Medieval Prague

Studie byla publikovaná v knize ,,Svatováclavský sborník" na památku 1000. výročí smrti knížete Václava Svatého. (Svazek 1:  Kníže Václav Svatý a jeho doba) vydané roku 1934 v Praze / Der Artikel wurde im Buch „Svatováclavský sborník“ publiziert, das im Jahre 1934 in Prag zum Gedächtnis des 1000. Jubiläums des Tods von Hl. Wenceslaus (Band 1: Fürst Hl. Wenceslaus und seine Zeit) herausgegeben wurde.

This paper presents a commented edition and English translation of a unique document preserved in the manuscript Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, MS héb. 242 – a letter written by Prague scholar Avigdor Kara (d. 1432). The brief letter (one manuscript folio) represents a poetic request for financial assistance ad- dressed to members of an unspecified community and describes Kara’s living conditions as a teacher of schoolchildren in the wake of an attack on the Jewish community in his place of residence. The article analyses Kara’s literary de- scription of his occupation in the context of his intellectual interests, as attested in other texts. Furthermore, it suggests that the letter was written in the aftermath of the 1389 Easter attack against the Jews in Prague. The presented edition of this document aims to correct the shortcomings of previous published versions and it supplements them by providing an English translation of the letter.

Stonemasons Marks in The Passage of the Powder tower

The text concerns problems of the methods of survey and documentation of stonemasons' marks and pays attention to the current state of viewing the results of work done in this field so far, i.e. publication of documented stone marks on Prague buildings. walls in the passage of the Prašná gate have been chosen to practical verification of options and limits during their documentation without direct access (from scaffolding, platform etc.). Documentation of marks on the ashlar walls was pursued solely from the pavement level using a camera, folding 2 m rule as a graphical scale and sun light at various angles in various seasons and day times on certain parts of the walls. individual types of marks and their position on the walls were documented. The marks come from the period of the tower construction in 1475–1483. in the second half of the 19 th century the marks were documented by František Beneš, Franz Rziha and Josef Mocker. The finds from the passage could thus be compared with earlier documentation, which was widened with further types of marks found in the accessible interiors of the tower.

Text se zabývá problematikou metod průzkumu a dokumentace kamenických značek a všímá si současného stavu zpřístupnění výsledků již provedené práce na tomto poli, tedy publikací dokumentovaných kamenických značek na pražských stavbách. Pro praktické ověření možností a omezení při dokumentování kamenických značek bez přímého přístupu k nim (z lešení, plošiny a podobně) byly vybrány stěny v průjezdu Prašné brány. Dokumentace značek na kvádrovém zdivu byla prováděna výhradně z úrovně chodníku. Jako pomůcky při do-kumentaci bylo užíváno pouze fotoaparátu, skládacího dvoumetru jako grafického měřítka a slunečních paprsků dopadajících v různých ročních a denních dobách pod více či méně vhodným úhlem na určité části zdiva. Dokumentovány byly jednotlivé typy značek, ale také jejich pozice na stěnách průjezdu. Značky pocházejí z doby výstavby věže v letech 1475–1483. Značky na Prašné bráně dokumentovali již František Beneš, Franz Rziha a Josef Mocker, nálezy z průjezdu tak bylo možné porovnat s jejich dokumentací z druhé poloviny 19. století. Dokumentace byla dále doplněna o další typy značek nalezené v přístupných interiérech věže.

Příspěvek byl přednesen na konferenci FUMA XVII - „Velké středověké a novověké výzkumy a co s nimi?“ Výsledky, metodika a zpracování výzkumů z měst, vesnic a hradů konané v Brně ve dnech 18. a 19. 6. 2019.

Záchranný archeologický výzkum v ploše bývalých kasáren Jiřího z Poděbrad na náměstí Republiky v Praze na Novém Městě byl a dosud je jedním z nejrozsáhlejších plošných odkryvů v centru Pražské památkové rezervace. Samotná terénní část výzkumu, které předcházely zjišťovací výkopy v letech 1996 a 1998/99, proběhla v letech 2003-2006. Příspěvek zhodnocuje zvolenou strategii a metodiku terénního výzkumu v konfrontaci se stavem jeho současného zpracování a možnostmi práce s dosavadními výsledky v dalších letech.

