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The history of Prague was always connected wih the history of Czech country as a whole. The land, where Prague was to be built, had one of the oldest settlements in Europe. It has been settled since the Paleolithic Age. Several thousands of years ago, there were trade routes connecting southern Europe to nothern Europe going through this area, following the course of the river. From around 500 BC the Celts, the Boii, were the first known inhabitants of this region by name. The Boii named the region Bohemia and the river Vltava. In 9 AD Germanic tribe Marcomanni migrated to Bohemia, but in the 6th century they assimilated with the invading West Slavs during the period of the Migration of Nations. Czech Slavic tribe came to Bohemia in the 7th century and Forefather Czech became the founder of the Czech nation.
 Prague Castle According to legend, Princess Libuše, the sovereign of the Czech tribe, married humble plowman Přemysl and founded the dynasty with the same name. The legendary Princess made many prophecies from her castle Libusin located in central Bohemia. (The archeologist finds dating back to the seventh century support this theory). In one prophecy she foresaw the glory of Prague. One day she had a vision: "I see a vast city, whose glory will touch the stars! I see a place in the middle of a forest where a steep cliff rises above the Vltava River. There is a man, who is chiseling the treshold (prah) for the house. A castle named Prague (Praha) will be build there. Just as the princes and the dukes stoop in front of a threshold, they will bow to the castle and to the city around. It will be honored, renowned of great repute, and praise will be bestowed upon it by the entire world." From around 800, the Czech rulers got most of Bohemia under their control. The first Bohemian ruler acknowledged by the historians was Czech Prince Borivoj Premyslovec, who ruled in the second half of the 9th century. He and his wife Ludmila (who became a patron saint of Bohemia after her death) were baptized by Metodej who (together with his brother Cyril) brought Christianity to Moravia in 863. Borivoj's seat was at fortified settlement named Prague (Praha). It was also called the Prague castle grounds or shortly Prague Castle. Since Borivoj's reign, it became the seat of the Czech rulers. (Prague Castle became the largest inhabited fortress in the world, the seat of the Czech president at present). Borivoj's grandson, Prince Wenceslas, initiated friendly relations with the Saxon dynasty. Wenceslas wanted Bohemia to become an equal partner in a bigger empire. (Just as Bohemia had belonged to Great Moravia in the 9th century and to Samo's empire in the 7th century; both these empires were founded to resist the attacks of the Avars). Orientation towards the Saxons was not favored by his brother Boleslav, and it was the main reason why Prince Wenceslas was assassinated on September 28, 929. He was buried at St. Vitus' Rotunda, the church he founded. (It stood where now St. Wenceslas' Chapel in St. Vitus' Cathedral is). A few years later Wenceslas was canonized and he became the Bohemia's most beloved patron saint. He is the "Good King Wenceslas" from the Christmas carol. In 962, Boleslav changed his mind and Bohemia became part of the newly instituted Roman Empire when Otto I the Great from the Saxon dynasty became the emperor. (It was the beginning of Holy Roman Empire, the name that started to be used in the 12th century).  Charles Bridge By the early 10th century, the area around and below Prague Castle had developed into an important seat for trading, where merchants coming from all Europe settled. In 965, the Jewish merchant and traveler Ibrahim ibn Ya'qub wrote: "Prague is built from stone and lime, and it has the biggest trade center. Slavs are on the whole courageous and brave...They occupy the lands which are the most fertile and abundant with all food supply." In 973, a bishopric was founded in Bohemia with the bishop's palace located on the Prague castle grounds. The first Czech bishop was Adalbert who became a Czech, Polish and Hungarian patron saint after he was canonized in 999. Next to the Romanesque fortified settlement of Prague, another Romanesque fortified settlement was built across the river Vltava at Vysehrad in the 11th century. During the reign of Prince Vratislav II, who gained the title King of Bohemia Vratislav I in 1085, Vysehrad became the temporary seat of the Czech rulers. Prince Vladislav II gained the title King of Bohemia Vladislav I in 1158. Many monasteries and many churches were built under the rule of this king. The Strahov Monastery, built in the Romanesque style, was founded in 1142. The first