1.
Czech language
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Czech, historically also Bohemian, is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group. It is spoken by over 10 million people and is the language of the Czech Republic. Czech is closely related to Slovak, to the point of being intelligible to a very high degree. In the later 18th to mid-19th century, the written standard was codified in the context of the Czech National Revival. The main vernacular, known as Common Czech, is based on the vernacular of Prague, the Moravian dialects spoken in the eastern part of the country are mostly also counted as Czech, although some of their eastern variants are closer to Slovak. The Czech phoneme inventory is moderate in size, comprising five vowels, words may contain uncommon consonant clusters, including one consonant represented by the grapheme ř, or lack vowels altogether. Czech orthography is simple, and has used as a model by phonologists. Czech is classified as a member of the West Slavic sub-branch of the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and this branch includes Polish, Kashubian, Upper and Lower Sorbian and Slovak. Slovak is by far the closest genetic neighbor of Czech, the West Slavic languages are spoken in an area classified as part of Central Europe. Around the 7th century, the Slavic expansion reached Central Europe, the West Slavic polity of Great Moravia formed by the 9th century. The Christianization of Bohemia took place during the 9th and 10th centuries, the Bohemian language is first recorded in writing in glosses and short notes during the 12th to 13th centuries. Literary works written in Czech appear in the early 14th century, the first complete Bible translation also dates to this period. Old Czech texts, including poetry and cookbooks, were produced outside the university as well, literary activity becomes widespread in the early 15th century in the context of the Bohemian Reformation. There was no standardization distinguishing between Czech and Slovak prior to the 15th century, the publication of the Kralice Bible between 1579 and 1593 became very important for standardization of the Czech language in the following centuries. In 1615, the Bohemian diet tried to declare Czech to be the official language of the kingdom. After the Bohemian Revolt which was defeated by the Habsburgs in 1620 and this emigration together with other consequences of the Thirty Years War had a negative impact on the further use of the Czech language. In 1627, Czech and German became official languages of the Kingdom of Bohemia and in the 18th century German became dominant in Bohemia and Moravia, the modern standard Czech language originates in standardization efforts of the 18th century. Changes include the shift of í to ej and é to í and the merging of í
2.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
3.
Bohemia
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Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech lands in the present-day Czech Republic. Bohemia was a duchy of Great Moravia, later an independent principality, a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently a part of the Habsburg Monarchy, after World War I and the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state, Bohemia became a part of Czechoslovakia. Between 1938 and 1945, border regions with sizeable German-speaking minorities of all three Czech lands were joined to Nazi Germany as the Sudetenland, in 1990, the name was changed to the Czech Republic, which become a separate state in 1993 with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Until 1948, Bohemia was a unit of Czechoslovakia as one of its lands. Bohemia was bordered in the south by Upper and Lower Austria, in the west by Bavaria and in the north by Saxony and Lusatia, in the northeast by Silesia, and in the east by Moravia. In the 2nd century BC, the Romans were competing for dominance in northern Italy, the Romans defeated the Boii at the Battle of Placentia and the Battle of Mutina. After this, many of the Boii retreated north across the Alps, much later Roman authors refer to the area they had once occupied as Boiohaemum. The earliest mention was by Tacitus Germania 28, and later mentions of the name are in Strabo. The name appears to include the tribal name Boi- plus the Germanic element *haimaz home and this Boiohaemum was apparently isolated to the area where King Marobods kingdom was centred, within the Hercynian forest. The Czech name Čechy is derived from the name of the Slavic ethnic group, the Czechs, Bohemia, like neighbouring Bavaria, is named after the Boii, who were a large Celtic nation known to the Romans for their migrations and settlement in northern Italy and other places. Another part of the nation moved west with the Helvetii into southern France, to the south, over the Danube, the Romans extended their empire, and to the southeast in Hungaria, were Sarmatian peoples. In the area of modern Bohemia the Marcomanni and other Suebic groups were led by their king Marobodus and he took advantage of the natural defenses provided by its mountains and forests. In late classical times and the early Middle Ages, two new Suebic groupings appeared to the west of Bohemia in southern Germany, the Alemanni, many Suebic tribes from the Bohemian region took part in such movements westwards, even settling as far away as Spain and Portugal. With them were also tribes who had pushed from the east, such as the Vandals, other groups pushed southwards towards Pannonia. These are precursors of todays Czechs, though the amount of Slavic immigration is a subject of debate. The Slavic influx was divided into two or three waves, the first wave came from the southeast and east, when the Germanic Lombards left Bohemia. Soon after, from the 630s to 660s, the territory was taken by Samos tribal confederation and his death marked the end of the old Slavonic confederation, the second attempt to establish such a Slavonic union after Carantania in Carinthia. Other sources divide the population of Bohemia at this time into the Merehani, Marharaii, Beheimare, Christianity first appeared in the early 9th century, but only became dominant much later, in the 10th or 11th century
4.