Opatovice in Prague's New Town. Th e oldest history and topography of the suburban settlement in light of written sources
The article looks at a place most frequently referred to in written sources as Opatovice or V Opatovicích. Th e settlement was located around the Church of St. Michael in the northwest part of what would later become Prague's New Town. By studying the written sources, the author attempts to outline the oldest history not just of the settlement that would later constitute the New Town's Opatovice neighborhood, but also of the surrounding areas. Documents and period records most often defi ne the settlement's location with the help of the paths and roads that pass through it. Th e article also looks at important roads that pass through the settlement or nearby, and also attempts to interpret the possible course of the well-known "Vyšehrad road".

In the Old Royal Palace in the Middle Ages and early Modern Age cycles of rulers evolved, the idea of which was to confirm the legitimacy of the ruling monarch.
Around 1360 Charles IV, after being crowned Emperor in Rome in 1355, had a large cycle of world rulers placed in the Throne Room. Two inscriptions found on the south side designated the panel paintings of Emperors Leo IV and Charles III the Fat. According to this it is possible to determine that the cycle ran clockwise and probably began next to the entrance to the hall on the north side. The basis for its compilation was probably a list, stored now in the Třeboň archive (A 7). The panels, possibly 104 in all, were of a similar size to the panel paintings in the Holy Cross Chapel at Karlstein Castle and possibly also executed by Master Theodoricus and his workshop. During the construction of the Vladislav Hall the cycle vanished, but a new one was created elsewhere, evidently in 1502 by a painter named Hans, perhaps Hans Elfelder. The cycle was placed in the antechamber of the Royal Apartment in the west wing of the Palace and represented Czech rulers, beginning with Přemysl the Ploughman. It perished following the fire in 1541, but we know of it from the codex created by order of Jan Zajic of Hazmburk (ONB, Cod. 8043). In 1548 Paolo della Stella, the architect and sculptor of King Ferdinand I, proposed the renovation of this cycle in the Vladislav Hall, where the cycle was to be bordered by the symbols of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The splendid design, comprising forty rulers and a hundred figures in the vaulting, was not adopted for financial reasons and in its place a greatly reduced cycle was started in 1561, consisting of perhaps only seventeen monarchs on the west facade of the wing of the New Office of the Land Rolls. Because of improper technique, the work was stopped before it was even completed and the paintings were whitewashed over. Subsequent proposals for the interior of the Old Diet were not realised either and so the Palace remained without its cycle of rulers. It was not until the arrival of Rudolf II in the new Castle Palace that there were several cycles, but these comprised emperors only.

The University Library in Bologna possesses a plan dated circa 1626, by the Florentine architect and military engineer Giovanni Pieroni, concerning proposed fortification with a contemporary survey of Vyšehrad castle, drawn in particular detail in the area of the ruined former royal acropolis prior to its Baroque redevelopment to a fort, providing a valuable glimpse of the earlier constructions. Additionally the plan depicts elements not revealed from the archaeological excavations, comprehensively published in 2004–2015. Also prospects by the Dutch draftsmen, Roelandt Savery and Paulus van Vianen, who worked in Prague at the court of Rudolph II, are equally valuable for the topography of Vyšehrad. These documents help to interpret other known iconographic sources, mainly the two Sadeler’s prospects from 1606, and depict the royal acropolis in greater detail. They also bring new knowledge of its layout in the period of Charles IV and Wenceslas IV, especially regarding the questions about its gates and palaces.

„UNSER STAT RATHAUS“. THE OLD TOWN HALL IN PRAGUE AND ITS EARLIEST GALLERY OF COATS OF ARMS
This study presents evidence of minimum two main construction phases in the building development of the Old Town Hall. The completion of the lower part of its tower, including the oriel with a chapel, can newly be dated from 1365–1366, since the earliest gallery of arms in the Town Hall may be identified with the eighteen burghers-town councillors, who were in the session of that period and participated on the completion of the building. This is indicated not only by later evidence on the walls with the depiction of the arms of the town councillors from the period of a completion of a certain construction phase, but also by the absence of arms of some important families in the arms galleries, although they resided in the town. The corbels in the shape of monster heads below the observation deck of the Town Hall tower, which can be dated between 1372 and 1381, give support to the completion of the Town Hall construction in August 1381, including the tower. The arms gallery below the observation deck with only a single coat of arms preserved to the present day, may, in the author’s opinion of, be associated cautiously with the council of 1381, which achieved to complete the Town Hall.