bridge over the river Vltava — the Judith Bridge — was build in 1170. (It crumbled in 1342 and a new bridge, later called Charles Bridge was built instead in 1357). In 1212, Bohemia became the kingdom when Prince Premysl Otakar I gained the title of King by inheritance from Frederick II (Emperor from 1215), legalized in the document called the "Golden Bull of Sicily". The king's daughter became another Bohemian saint. Agnes preferred to enter the convent than to marry Emperor Frederick II. In the 13th century, the towns started to rise. Three settlements around the Prague castle grounds gained the privilege of a town. The settlement below Prague Castle became New Town of Prague in 1257 under King Otakar II, later renamed Little Quarter of Prague Malá Strana. The town of Hradčany build around its square, just outside of the Prague's castle grounds, dates to 1320. Across the river Vltava, Old Town of Prague Staré Město gained the privilege of a town already in 1230. In the 13th century, King Premysl Otakar II was the most powerful king of Holy Roman Empire of his era, known as King of Iron and Gold. He ruled in seven more countries, and his reign stretched from Silesia to the Adriatic coast. The Premyslovec dynasty ruled until 1306 when the male line died out. The next dynasty became Luxembourg dynasty when Eliska, sister of the last Premyslovec ruler, married John of Luxembourg. The city flourished during the 14th century reign of Charles IV, of the Luxembourg dynasty. Charles was the oldest son of Czech Princess Eliska Premyslovna and John of Luxembourg. He was born in Prague in 1316. He became King of Bohemia upon the death of his father in 1346. Due to Charles' effort, the bishopric of Prague was raised to an archbishopric in 1344. On April 7, 1348 he founded the first university in central, northern and eastern Europe, now called Charles University. At the same year he also founded New Town (Nové Město) adjacent to Old Town. Charles rebuilt Prague Castle and Vysehrad, and a new bridge was erected, now called Charles Bridge. The construction of St. Vitus' Cathedral has begun. Many new churches were founded. In 1355, Charles was crowned Emperor in Rome. Prague became the capital of Holy Roman Empire. Charles wanted Prague to become one of the most beautiful cities in the world. He wanted Prague to be the dominant city of the whole empire, Prague Castle the dominant site in the city and stately Gothic Cathedral the dominant of Prague Castle. Everything was built in grandiose Gothic style and decorated with an independent art style, the so-called Bohemian school. During the reign of Emperor Charles IV, the Czech Lands were among the most powerful in Europe.  Prague Orloj All that changed during the reign of weak King Wenceslas IV, son of Charles IV. During the reign of King Wenceslas IV — Václav IV — (1378–1419), Master Jan Hus, a preacher and the university's rector, held his sermons in Prague in the Bethlehem Chapel, speaking in Czech to enlarge as much as possible the diffusion of his ideas about the reformation of the church. His execution in 1415 in Constance (of accused heresy) led four years later to the Hussite wars (following the defenestration, when the people rebelled under the command of the Prague priest Jan Želivský and threw the city's counselors from the New Town Hall). King Wenceslas IV died 16 days later. His younger stepbrother Sigismund was the legitimate one to inherit the crown. But the Hussites opposed Sigismund and so he came to Prague with an army of 30,000 crusaders. He planned to get capitulation of Prague and the crown. (It was Sigismund, who invited Jan Hus to Constance to defend himself from heresy and he promised him immunity, but he didn't keep his word). In 1420, peasant rebels, led by the famous general Jan Žižka, along with Hussite troops, defeated Sigismund (Zikmund, son of Charles IV) in the Battle of Vítkov Mountain. There were more crusades, all of which ended in failure. But after Zizka died, the Hussite were not united anymore. Eventually they split. The most radical Hussites were finally defeated at the battle of Lipany in 1434 when the moderate Hussites got together with the Czech Catholics. Sigismund became King of Bohemia. In 1437, Sigismund died. The male line of Luxembourg dynasty died out. Husband of Sigismund's daughter Elizabeth, Duke of Austria Albert II, became the Bohemian king for two years (until his death). Then, the next in line for Bohemian crown was grandson of Sigismund, born after his father's death, and thus called Ladislaw Posthumous. When he died 17 years old, nobleman George of Podebrady, former advisor of Ladislaus, was chosen as the Bohemian king both by the Catholics and by the Ultraquist Hussites. He was