Defenestration
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Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window. The term was coined around the time of an incident in Prague Castle in the year 1618, the word comes from the New Latin de- and fenestra. Likewise, it can refer to the condition of being thrown out of a window. While the act of defenestration connotes the forcible or peremptory removal of an adversary, the term originates from two incidents in history, both occurring in Prague. In 1419, seven officials were thrown from the Town Hall. In 1618, two Imperial governors and their secretary were tossed from Prague Castle, sparking the Thirty Years War and these incidents, particularly in 1618, were referred to as the Defenestrations of Prague and gave rise to the term and the concept. Historically, the word referred to an act of political dissent. Notably, the Defenestrations of Prague in 1419 and 1618 helped to trigger prolonged conflict within Bohemia, some Catholics ascribed the survival of those defenestrated at Prague Castle in 1618 to divine intervention. As recorded in the book of Kings II in the Bible, in chapter 20 verses 6 through 12 of The Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament, the accidental autodefenestration of a young man of Troas named Eutychus is recorded. The Apostle Paul was travelling to Jerusalem and had stopped for 7 days in Troas and it has been suggested by several chronicles that King John killed his nephew, Arthur of Brittany, by defenestration from the castle at Rouen, France, in 1203. In 1378, the crafts and their leader Wouter van der Leyden occupied the Leuven city hall, most of the patricians left the city and fled to Aarschot. After negotiations were made between the parties, they agreed to share the government, the patricians did not accept this easily, as it caused them to lose their absolute power. In an attempt to regain control, they had Wouter van der Leyden assassinated in Brussels. Seeking revenge, the crafts handed over the patrician to a furious crowd, the crowd stormed the city hall and threw the patricians out of the window. At least 15 patricians were killed during this defenestration of Leuven, in 1383, Bishop Dom Martinho was defenestrated by the citizens of Lisbon, having been suspected of conspiring with the enemy when Lisbon was besieged by the Castilians. In 1419 Hussite mob defenestrates a judge, the burgomaster, in 1452, King James II of Scotland murdered William Douglas, 8th Earl of Douglas, with his own hands and threw him out the window at Stirling Castle. On April 26,1478, after the failure of the Pazzi conspiracy to murder the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de Medici, in 1483, Pragues Old-Town portreeve and the bodies of seven murdered New-Town aldermen were defenestrated. On May 16,1562, Adham Khan, Akbars general and foster brother, was defenestrated twice for murdering a rival general, Ataga Khan, Akbar was woken up in the tumult after the murder
5.
Prague
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Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. It is the 14th largest city in the European Union and it is also the historical capital of Bohemia. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city has a temperate climate, with warm summers and chilly winters. Prague has been a political, cultural, and economic centre of central Europe with waxing and waning fortunes during its history and it was an important city to the Habsburg Monarchy and its Austro-Hungarian Empire. Prague is home to a number of cultural attractions, many of which survived the violence. Main attractions include the Prague Castle, the Charles Bridge, Old Town Square with the Prague astronomical clock, since 1992, the extensive historic centre of Prague has been included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The city has more than ten major museums, along with theatres, galleries, cinemas. An extensive modern public transportation system connects the city, also, it is home to a wide range of public and private schools, including Charles University in Prague, the oldest university in Central Europe. Prague is classified as an Alpha- global city according to GaWC studies, Prague ranked sixth in the Tripadvisor world list of best destinations in 2016. Its rich history makes it a popular tourist destination, and the city more than 6.4 million international visitors annually. Prague is the fifth most visited European city after London, Paris, Istanbul, the region was settled as early as the Paleolithic age. In the last century BC, the Celts were slowly driven away by Germanic tribes, around the area where present-day Prague stands, the 2nd century map of Ptolemaios mentioned a Germanic city called Casurgis. In the following century, the Czech tribes built several fortified settlements in the area, most notably in Levý Hradec, Butovice and in the Šárka valley. The construction of what came to be known as the Prague Castle began near the end of the 9th century, the first masonry under Prague Castle dates from the year 885 at the latest. The other prominent Prague fort, the Přemyslid fort Vyšehrad, was founded in the 10th century, Prague Castle is dominated by the cathedral, which was founded in 1344, but completed in the 20th century. The legendary origins of Prague attribute its foundation to the 8th century Czech duchess and prophetess Libuše and her husband, Přemysl, legend says that Libuše came out on a rocky cliff high above the Vltava and prophesied, I see a great city whose glory will touch the stars. She ordered a castle and a town called Praha to be built on the site, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the city was founded as Boihaem in c.1306 BC by an ancient king, Boyya. The region became the seat of the dukes, and later kings of Bohemia, under Roman Emperor Otto II the area became a bishopric in 973
6.
Religious war
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A religious war or holy war is a war primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. A religious aspect has been part of warfare in some cultures as early as the battles of the Mesopotamian city-states, however, in the modern period, debates are common over the extent to which religious, economic, or ethnic aspects of a conflict predominate in a given war. Some argue that since the concept of religion is a modern invention. The modern word religion comes from the Latin word religio, in the ancient and medieval world, the etymological Latin root religio was understood as an individual virtue of worship, never as doctrine, practice, or actual source of knowledge. In the Quran, the Arabic word din is often translated as religion in modern translations and it was in the 19th century that the terms Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, and Confucianism first emerged. Max Müller characterized many other cultures around the world, including Egypt, Persia, what is called ancient religion today, they would have only called law. Some languages have words that can be translated as religion, but they may use them in a different way. For example, the Sanskrit word dharma, sometimes translated as religion, throughout classical South Asia, the study of law consisted of concepts such as penance through piety and ceremonial as well as practical traditions. Medieval Japan at first had a union between imperial law and universal or Buddha law, but these later became independent sources of power. There is no equivalent of religion in Hebrew, and Judaism does not distinguish clearly between religious, national, racial, or ethnic identities. One of its central concepts is halakha, meaning the walk or path sometimes translated as law, the European war against Muslim expansion was recognized as a religious war or bellum sacrum from the beginning. The early modern wars against the Ottoman Empire were seen as a continuation of this conflict by contemporaries. In their Encyclopedia of Wars, authors Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod document 1763 notable wars in world history, but for much of the world before the 17th century, these “reasons” for war were explained and justified, at least for the participants, by religion. Then, around the middle of the 17th century, Europeans began to conceive of war as a means of furthering the interests of individual sovereigns. Some commentators have concluded that only 123 wars out of these 1763 wars were fundamentally originated by religious motivations, religious wars account for less than 2% of all people killed in warfare. This includes 3 million during the Crusades and 3,000 during the Inquisition, according to Steven Pinker, religion accounts for only 13 out of 100 of the worlds worst atrocities in the history of the world. It is evident that religion as one aspect of a cultural heritage may serve as a cultural marker or ideological rationalisation for a conflict that has deeper ethnic. In Classical Antiquity develops the notion of a pantheon with a division of labour
7.