Příspěvek přináší souhrn dosavadního poznání pohřbívání v Praze v 11. až 1.  polovině 13. století tj. v období rozvoje protoměstské/předlokační aglomerace před konstituování právních vrcholně středověkých měst (Starého Města pražského a Malé Strany). Na základě archeologických pramenů bylo možné do přehledu zařadit  celkem 41 lokalit včetně dosud nepublikovaných pohřebišť u několika zaniklých raně středověkých kostelů. Kromě hřbitovů u sakrálních staveb jsou v nastíněném přehledu popsány i funerální areály, u kterých žádnou sakrální stavbu neznáme, tzv. nekostelní pohřebiště. Díky radiouhlíkovým analýzám se podařilo u několika nekropolí zpřesnit jejich datování. Stav poznání je nepříznivě ovlivněn torzovitým dochováním pohřebních areálů a obtížným datováním některých hrobových nálezů. Významným indikátorem staršího vývoje na mnoha lokalitách jsou četné nálezy hrobů narušených románskými konstrukcemi raně středověkých kostelů.

[1. ENG. > 2. ITA.]

1. ENG.
John of Nepomuk, canonised by the Church in 1729, in the popular consciusness replaced Saints Christopher, Nicholas and Zeno as protector from the dangers posed by water and traveling, especially in the areas of Central Europe under Hapsburg rule. Venerated in as far back as the 17th century, after his canonisation his following grew significantly. This was furthered also by the dissemination in the late 17th century of books that told the story of his life and the miracles allegedly due to his intercession. In Trentino too, in the course of a century tormented by many floods, murals and wooden and stone statues were to protect houses, as well as churches and votive chapels dedicated to him in particular.              .

2. ITA.
Giovanni Nepomuceno, dichiarato santo dalla chiesa nel 1729, sostituì nella coscienza popolare specie nei territori dell’Europa centrale soggetti al controllo degli Asburgo il ruolo di protettore dai pericoli delle acque e dei viaggi che in precedenza era stato svolto dai santi Cristoforo, Nicola e Zeno. Venerato già dalla fine del Seicento dopo la sua canonizzazione e grazie alla diffusione di libri che raccontavano sia la sua vita che i miracoli che si ritenevano dovuti alla sua intercessione crebbe di molto la devozione nei suoi confronti. Anche in Trentino nel corso di un secolo tormentato da molti eventi alluvionali vennero fatti realizzare dipinti murali e statue in legno a protezioni di abitazioni, oltre che chiese, cappelle votive a lui particolarmente dedicate e belle statue lapidee.