called the Hussite king. During his reign, the pope called for the crusade against the Czech heretics. The crusade was lead by King of Hungary Matthius Corvinus who, after the crusade, became also King of Bohemia. George didn'd abdicate. Bohemia had two kings. George, before his death, made an arrangement with Polish King Casimir IV that the next Bohemian king will come from the Jagellon dynasty. (The wife of King Casimir IV was the sister of late Ladislaus Posthumous and so her son Vladislav was related to the Luxembourg dynasty and also to the original Bohemian Premyslovec dynasty). The Jagellon dynasty ruled only until 1526 when the Jagellon dynasty died out with Ludwig Jagellon, son of Vladislav Jagellon. The next Bohemian king became Ferdinand Habsburg, husband of Ann Jagellon, who was sister of Ludwig Jagellon. It was the beginning of the Habsburg dynasty. After Ferdinand's brother Charles V resigned in 1556 as Emperor, Ferdinand was elected Emperor in 1558. After he died, his son Maximilian II inherited all his titles and then upon his death, his son Rudolf II inherited all the titles. It was during the reign of Emperor Rudolf II, when there was another glorious time for Prague. Prague became the cultural center of Holy Roman Empire again. Rudolf was related to the Jagellon dynasty, to the Luxemburg dynasty and to the Premyslovec dynasty. But he was also related to Spanish Joan the Mad (the daughter of Queen Isabella of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon); Joan was the mother of Rudolf's grandfather. Although Rudolf II was very talented, he was eccentric and he suffered from depression. Emperor Rudolf II lived in Prague Castle, where he held his bizarre courts of the astrologers, the magicians and other strange figures. But it was a prosperous period for the city; famous people living there included the astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johann Kepler, the painters Giuseppe Arcimboldo, B. Spranger, Hans von Aachen, J. Heintz and others. In 1609, under the influence of the Protestant estates, Rudolf II (a devout Catholic), issued "Imperial Charter of Emperor" in which he legalized extensive religious freedom unparalled in Europe of that period. Many German Protestants (both Lutherans and Calvinists) immigrated to Bohemia. (One of them was Count J.M. Thurn, a German Lutheran; under his leadership the Third Defenestration of Prague happened in 1618 and it led to the Thirty Years War).  St. Vitus Cathedral Next in line for Bohemian crown was Rudolf's brother Matthias, but since Matthias was childless, his cousin, the archduke Ferdinand of Styria, was preliminary accepted by the Bohemian Diet as the future Bohemian king when Matthias became ill. The Protestant estates of Bohemia didn't like this decision. Tension between the Protestants and the Catholics (who were pro-Habsburgs) led to the Third Defenestration of Prague when the Catholic governors were thrown from the windows at Prague Castle on May 23, 1618. They survived, but the Protestants replaced the Catholic governors. This incident led to the Thirty Years War. When Matthias died, Ferdinand of Styria was elected Emperor as Emperor Ferdinand II, but was not accepted as King of Bohemia by the Protestant directors. Calvinist Frederick V of Pfalz was elected King of Bohemia. The Battle on the White Mountain followed on November 8, 1620. Emperor Ferdinand II was helped by not only Catholic Spain, Catholic Poland, and Catholic Bavaria, but also by Lutheran Saxon (who disliked the Calvinists). The Protestant army, lead by the warior Count J.M. Thurn, was formed from the Protestant armies, mostly Lutheran Silesia, Lusatias, and Moravia. It was mainly the battle between the Protestants and the Catholics. The Catholics won and Emperor Ferdinand II became King of Bohemia. He proclaimed the re-Catholicization of the Czech Lands. Twenty seven Protestant leaders were executed in Old Town Sguare in Prague on June 21, 1621. (Executed were three noblemen, seven knights and seventeen burghers, including Dr. Jan Jesenius, the rector of Prague university). Most Protestant leaders fled, including Count J.M. Thurn; those who had stayed didn't expect such a harsh punishment. The Protestants had to return all the Catholic seized property to the Church. No faith other than Catholic was permitted. The upper classes were given the option either to emigrate or to convert to Catholicism. The German language was given equal rights with the Czech language. After the Peace of Westphalia, Ferdinand II moved the court to Vienna, and Prague began a steady decline which reduced the population from the 60,000 it had had in the years before the war to 20,000.
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