Hussite Wars
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These wars lasted from 1419 to approximately 1434. The Hussite community included most of the Czech population of the Kingdom of Bohemia and they defeated five crusades proclaimed against them by the Pope, and intervened in the wars of neighboring countries. The Hussite Wars were notable for the use of early hand-held firearms such as hand cannons. The fighting ended after 1434, when the moderate Utraquist faction of the Hussites defeated the radical Taborite faction, the Hussites agreed to submit to the authority of the King of Bohemia and the Church, and were allowed to practice their somewhat variant rite. Starting around 1402, priest and scholar Jan Hus denounced what he judged as the corruption of the Church and the Papacy and his preaching was widely heeded in Bohemia, and provoked suppression by the Church, which had declared Wycliffe a heretic. In 1411, in the course of the Western Schism, Antipope John XXIII proclaimed a crusade against King Ladislaus of Naples, to raise money for this, he proclaimed indulgences in Bohemia. Hus bitterly denounced this and explicitly quoted Wycliffe against it, provoking further complaints of heresy, in 1414, Sigismund of Hungary convened the Council of Constance to end the Schism and resolve other religious controversies. Hus went to the Council, under a safe-conduct from Sigismund, but was imprisoned, tried and this angered Sigismund, who was King of the Romans, and brother of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia. He had been persuaded by the Council that Hus was a heretic and he sent threatening letters to Bohemia declaring that he would shortly drown all Wycliffites and Hussites, greatly incensing the people. Disorder broke out in parts of Bohemia, and drove many Catholic priests from their parishes. Almost from the beginning the Hussites divided into two groups, though many minor divisions also arose among them. This doctrine became the watchword of the moderate Hussites known as the Utraquists or Calixtines, from the Latin calix, in Czech kališníci. The more extreme Hussites became known as Taborites, after the city of Tábor that became their center, or Orphans, under the influence of Sigismund, Wenceslaus endeavoured to stem the Hussite movement. A number of Hussites led by Mikuláš of Hus — no relation of Jan Hus — left Prague and they held meetings in various parts of Bohemia, particularly at Sezimovo Ústí, near the spot where the town of Tábor was founded soon afterwards. At these meetings they violently denounced Sigismund, and the people prepared for war. In spite of the departure of many prominent Hussites, the troubles at Prague continued and it has been suggested that Wenceslaus was so stunned by the defenestration that it caused his death on 16 August 1419. The death of Wenceslaus resulted in renewed troubles in Prague and in almost all parts of Bohemia, many Catholics, mostly Germans — mostly still faithful to the Pope — were expelled from the Bohemian cities. Wenceslaus widow Sophia of Bavaria, acting as regent in Bohemia, hurriedly collected a force of mercenaries and tried to control of Prague
8.
Thirty Years' War
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The Thirty Years War was a series of wars in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648. It was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, as well as the deadliest European religious war, resulting in eight million casualties. Initially a war between various Protestant and Catholic states in the fragmented Holy Roman Empire, it developed into a more general conflict involving most of the great powers. These states employed relatively large mercenary armies, and the war became less about religion, in the 17th century, religious beliefs and practices were a much larger influence on an average European than they are today. The war began when the newly elected Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, tried to impose uniformity on his domains. The northern Protestant states, angered by the violation of their rights to choose that had granted in the Peace of Augsburg. Ferdinand II was a devout Roman Catholic and relatively intolerant when compared to his predecessor and his policies were considered strongly pro-Catholic. They ousted the Habsburgs and elected Frederick V, Elector of the Rhenish Palatinate as their monarch, Frederick took the offer without the support of the union. The southern states, mainly Roman Catholic, were angered by this, led by Bavaria, these states formed the Catholic League to expel Frederick in support of the Emperor. The Empire soon crushed this rebellion in the Battle of White Mountain. After the atrocities committed in Bohemia, Saxony finally gave its support to the union, Spain, wishing to finally crush the Dutch rebels in the Netherlands and the Dutch Republic, intervened under the pretext of helping its dynastic Habsburg ally, Austria. No longer able to tolerate the encirclement of two major Habsburg powers on its borders, Catholic France entered the coalition on the side of the Protestants in order to counter the Habsburgs. Both mercenaries and soldiers in fighting armies traditionally looted or extorted tribute to get operating funds, the war also bankrupted most of the combatant powers. The Thirty Years War ended with the treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, the war altered the previous political order of European powers. Lutherans living in a prince-bishopric could continue to practice their faith, Lutherans could keep the territory they had taken from the Catholic Church since the Peace of Passau in 1552. Those prince-bishops who had converted to Lutheranism were required to give up their territories and this added a third major faith to the region, but its position was not recognized in any way by the Augsburg terms, to which only Catholicism and Lutheranism were parties. The Dutch revolted against Spanish domination during the 1560s, leading to a war of independence that led to a truce only in 1609. This dynastic concern overtook religious ones and led to Catholic Frances participation on the otherwise Protestant side of the war, Sweden and Denmark-Norway were interested in gaining control over northern German states bordering the Baltic Sea
9.