The Monastery of the Canons Regular of the Holy Sepulchre in Zderaz in Prague, was one of Prague's oldest monasteries. At the same time, however, due to its destruction in 1420 it is one of the least preserved and thus the least known about. The Order originated in Jerusalem, where after the conquest of the city by the Crusaders in 1099, the Duke of Lorraine, Godfrey of Bouillon, appointed a chapter of canons at the church of the Holy Sepulchre whose purpose was to protect and worship the Holy Sepulchre. This was transformed into a regulated order by the Patriarch Arnulf of Chocques in 1114 and governed by the Canons Regular. Soon afterwards the order began to spread to Europe, where it gained favor as well as richly endowed houses, one of the more significant of which was the monastery founded in Miechów near Krakow in 1163. Its layout, with the convent located on the northwest corner of the monastery church, evidently influenced such a similar arrangement in Prague.
Due to relatively rich surviving written sources, several of the Zderaz monastery's construction campaigns can be explored. The monastery was founded around 1190 at the church of St. Peter by the members of the North Bohemian Hrabišic family, the brothers Kojata and Všebor. Kojata bequeathed his considerable fortune before his death to the monastery in 1227, as did Všebor sometime before 1238, when the two church altars were consecrated. The establishment of the altars was probably related to the construction realized through Všebor's bequest, probably carried out earlier and finally drawn up in 1238. From 1256 there are dated documents conferring numerous indulgences for the benefit of the monastery; the income from these indulgences was associated with further construction which culminated in 1276 with the consecration of the new chorus together with the altar under the name of the Holy Sepulchre and St. John the Baptist. Relics of the Holy Cross and the Holy Sepulchre were placed into the altar of the choir, which in 1270 was referred to as a costly work. Given that the church had been dedicated to St. Peter, the dedication of the new choir to the Holy Sepulchre may be interpreted as for a new choir, on the west side.
According to Baroque historians, the sacristy and a fragment of the presbytery from the church still stood in 1715, in the vicinity of the cloister which lay to the west of the church, which supports the presumption of the western orientation of the choir. A western orientation and the dedication to the Holy Sepulchre, the only one in medieval Bohemia, would have reflected the Order's focus on homage to the location proving the resurrection of Christ. In the 1390's, the church was apparently repaired from damage that occurred around 1278 or 1286. This may be the period of origin for stone fragments found in the Baroque church which was demolished in 1904–1905. Around 1361, the monastery cloister was rebuilt, inside which the chapel of Corpus Christi was located. The chapel was mentioned in 1391, when a stonemason named Henzlin was referred to as a witness and who might have participated in the construction of some part of the monastery. Another event relating to the monastery church, which in 1410 was mentioned as "decrepit with age", was probably completed in 1415, when the altar of Corpus Christi and the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, founded in the year 1408, was moved to the newly built part of the church. Since the brotherhood caring for the construction of the chapel of Corpus Christi on Karlovo náměstí had a close relationship with the Zderaz monastery, in which the decision was made in 1382 to build that chapel, it is not impossible that the reconstruction of the monastery church took place with the participation of the builder of the chapel, consecrated sometime before 1408. From the entire complex, today a part of the northern wing of the cloister is preserved, incorporated into the dwelling house No. 275/II as three very narrow arcade arches. Research in 1954–1955 revealed brackets of former groin vaults which have parallels in the adjacent Benedictine monastery Na Slovanech which was built at the same time. A noteworthy detail of the vaulting were dividing ribs of semi-circular profile, perhaps as an imitation of an older model from the c. 1238 construction campaign. Until 1905, a part of the adjacent eastern wing of the cloister and a great portal from the 14th century still existed, the latter now preserved only in fragments, facing northwards from the cloister, perhaps towards the former church. A closer comparison with the preserved church of the women's branch of the order in Světec near Bílina does not provide unequivocal results, neither does an analysis of the alleged medieval appearance of the Zderaz church published in 1797.
The community followed the liturgy, introduced in the early 12th century directly at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, as illustrated by a manuscript dating from around 1385, preserved in the University Library in Wroclaw (I Q 175). The manuscript belonged to a monastery in Silesian Nysa which was subordinated to Zderaz before the Hussite wars and to where the Prague community took recourse, which is how the manuscript got to Poland. The calendar of the manuscript, containing many feast days of the Bohemian patron saints, was written sometime around 1385 and was used in Bohemia even in the 90's, when newly announced feast days were added. The manuscript is the latest known version of a number of similar liturgical books compiled after the fall of Jerusalem (1187) in Acre and during the 13th and 14th centuries in Europe for the monasteries of Canons of the Holy Sepulchre. These religious houses followed the liturgy preserving the situation of Jerusalem during the Crusades in detail, as demonstrated by the rubrics determining how to carry out the celebrations of Palm Sunday and the Easter festivities, including the play of the Visit to the Tomb (Visitatio Sepulchri) in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, counting with a visit to Calvary. This play, staged at Zderaz apparently in the western choir, thus extends the list of known performances played in medieval Prague (St. George, St. Vitus, Knights of St. John Monastery). The significance of the finding that the manuscript was used in Prague also lies in the fact that it was apparently this unusual Jerusalem liturgy which inspired the Emperor Charles IV to found the Benedictine monastery, following the old Slavonic liturgy, in the very vicinity of the Zderaz monastery, supplemented later by the monastery of the Milan Benedictines, which followed the (also unusual) Ambrosian liturgy.

In 1402, with the death of the fourth archbishop of Prague Olbram of Škvorec an almost fortyyear period was capped, during which the office of the archbishop of Prague was held exclusively by the members of two originally burgher families – the descendants of Jan of Kamenice and the Olbramovice family. The successor of the first archbishop of Prague Arnošt of Pardubice became Jan Očko, the son of a burgher and the court scribe of King John of Luxembourg Jan of Kamenice. His nephew Jan of Jenštejn was elected as the uncle’s successor on the metropolitan throne, on which in the end even Očko’s grand-nephew Olbram of Škvorec sat. It was not the first case when sons coming from burgher families held high ecclesiastical posts. Using the example of the admirable careers of three burgher sons, we can attempt to observe the basic mechanisms of the social and economic rise of the urban elites under the Luxembourgs, which found its reflection also in their representation. The social and property rise also created the essential prerequisite for their penetration among the court and ecclesiastical elite.

