní a přesné dílo o kvantitativním i kvalitativním stavu půdního fondu a ekonomiky v Č echách, na M oravě a ve S lezsku, ale i R akousku a Dalmácii. Unikátní je svojí podrobností, rozsahem věcným i územním a jednotnými pravidly, podle nichž vznikal a které usnadňují porovnatelnost jeho výstupů i v mezinárodním kontextu. Velice cenný je precizně zpracovaný mapový operát Stabilního katastru, ze kterého doposud ještě vychází 70 % současných katastrálních map (Pešl 2001), což hovoří za vše. Písemný operát je bohatý na detailní historickogeografická data o celém katastrálním území, jež by se dala seřadit do tří kategorií: údaje o sídle a katastru, informace o zemědělské výrobě a využití půdy, údaje o průmyslové výrobě, obchodu a živnostech. Krajina Dolních Kounic, jak ji zachytil stabilní katastr, je krajinou na přelomu barokní a novověké éry. Stále se zde plně neprojevila zemědělská revoluce v podobě systému střídavého hospodářství a dalších intenzifikačních opatření, ale z pohledu průmyslu je tomu naopak, průmyslová výroba se zde již rozvíjí, nejvýznamnějším podnikem je textilní továrna a cihelny, město je hospodářským a obchodním centrem pro blízký region. Krajinné pokrývce dominuje mozaika polí, vinic a pastvin, která je zejména na levobřežní části katastru velmi drobná a pestrá. Z mapového operátu je patrná snaha o využití každého možného pozemku – pastviny jsou v údolích vodotečí i na velmi strmých svazích, neobhospodařované zůstávají prakticky jen holé skály. Město je determinováno reliéfem a řekou, která ho dělí i významově na jádro (centrum města na pravém břehu) a periferii na levém břehu. Špatné dopravní napojení a poloha Dolních Kounic mimo hlavní obchodní cesty a železnici vedla v pozdější době k jeho stagnaci. Srovnatelnost dat o využití půdy vedených v rámci Stabilního katastru, tedy z roku 1841, a z katastrálních výkazů z roku 1845 není v případě Dolních Kounic jednoznačná, protože byly použity z části jiné kategorie využití půdy (některé upřesňující, jiné naopak generalizující) a zřejmě i odlišné postupy při hodnocení jednotlivých ploch. Z porovnání vyplývá, že tyto dva datové soubory nelze mezi sebou porovnávat na základě základních kategorií land use, ale jen pomocí souhrnných kategorií (zemědělský půdní fond, Lesní plochy a jiné), podobně jak to popisuje metodika použitá tvůrci databáze LUCC UK. Vzhledem k přesně danému postupu při torbě Stabilního katastru i při pozdější tvorbě katastrálních výkazů lze očekávat podobné nesrovnalosti také v ostatních katastrálních územích.

A reflection of the unfavorable living conditions caused by the First World War in the diet and health of a 10‐year‐old boy (1907–1917) from Vetlá cemetery, Bohemia

AbstractAlthough First World War battles did not directly affect the territory of all participating states, the conflict brought suffering in the form of a decline in their inhabitants' economic situation. This was also true in the Czech Lands. Opportunities for studying the impact of the period's difficult living conditions on the human body are very limited. This study presents pilot research into the possible influence of the wartime environment on children's lives through the example of a 10‐year‐old boy (1907–1917) from a family of landowners. The circumstances of his death and burial, demonstrated in coffin adjustment, confirm that the war influenced conditions at the time. We therefore considered the possible osteological and nutritional manifestations of the stress of that time, such as difference between biological and chronological age, the presence of skeletal developmental anomalies, signs of nonspecific stress in the form of linear enamel hypoplasia and Harris lines, and diet, also in the family context. The results showed no significant difference between the boy's biological and chronological ages nor body height disorder. There were seven developmental anomalies on his skeleton, some also found in other family members, which supports documented family relationships. Co‐occurrence of signs of nonspecific stress and isotopic shifts were also found, indicating the possible presence of nutritional stress before his wartime death.

On the history of naming women in the Czech lands

Abstract The study follows the development of naming women with names used in public during the period before surnames were introduced by law (i.e. before 1786). The analysis of anthroponyms proved that naming women reflects their social status. Daughters were most frequently identified by their first names and by their relations to their fathers, as well as wives and widows were most frequently identified by their first names and by their relations to their husbands. Naming units of a descriptive nature have originated in this way, with a tendency towards simplification during further development, e.g., Anna manželka Matěje Jírova … Anna Matěje Jíry … Anna Jírova (these are several stages of naming a person referred to as “Ann, the wife of Matěj Jíra”). Wealthy widows or wives of a more prominent social status than their husbands had the same complementary anthroponyms as men (Anna mlynářka skalická – “Ann, the miller of Skalice”) and their children or husbands were often referred to in the way the particular women were, e.g., Martin Evka (derived from Eva), Ondřejovi, Kateřininému synu (“to Andrew, the son of Catherine”). These facts prove that the way of naming women with names used in public was primarily determined by their social status, rather than by the gender.

Czech-French political contacts in the early 1870s

The subject of this research is the political relations that developed between the Czech national politicians of Bohemia and the French diplomatic mission in Austria-Hungary in the early 1870s. Analysis is conducted on the initial stage of Czech political Francophilism. The article employs the historical-genetic method that allows tracing the establishment and development of the indicated ties. Comparative-historical method is used for describing the specificity and important aspects of the Czech-French contacts of the early 1870s in relation to 1860s, as well as on the background of parallel Czech-Russian relations. The novelty is defined by the fact that this topic, namely the Czech political Francophilism, has not been previously covered within the Russian historiography. The main conclusion lies in the thesis that in the early 1870s Czech politicians and French diplomats manifested equal and mutual interest for the first time. Both parties pursued to exert pressure on Vienna: the French &amp;ndash; to entice over the Third Republic in the conflict with Prussia, and the Czechs &amp;ndash; to force change the status of the Czech lands in the monarchy. The analysis demonstrates that the Czech politicians were exceedingly pragmatic: if in the end of 1870 they openly supported France, then in the beginning of 1871 they have ignored the initiatives of French diplomats. This is substantiated by the potentially successful negotiations with the imperial center. Moreover, the political Francophilism suggested the desire of the Czechs to show the strategic (economic, political, and cultural) significance of the lands of the Czech Crown not only in Austria-Hungary, but also in the European space.