Czechs
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Ethnic Czechs were called Bohemians in English until the early 20th century, referring to the late Iron Age tribe of Celtic Boii and the land Bohemia. The Czech diaspora is found in numbers in the United States, Canada, Israel, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland, Italy. The Czech ethnic group is part of the West Slavic subgroup of the larger Slavic ethno-linguistical group, the West Slavs have origin in early Slavic tribes which settled in Central Europe after East Germanic tribes had left this area during the migration period. The West Slavic tribe of Bohemians settled in the area of Bohemia during the migration period and they formed an independent principality in the 9th century, the Duchy of Bohemia, under the Přemyslid dynasty. According to mythology, the father of the Czech people were Forefather Čech. The Czech are closely related to the neighbouring Slovaks, the Czech–Slovak languages form a dialect continuum rather than being two clearly distinct languages. Czech cultural influence in Slovak culture is noted as having much higher than the other way around. Czech people have a history of coexistence with Germanic people. The Czech National Revival took place in the 18th and 19th centuries aiming to revive Czech language, culture, the Czech were the initiators of Pan-Slavism. The Czech ethnonym was the name of a Slavic tribe in central Bohemia that subdued the tribes in the late 9th century. The origin of the name of the tribe itself is unknown, according to legend, it comes from their leader Čech, who brought them to Bohemia. Research regards Čech as a derivative of the root čel-, the Czech ethnonym was adopted by the Moravians in the 19th century. The name Bohemia is Germanic, English used that name until after the establishment of Czechoslovakia, the population of the Czech lands has been influenced by different human migrations that wide-crossed Europe over time. In their Y-DNA haplogroups, which are inherited along the male line,34. 2% of Czech males belong to R1a, which is particularly common in a large region extending from South Asia and Southern Siberia to Central Europe and Scandinavia. The population of the Czech Republic descends from diverse peoples of Slavic, Celtic and Germanic origin, presence of West Slavs in the 6th century during the Migration Period has been documented on the Czech territory. Slavs settled in Bohemia, Moravia and Austria sometime during the 6th or 7th centuries, according to a popular myth, the Slavs came with Forefather Čech who settled at the Říp Mountain. The Duchy of Bohemia emerged in the late 9th century, in 880, Prague Castle was constructed by Prince Bořivoj, founder of the Přemyslid dynasty and the city of Prague was established. Vratislav II was the first Czech king in 1085 and the duchy was raised to a kingdom under Ottokar I in 1198
10.
Hussites
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This predominantly religious movement was propelled by social issues and strengthened Czech national awareness. Among present-day Christians, Hussite traditions are represented in the Moravian Church, Unity of the Brethren, the arrest of Hus in 1414 caused considerable resentment in Czech lands. The authorities of both countries appealed urgently and repeatedly to King Sigismund to release Jan Hus, when news of his death at the Council of Constance in 1415 arrived, disturbances broke out, directed primarily against the clergy and especially against the monks. Even the Archbishop narrowly escaped from the effects of popular anger. The treatment of Hus was felt to be a disgrace inflicted upon the whole country, King Wenceslaus, prompted by his grudge against Sigismund, at first gave free vent to his indignation at the course of events in Constance. His wife openly favoured the friends of Hus, avowed Hussites stood at the head of the government. The university would arbitrate any disputed points, the entire Hussite nobility joined the league. Other than verbal protest of the treatment of Hus, there was little evidence of any actions taken by the nobility until 1417. The chalice of wine became the central identifying symbol of the Hussite movement, the prospect of a civil war began to emerge. Pope Martin V as Cardinal Otto of Colonna had attacked Hus with relentless severity and he energetically resumed the battle against Huss teaching after the enactments of the Council of Constance. He wished to completely the doctrine of Hus, for which purpose the co-operation of King Wenceslaus had to be obtained. In 1418, Sigismund succeeded in winning his brother over to the standpoint of the council by pointing out the inevitability of a war if the heretics in Bohemia found further protection. Hussite statesmen and army leaders had to leave the country and Roman Catholic priests were reinstated and these measures caused a general commotion which hastened the death of King Wenceslaus by a paralytic stroke in 1419. Hussism organised itself during the years 1415–1419, the moderate party, who followed Hus more closely, sought to conduct reform while leaving the whole hierarchical and liturgical order of the Church untouched. This required the removal of the hierarchy and the secularisation of ecclesiastical possessions. The radicals preached the sufficientia legis Christi—the divine law is the rule and canon for human society, not only in the church. But above all they clung to Wycliffes doctrine of the Lords Supper, denying transubstantiation, the radicals had their gathering-places all around the country. Their first armed assault fell on the town of Ústí, on the river Lužnice
11.
Priest
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A priest or priestess, is a person authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites, in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of and their office or position is the priesthood, a term which also may apply to such persons collectively. The necessity to read sacred texts and keep temple or church records helped foster literacy in early societies. Priests exist in many religions today, such as all or some branches of Judaism, Christianity, the question of which religions have a priest depends on how the titles of leaders are used or translated into English. In some cases, leaders are more like those that other believers will often turn to for advice on spiritual matters, for example, clergy in Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are priests, but in Protestant Christianity they are typically minister and pastor. The terms priest and priestess are sufficiently generic that they may be used in a sense to describe the religious mediators of an unknown or otherwise unspecified religion. In many religions, being a priest or priestess is a full-time position, many Christian priests and pastors choose or are mandated to dedicate themselves to their churches and receive their living directly from their churches. In other cases it is a part-time role, for example, in the early history of Iceland the chieftains were titled goði, a word meaning priest. In some religions, being a priest or priestess is by election or human choice. In Judaism the priesthood is inherited in familial lines, in a theocracy, a society is governed by its priesthood. The word priest, is derived from Greek, via Latin presbyter. Old High German also has the disyllabic priester, priestar, apparently derived from Latin independently via Old French presbtre, the Latin presbyter ultimately represents Greek presbyteros, the regular Latin word for priest being sacerdos, corresponding to Greek hiereus. That English should have only the term priest to translate presbyter. The feminine English noun, priestess, was coined in the 17th century, in the 20th century, the word was used in controversies surrounding the ordination of women. In the case of the ordination of women in the Anglican communion, it is common to speak of priests. In historical polytheism, a priest administers the sacrifice to a deity, in the Ancient Near East, the priesthood also acted on behalf of the deities in managing their property. Priestesses in antiquity often performed sacred prostitution, and in Ancient Greece, some such as Pythia, priestess at Delphi. Sumerian and Akkadian Entu or EN were top-ranking priestesses who were distinguished with special ceremonial attire and they owned property, transacted business, and initiated the hieros gamos ceremony with priests and kings
12.