This article concerns itself with the study of the dramatic elements in the mediaeval liturgy in Bohemia and the use of mobile statues of Christ or the symbols of Christ (the host, the cross). It focuses on those feasts in the liturgical calendar that were dramatized: leading the ass on Palm Sunday, depositing the host, the cross, or the body of Christ into the Holy Sepulchre on Good Friday and their retrieval before the play of Visit to the Sepulchre on Easter Monday, and finally raising the statue of Christ on Ascension Day. The rubrics of St Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle indicate that on Palm Sunday a live ass used to be led here, and from the 14th century this practice was replaced by a statue of Christ on an Ass, which in 1421 was toppled from the cathedral gallery by revolting Prague citizens. One such statue that has survived to date comes from the commandry of the Order of the Knights of St John in Strakonice. A statue in České Budějovice dating from around 1370 represents the corpora placed in the Sepulchre. Written records attest to the use of such statues in the Monastery of St Thomas in Malá Strana in Prague and in two churches in Olomouc. Also from the Olomouc region are two statues of Christ that have movable arms. The earliest of these statues, which could be removed from the cross and placed in the Easter Sepulchre, is from the Church of St Benedict in Hradčany in Prague and dates from around 1350. A pieta from Lásenice has a detachable Jesus figure with a movable arm. The only portable Holy Sepulchre documented in Bohemia was in the Church of St Barbora in Kutná Hora, it dated from 1464 and was equipped with wheels for portability. The Bohemian example may have been the inspiration for the Czech-born sculptor who carved the entirely transparent Sepulchre for the Busmannkapelle of the Franciscan monastery in Dresden, which was evidently based on the wooden, portable model. The raising of statues on Resurrection Day is illustrated by one such event in Prague in 1509 in the Church of St Thomas in Malá Strana.

Abstract: The text discusses the Wenceslas Chapel of St. Vitus' Cathedral in Prague as an ensemble of architecture and images that was intended to serve both liturgical and communicative purposes. The view of the exterior made clear which roles the saint buried in the chapel played in the spiritual and political life of the kingdom and its capital. The interior defined Wenceslas' functions as a model of Christian life and as an intercessor at Mary's side.

From its foundation in 1348, the University of Prague attracted students as well asscholars from all over Europe to its Faculty of Arts, where they studied and taught the subjects of the curriculum in all their variety. Nevertheless, our knowledge about these Prague scholars and their thought is still rather limited. In an effort to fill this gap, this volume is the first devoted entirely to the production, reception, and transmission of knowledge in the Arts Faculty of the medieval University of Prague, covering topics in astronomy, linguistics, logic, metaphysics, meteorology, and optics. It also links Prague's Faculty of Arts to several others at universities across Europe and it examines the study of the arts in Bohemia outside the university, including the Jewish milieu. The book contributes to advancing the status quaestionis in various ways, mainly through the analysis of less well-known and even unpublished texts, critical editions of some of which are printed here for the first time.

Příspěvek je věnován středověkým nástěnným malbám v kostele sv. Apolináře, jejich ikonografii a ideovému pozadí. Iluminace na fol. 243r v rukopise M III 36 (Salzburg, Universitní knihovna), vzniklé po roce 1425, tematizuje v obraze shodné motivy (septem artes liberales), které dříve básnicky tematizoval pražský arcibiskup Jan z Jenštejna ve své kantiléně „Dic, quaenam doctrina“. Kantiléna je patrně jedním z klíčů k vysvětlení ikonografie maleb v kostele sv. Apolináře v Praze, za jejichž objednavatele bývá považován Jan z Jenštejna. Geneze zobrazení odkazuje k realizacím v oblasti Bologni a především k mendikantským řádům. V Bologni Jan z Jenštejna studoval a navázal tam přátelské vztahy s dominikánem Raymundem z Capuy, který pobýval v klášteře při kostele S. Maria Novella, ve kterém se nachází jedna z nejvýznamnějších památek zobrazení „Septem artes liberales“. S touto malbou můžeme pražské malby v mnohém pozitivně srovnat.                            ////                           

The article discusses the medieval wall paintings in the church St. Apollinaire, their iconography and ideological background. Illumination on fol. 243r in manuscript M III 36 (University Library of Salzburg), created after 1425, we find an unusual image "Septem artes liberales". Similar the theme previously worked Prague archbishop Jan of Jenštejna in his poem 'Dic, quaenam doctrina ". This poem is probably one of the keys to explain the elaborate iconography of the paintings in the church of St. Apollinaris in Prague. For the ordering tends to be regarded from Jan Jenštejna. Genesis of the theme refers to the realizations of Bologna, and especially to the mendicant orders. Jan of Jenštejn studied in Bologna and there followed up friendly relations with dominican Raymund of Capua, who lived in the monastery by the church S. Maria Novella. In the chapter hall of the monastery is one of the most important murals "Septem artes liberales", with which we can compare Prague image well.

Discussion on the question of sanctity of Mlada, the first abbess of St. George's Convent in Prague Castle. I try to show that there is no solid evidence for Mlada's cult in the Middle Ages. It appears first in the 17th century as a local cult inside the convent.