Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In the 9th century, the Přemysl prince Bořivoj selected an
outcropping in Hradčany to build Prague Castle, the dyn-
asty's seat. Amazingly, the castle - the official seat of the
Czech presidency - remains the centre of power to this day.
Disturbing the Peace
(1991)
Christianity became the state religion under the rule of the pious Wenceslas (Václav
in Czech), the Duke of Bohemia (r c 925‒929) and now the chief patron saint of the
Czech people (immortalised on horseback at the top of Wenceslas Square). Wenceslas
was the 'Good King Wenceslas' of the well-known Christmas carol, written in 1853
by English clergyman John Mason Neale. Wenceslas's conversion to Christianity is
said to have angered his mother and his brother, Boleslav, who ended up killing the
young duke in a fit of jealousy.
Despite the dysfunctional family relations, the Přemysls proved to be highly effect-
ive rulers. During the 13th century, the Přemysl lands stretched from modern-day
Silesia (near the Czech-Polish border) to the Mediterranean Sea.
CHARLES IV & THE HOLY 'PRAGUE' EMPIRE
It's hard to imagine that Prague and the Czech Republic will ever exceed the position
of power they held in the 14th century, when Prague for a time became the seat of the
Holy Roman Empire under Emperor Charles IV (Karel IV, r 1346-78).
The path to glory began predictably enough with the murder of a Přemysl ruler,
Wenceslas III, in 1306, leaving no male successor to the throne. Eventually, John of
Luxembourg (Jan Lucemburský to the Czechs) assumed the Czech throne through his
marriage to Wenceslas III's daughter Elyška in 1310.
Following Emperor Sigismund's death, George of Poděbrady (Jiří z
Poděbrad) ruled as Bohemia's one and only Hussite king, from 1452 to
1471, with the backing of moderate Hussites, the Utraquists. By that time,
however, the Hussite cause had been lost and once-prosperous Bohemia
lay in ruin.
Under the enlightened rule of John's son, Charles IV, Prague grew into one of the
continent's largest and most prosperous cities. Charles commissioned both the bridge
that now bears his name and St Vitus Cathedral, among other projects. He also estab-
lished Charles University as the first university in central Europe.
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