Church of Our Lady of the Snows (Prague)
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The church of Our Lady of the Snows is located near Jungmann Square in Prague, Czech Republic. This church has one of the highest vaults in Prague and it was supposed to be the second biggest church in Prague, but it was not completed. The current form consists only of the presbytery of the church, the church along with a monastery of the Carmelite order was founded in 1347 on the occasion of the coronation of Charles IV and his wife Blanche of Valois. The Carmelites were a mendicant order since 1245, which meant that they were not allowed to own any land and they therefore had no sources for building the church. Charles IV donated them a plot, which they could partly rent. This, along with contributions from the citizens of Prague, was enough to construct the currently visible part of the building, the construction of the church was delayed because of the problems with funds. During the Hussite Wars the construction was interrupted, the church was damaged. The church fell into disrepair by the end of the 16th century, at the beginning of the 17th century the church was taken over by the Franciscans to whom the church was given by the King of Bohemia Rudolf II. In 1611, during the Passau army incursion, fourteen monks were killed and these monks are known as Fourteen Prague Martyrs. They were after almost 400 years beatified in 2012, the church itself was modified during the Renaissance and Baroque. Today, the Gothic presbytery serves as a church of Franciscans, the northern aisle is accessible from the eastern corner of the Jungmann square through the gate which originally led to the cemetery behind the church. According to the last archaeological research from the 1980s and preserved contemporary documentation, which means that nowadays it would be occupying the whole area of the Jungmann Square, almost reaching the building of the Adria Palace on the opposite side of the square. The only part that was according to the plans was the presbytery with two small aisles and a great bell-tower by the western side of the northern aisle. The construction of the tower began at the beginning of the 15th century and it was heavily damaged during the Hussite Wars. Also a great bell was shot down from it, the existence of this tower can be proved by its remains which can be found in the church. In the most western corner of the aisle, there are around 2 meters wide and 1 meter high remains of the thick tower walls. The northern aisle is partially preserved, the roof and vaults crumbled long time ago, but the outer walls with the remains of the vaults and windows are still visible. The aisle was built on a different principle from the main chancel
13.
Charles Square
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Charles Square is a city square in the New Town of Prague, Czech Republic. At roughly 70,000 m² it is one of the largest squares in the world and was the largest town square of the medieval Europe. Founded in 1348 as the square of the New Town by Charles IV, it was known as Dobytčí trh from the 15th century. The central portion of the square was turned into a park in the 1860s, the square is now one of the main transport hubs of the city centre with Karlovo náměstí metro station and numerous tram lines and busy roads crossing it in all directions. Charles Square originated as a part of the New Town of Prague founded in 1348 by emperor Charles IV, with Wenceslas Square and Senovážné náměstí it became one of three main squares of the newly founded town. These squares were connected with one street, Charles Square was supposed to be the most important square of the New Town of Prague and probably of the whole of Prague, therefore the Town Hall of the New Town was built there. Despite these plans the most important square later became Wenceslas Square, in the late 14th century the Corpus Christi Chapel was built in the middle of the square. It was closed in 1784 and demolished a few years later, on 30 July 1419 the Hussite Wars broke out in this square, when Hussites led by priest Jan Želivský threw some Catholic councilors from windows of the New Town Hall. This event is called the First Defenestration of Prague, in the 17th century the Jesuits started to build their New Town residence on Charles Square. They also founded a new church dedicated to their patron saint and founder of the Jesuit Order and this church was designed by Carlo Lurago and built in 1655-1677 in the early Baroque style. On the south side of the square there is a gate to the Church of St. John of Nepomuk on the Rock which was built in the high Baroque style in 1730s by Kilian Ignac Dientzenhofer. New Town Hall Church of St. Ignatius former Jesuit school Church of St. John of Nepomuk on the Rock neo-renaissance building of the Czech Technical University in Prague Rygl, ISBN 80-86893-50-2 Google Earth of Charles Square Charles Square on Prague-wiki
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Burgomaster
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The name in English was derived from the Dutch burgemeester. In some cases, Burgomaster was the title of the head of state and head of government of a sovereign city-state, contemporary titles are commonly translated into English as mayor. Bürgermeister, in German, in Germany, Austria, and formerly in Switzerland, in Switzerland, the title was abolished mid-19th century, various current titles for roughly equivalent offices include Gemeindepräsident, Stadtpräsident, Gemeindeamtmann, and Stadtamtmann. Oberbürgermeister is the most common version for a mayor in a big city in Germany, the Ober- prefix is used in many ranking systems for the next level up including military designations. The mayors of cities, which comprise one of Germanys 112 urban districts usually bear this title. Urban districts are comparable to independent cities in the English-speaking world, however, also the mayors of some cities, which do not comprise an urban district, but often used to comprise one until the territorial reforms in the 1970s, bear the title Oberbürgermeister. In the Netherlands nominated by the council but appointed by the crown. In theory above the parties, in practice a high-profile party-political post, bourgmestre in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Democratic Republic of the Congo Bürgermeister Burmistras, derived from German. Burmistrz, a title, derived from German. The German form Oberbürgermeister is often translated as Nadburmistrz, the German-derived terminology reflects the involvement of German settlers in the early history of many Polish towns. Borgmästare, kommunalborgmästare, the title is not used in Sweden in present times, boargemaster Pormestari In history in many free imperial cities the function of burgomaster was usually held simultaneously by three persons, serving as an executive college. One of the three being burgomaster in chief for a year, the second being the prior burgomaster in chief, präsidierender Bürgermeister is now an obsolete formulation sometimes found in historic texts
