Czech History
• 500
- 1306: The Great Moravian Empire and the Přemyslid Dynasty
• 1310 - 1378: John of Luxembourg
and Charles IV
• 1415 - 1526: The Hussite Era
and George of Poděbrady
• 1526 - 1790: The Habsburg
Dynasty to Joseph II
• 1790 - 1914: National
Revival
to World War I
• 1918 - 1945: The First Republic
and World War II
• 1945 - 1989: The Communist
Era
• 1989 - present: Velvet
Revolution and Beyond
Ludwig Jagellon died in battle in 1526 and
Ferdinand I of Habsburg took
up the Czech throne, thus initiating the Habsburg rule
over the country that lasted until
1918. Ferdinand strengthened the position of the king and
firmly reinstated the Catholic religion in the country,
which included the arrival of the Jesuits in Prague based
upon his invitation. The seat of power moved to Vienna
and the
Prague Castle became
more
of a
recreational
site
for
the
Habsburgs.
It
was reconstructed in the Renaissance style and the
Royal
Garden, the Belvedere, and
the Ballgame Hall were added.
Rudolf II,
Holy Roman Emperor, was crowned the Czech king in 1576
and moved his court
back to Prague
in 1583, thus promoting Prague to the imperial seat of
power again. This era is sometimes referred to as Prague's
Second Golden Age. Rudolf was obsessed with art and science,
not spending much time on his royal
duties,
and made
Prague
the
center
of science
and
alchemy. It was during his reign that Prague
earned
its
nickname "Magic
Prague". Rudolf's court
attracted scientists and artists from all over Europe,
including
astronomers Tycho de Brahe and Johannes Kepler. The legend
of the Golem comes
from that time, too.
Rudolf's successor Matthias attempted to
deprive the Protestants of the few freedoms they were left
with since the Habsburgs took the throne, and this oppression
resulted in another Protestant uprising. The rebellion
started
with the Second Defenestration of Prague in 1618 when several
Matthias' governors
were thrown out of a window of the Prague Castle (they
landed on a pile of garbage and survived).
The protests culminated in the Battle
of the White Mountain (bitva na Bílé hoře) in 1620 in which the Protestants
were severely defeated by the Habsburgs. The Battle of
the White Mountain resulted in the Thirty Years' War that
spread
across Europe. 27 Protestant
leaders were executed on the Old Town Square in May 1621
and all religions except Catholic were banned.
The Czech
language and national consciousness were suppressed for
the next 150 years. Prague
lost its importance and the Prague Castle deteriorated.
This period in Czech history is referred to as the Dark
Age
(doba temna).
The situation started improving with Marie
Therese who ruled the Austrian Empire from 1740
to 1780. She and her son and successor Joseph
II (1780-1790)
brought some needed reforms that included reducing the
power of
the Catholic Church, expelling the Jesuits from the country
in 1773, and issuing the Edict of Tolerance in 1781, which granted
political and religious rights to religious minorities.
The four independent urban areas of Prague (Old Town,
Malá Strana, Hradčany, and New Town)
were united by
Joseph II in 1784. Josefov (named after the emperor) was added
to the Prague's historical center in 1850.
In 1787, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart visited
Prague and was the guest of the Dušeks, leading Czech musicians,
at their villa Bertramka. His opera Don Giovanni had its
premiere at the Estates Theatre.
- Rudolf
II and Prague: The Court and the City
- The
School of Prague: Painting at the Court of Rudolf II
- The
Habsburg Monarchy, 1618-1815
- The
Habsburg Monarchy, 1809-1918: A History of the Austrian Empire...
- The
Decline and Fall of the Habsburg Empire, 1815 - 1918 (2nd Edition)
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