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Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia
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Wenceslaus was, by inheritance, King of Bohemia from 1363 and by election, German King from 1376. He was the third Bohemian and fourth German monarch of the Luxembourg dynasty, Wenceslaus was deposed in 1400 as King of the Romans, but continued to rule as Bohemian king until his death. Wenceslaus was born in the Imperial city of Nuremberg, the son of Emperor Charles IV by his third wife Anna von Schweidnitz, a scion of the Silesian Piasts and he was raised by the Prague Archbishops Arnošt of Pardubice and Jan Očko z Vlašimi. His father had the two-year-old crowned King of Bohemia in 1363, in order to secure the election of his son, Charles IV revoked the privileges of many Imperial Cities that he had earlier granted, and mortgaged them to various nobles. The cities, however, were not powerless, and as executors of the public peace, moreover, as Charles IV had organised the cities into leagues, he had made it possible for them to cooperate in large-scale endeavors. The city league soon attracted other members and until 1389 acted as a state within the Empire. On Charless death in 1378, Wenceslaus inherited the Crown of Bohemia, in the cathedral of Monza there is preserved a series of reliefs depicting the coronations of the kings of Italy with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. The seventh of these depicts Wenceslaus being crowned in the presence of six electors, the depiction is probably not accurate and was likely made solely to reinforce the claims of the cathedral on the custody of the Iron Crown. The cities were taken severally and devastated, most of them quietly acquiesced when King Wenceslaus proclaimed an ambivalent arrangement at Cheb in 1389 that prohibited all leagues between cities, while confirming their political autonomy. This settlement provided a modicum of stability for the several decades. During his long reign, Wenceslaus held a grip on power at best. On two occasions he was imprisoned for lengthy spells by rebellious nobles. But the greatest liability for Wenceslaus proved to be his own family, Charles IV had divided his holdings among his sons and other relatives. Although Wenceslaus upon his fathers death retained Bohemia, his younger half-brother Sigismund inherited Brandenburg, the March of Moravia was divided between his cousins Jobst and Procopius, and his uncle Wenceslaus I was made Duke of Luxembourg. Hence the young king was left without the resources his father had enjoyed, in 1386, Sigismund became king of Hungary and became involved in affairs further east. Wenceslaus also faced opposition from the Bohemian nobles and even from his chancellor. In a conflict surrounding the investiture of the abbot of Kladruby, in 1394 Wenceslaus cousin Jobst of Moravia was named regent, while Wenceslaus was arrested at Králův Dvůr. King Sigismund of Hungary arranged a truce in 1396, and for his efforts he was recognized as heir to Wenceslaus, in the Papal Schism, Wenceslaus had supported Pope Urban VI
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John Wycliffe
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John Wycliffe was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, Biblical translator, reformer, and seminary professor at Oxford. He was an influential dissident within the Roman Catholic priesthood during the 14th century, Wycliffe attacked the privileged status of the clergy, which was central to their powerful role in England. He then attacked the luxury and pomp of local parishes and their ceremonies, Wycliffe was also an advocate for translation of the Bible into the vernacular. He completed a translation directly from the Vulgate into Middle English in the year 1382, Wycliffes Bible appears to have been completed by 1384, with additional updated versions being done by Wycliffes assistant John Purvey and others in 1388 and 1395. Beginning in the 16th century, the Lollard movement was regarded as the precursor to the Protestant Reformation, Wycliffe was accordingly characterised as the evening star of scholasticism and the Morning Star of the English Reformation. Wycliffes writings in Latin greatly influenced the philosophy and teaching of Czech reformer Jan Hus, whose execution in 1415 sparked a revolt, Wycliffe was born in the village of Hipswell in the North Riding of Yorkshire, England in the mid-1320s. His family was settled in Yorkshire. The family was large, covering considerable territory, principally centred on Wycliffe-on-Tees. Wycliffe received his early education close to his home and it is not known when he first came to Oxford, with which he was so closely connected until the end of his life, but he is known to have been at Oxford around 1345. From his frequent references to it in life, it appears to have made a deep. According to Robert Vaughn, the effect was to give Wycliffe Very gloomy views in regard to the condition, Wycliffe would have been at Oxford during the St Scholastica Day riot in which sixty-three students and a number of townspeople were killed. Wycliffe completed his arts degree at Merton College as a fellow in 1356. That same year he produced a treatise, The Last Age of the Church. In the light of the virulence of the plague that had subsided only seven years previously, while other writers viewed the plague as Gods judgment on a sinful people, Wycliffe saw it as an indictment of an unworthy clergy. The mortality rate among the clergy had been high. In this same year, he was presented by the college to the parish of Fillingham in Lincolnshire, for this he had to give up the headship of Balliol College, though he could continue to live at Oxford. He is said to have had rooms in the buildings of The Queens College, in 1362 he was granted a prebend at Aust in Westbury-on-Trym which he held in addition to the post at Fillingham. His performance led Simon Islip, Archbishop of Canterbury, to him in 1365 at the head of Canterbury Hall
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Peace of Augsburg
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Calvinism was not allowed until the Peace of Westphalia. The Interim reflected largely Catholic principles of behavior in its 26 articles, but it did allow for marriage of the clergy. This led to resistance by the Protestant territories, who proclaimed their own Interim at Leipzig the following year, the Interim was overthrown in 1552 by the revolt of the Protestant elector Maurice of Saxony and his allies. In the negotiations at Passau in the summer of 1552, even the Catholic princes had called for a lasting peace, the emperor, however, was unwilling to recognize the religious division in Western Christendom as permanent. This document was foreshadowed by the Peace of Passau, which in 1552 gave Lutherans religious freedom after a victory by Protestant armies, under the Passau document, Charles granted a peace only until the next imperial Diet. The meeting was called in early 1555, the treaty, negotiated on Charles behalf by his brother Ferdinand, effectively gave Lutheranism official status within the domains of the Holy Roman Empire. According to the policy of cuius regio, eius religio, the religion of a regions ruler determined the religion of its people, during a grace period, families could choose to move to a region where their faith was practiced. Those inhabitants who could not conform to the religion were allowed to leave. The second principle, called the reservatum ecclesiasticum, covered the status of the ecclesiastical state. If the prelate of an ecclesiastic state changed his religion, the men and women living in that state did not have to do so, instead, the prelate was expected to resign from his post, although this was not spelled out in the agreement. It also protected the authority of the families, the knights. Ferdinand inserted this at the last minute, on his own authority, the third principle exempted knights and some of the cities under the jurisdiction of an ecclesiastical prince if they had practiced Lutheranism for some time. The provision was not publicized as part of the treaty, and was kept secret for almost two decades, the document itself had critical problems. While it gave legal basis for the practice of the Lutheran confession, it did not accept any of the Reformed traditions, such as Calvinism, although the Peace of Augsburg was moderately successful in relieving tension in the empire and increasing tolerance, it left important things undone. These minorities did not achieve any legal recognition until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the intolerance towards Calvinists caused them to take desperate measures that led to the Thirty Years War. Finally, his marriage posed a real potential to convert the Electorate into a dynastic principality. A side effect of the turmoil was Charles decision to abdicate. His brother Ferdinand ruled the Austrian lands, and Charles fervently Catholic son, Philip II, became administrator of Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, parts of Italy, a History of Modern Germany, The Reformation
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Cuius regio, eius religio
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Cuius regio, eius religio is a Latin phrase which literally means Whose realm, his religion, meaning that the religion of the ruler was to dictate the religion of those ruled. Any other practice of worship beyond the first two named, which were the most widespread in the Empire, was forbidden and considered by the law to be heretical. Prior to the 16th century and after the Great Schism, there had been one dominant faith in Western and Central European Christendom, martin Luthers agenda at first called for the reform of the Catholic Church, but was not necessarily a rejection of the faith per se. Later on, Luthers movement broke away from the Catholic Church, the new Protestant theology galvanized social action in the German Peasants War, which were brutally repressed and the popular political and religious movement crushed. It was broadly understood by princes and Catholic clergy alike that growing institutional abuses within the Catholic Church hindered the practices of the faithful, in 1537, Pope Paul III had called a council to examine the abuses and to suggest and implement reforms. In addition, he instituted several internal reforms, despite these efforts, and the cooperation of Charles V, rapprochement of the Protestants with Catholicism foundered on different concepts of ecclesiology and the principle of justification. In the same year, the Schmalkaldic League called its own council, and posited several precepts of faith, Luther was present, but too ill to attend the meetings. Catholic and Lutheran adherents seemed further apart than ever, in only a few towns and cities were Lutherans, by 1548, political disagreements overlapped with religious issues, making any kind of agreement seem remote. In 1548 Charles declared an interreligio imperialis through which he sought to find common ground. The 1551–52 sessions convened by Pope Julius III at the Catholic Council of Trent restated and reaffirmed Catholic teaching, the Council was an important part in the inter-ecclesiastical reform of the Catholic Church and further advanced the Catholic Reformation. Catholic and Protestant ideology seemed further apart than ever, Charles interim solution satisfied no one. He ordered a general Diet in Augsburg at which the states would discuss the religious problem. He himself did not attend, and delegated authority to his brother, Ferdinand, to act and settle disputes of territory, religion, at the conference, Ferdinand cajoled, persuaded and threatened the various representatives into agreement on three important principles. Cuius regio, eius religio, Ecclesiastical reservation, and the Declaration of Ferdinand, the principle of Cuius regio, eius religio provided for internal religious unity within a state, The religion of the prince became the religion of the state and all its inhabitants. Cuius regio, eius religio went against earlier Catholic teaching, which held that the kings should faithfully obey the pope and this obedience was thought to produce greater fruits of cooperation and less political infighting and fewer church divisions. The phrase cuius regio, eius religio was coined in 1582 by the legist Joachim Stephani of the University of Greifswald, the second principle covered the special status of the ecclesiastical states, called the ecclesiastical reservation, or reservatum ecclesiasticum. If a prince-bishop or prince-abbot changed his religion, he would have to relinquish his rule, Ferdinand inserted this at the last minute, on his own authority. First, Ferdinand had rushed the article on ecclesiastical reservation through the debate, it had not undergone the scrutiny and discussion that attended the acceptance of Cuius regio, consequently, its wording did not cover all, or even most, potential legal scenarios
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Habsburg
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The House of Habsburg, also called House of Hapsburg, or House of Austria, was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740, from the sixteenth century, following the reign of Charles V, the dynasty was split between its Austrian and Spanish branches. Although they ruled distinct territories, they maintained close relations. The House takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland, in the canton of Aargau, by Count Radbot of Klettgau. His grandson Otto II was the first to take the name as his own. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum through the 11th, 12th, by 1276, Count Radbots seventh generation descendant Rudolph of Habsburg had moved the familys power base from Habsburg Castle to the Duchy of Austria. Rudolph had become King of Germany in 1273, and the dynasty of the House of Habsburg was truly entrenched in 1276 when Rudolph became ruler of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918. A series of dynastic marriages enabled the family to expand its domains to include Burgundy, Spain and its colonial empire, Bohemia, Hungary. In the 16th century, the separated into the senior Habsburg Spain and the junior Habsburg Monarchy branches. The House of Habsburg became extinct in the 18th century, the senior Spanish branch ended upon the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 and was replaced by the House of Bourbon. It was succeeded by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine, the new successor house styled itself formally as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, although it was often referred to as simply the House of Habsburg. His grandson Radbot, Count of Habsburg founded the Habsburg Castle, the origins of the castles name, located in what is now the Swiss canton of Aargau, are uncertain. There is disagreement on whether the name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg, or from the Middle High German word hab/hap meaning ford, the first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108. The Habsburg Castle was the seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, in the 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They were also able to high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other families such as the House of Kyburg. By the second half of the 13th century, count Rudolph IV had become one of the most influential territorial lords in the area between the Vosges Mountains and Lake Constance
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Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Rudolf II was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary and Croatia, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria. He was a member of the House of Habsburg, Rudolf was born in Vienna on 18 July 1552. Rudolf spent eight years, from age 11 to 19, in Spain. Rudolf would remain for the rest of his reserved, secretive. He suffered from bouts of melancholy, which was common in the Habsburg line. These became worse with age, and were manifested by a withdrawal from the world, like his contemporary, Elizabeth I of England, Rudolf dangled himself as a prize in a string of diplomatic negotiations for marriages, but never in fact married. It has been proposed by A. L. Rowse that he was homosexual, during his periods of self-imposed isolation, Rudolf reportedly had affairs with his court chamberlain, Wolfgang von Rumpf, and a series of valets. One of these, Philip Lang, ruled him for years and was hated by those seeking favour with the emperor, in addition, Rudolf was known to have had a succession of affairs with women, some of whom claimed to have been impregnated by him. He had several children with his mistress Catherina Strada. Their eldest son, Don Julius Caesar dAustria, was born between 1584 and 1586 and received an education and opportunities for political and social prominence from his father. In 1607, Rudolf sent Julius to live at Český Krumlov in Bohemia castle, Julius lived at Český Krumlov when in 1608 he reportedly abused and murdered the daughter of a local barber, who had been living in the castle, and then disfigured her body. Rudolf condemned his sons act and suggested that he should be imprisoned for the rest of his life, however, Julius died in 1609 after showing signs of schizophrenia, refusing to bathe, and living in squalor, his death was apparently caused by an ulcer that ruptured. Many artworks commissioned by Rudolf are unusually erotic, the emperor was the subject of a whispering campaign by his enemies in his family and the Catholic Church in the years before he was deposed. Sexual allegations may well have formed a part of the campaign against him, historians have traditionally blamed Rudolfs preoccupation with the arts, occult sciences, and other personal interests as the reason for the political disasters of his reign. Although raised in his uncles Catholic court in Spain, Rudolf was tolerant of Protestantism and he largely withdrew from Catholic observances, even in death denying last sacramental rites. He had little attachment to Protestants either, except as counter-weight to repressive Papal policies and he put his primary support behind conciliarists, irenicists, and humanists. His conflict with the Ottoman Empire was the cause of his undoing. Unwilling to compromise with the Turks, and stubbornly determined that he could all of Christendom with a new Crusade, he started a long
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Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor
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Matthias was Holy Roman Emperor from 1612, King of Hungary and Croatia from 1608 and King of Bohemia from 1611. He was a member of the House of Habsburg, Matthias was born in the Austrian capital of Vienna to Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria of Spain. Matthias married Archduchess Anna of Austria, daughter of his uncle Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria and their marriage did not produce surviving children. In 1578, Matthias was invited to the Netherlands by the States-General of the rebellious provinces, Matthias accepted the appointment, although the position was not recognized by his uncle, Philip II of Spain, the hereditary ruler of the provinces. He set down the rules for religious peace within most of the United Provinces and his work is noted in Article 13 of the 1579 Union of Utrecht, which established freedom of religion as a locally determined issue. Matthias continued as governor for the rebels until they deposed Philip II and declared full independence in 1581. In 1593 he was appointed governor of Austria by his brother and he formed a close association there with the Bishop of Vienna, Melchior Klesl, who later became his chief adviser. In 1605 Matthias forced the emperor to allow him to deal with the Hungarian Protestant rebels. The result was the Peace of Vienna of 1606, which guaranteed religious freedom in Hungary, in the same year Matthias was recognized as head of the House of Habsburg and as the future Holy Roman Emperor, as a result of Rudolfs illness. Allying himself with the estates of Hungary, Austria, and Moravia, Matthias forced his brother to rule of these lands to him in 1608. Matthiass army then held Rudolf prisoner in his castle in Prague, until 1611, Matthias had already been forced to grant religious concessions to Protestants in Austria and Moravia, as well as in Hungary, when he had allied with them against Rudolf. Matthias imprisoned Georg Keglević who was the Commander-in-chief, General, Vice-Ban of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia and since 1602 Baron in Transylvania, the start of the Bohemian Protestant revolt in 1618 provoked Maximilian to imprison Klesl and revise his policies. Matthias, old and ailing, was unable to prevent a takeover by Maximilians faction, Ferdinand, who had already been crowned King of Bohemia and of Hungary, succeeded Matthias as Holy Roman Emperor. Matthias died in Vienna in 1619, names in other languages, German, Matthias Czech, Matyáš Croatian, Matija II. He was related to other king of Germany. Matthias Gate Media related to Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor at Wikimedia Commons
