The Influence of the Czech Reformation in the District of Kladsko MELIC CAPEK 1. KLADSKO ON THE EVE OF THE HUSSITE REVOLUTION It has been observed several times that the valley of the Upper Nisa River, which constitutes the district of Kladsko, is an image in miniature of the Vltava (Moldau) River basin which constitutes Bohemia. But it has never been noticed that the history of this district shows the same basic features as the history of Bohemia itself. This is hardly surprising for the district itself was an integral part of the Kingdom of Bohemia until 1742, and belonged to the archdiocese of Prague until 1935. No wonder, then, that the general movement of Czech history is reflected more or less faithfully in the local history of the city and the region of Kladsko. This region went through the same alternating periods of glory and suffering, of material prosperity and tragic destruction, of cultural flowering and spiritual decline, which characterize the history of the whole nation of Czechs and Slovaks. Let us recall at least the most important corresponding phases of the national and local histories. In the tenth century, after the destruction of Great Moravia by the Magyars, christianized Bohemia took over the cultural heritage of the Eastern branch of the nation; its Northeastern frontier outpost of Kladsko, which at that time belonged to the father of St. Adalbert, then became very probably the main gateway through which Christianity was carried by the Czech apostles to neighbouring Poland. When the Mongolian devastation of Polish Silesia created the demographic vacuum which began to be filled by German immigrants, the district of Kladsko was exposed to the same pressure of Germanization as the Western districts of Bohemia. One century later, when the establishment of the archbishopric of Prague (1344) and the University of Prague (1348) had loosened the cultural and administrative dependence of Bohemia on the Holy Roman Empire, the person most closely associated with these two events was the man whose loving interest in Kladsko was later matched only by that of King George of Podebrady and Bohuslav Czech Reformation in the District of Kladsko 1185 Balbin. Ernest of Pardubice, first archbishop of Prague and first chan- cellor of the University of Prague, was possibly - at least, according to Professor Simak 1 - even a native of Kladsko; in any case, he was buried there according to his own wish in 1364. A brief description of his significance in the history of the Czech element in Kladsko will make more understandable the subsequent events in the Upper Nisa valley during the fifteenth century, events which have so far been largely ignored by Czech historians. It is hardly accidental that the first signs of the Czech reaction against the Germanization of Kladsko took place in the life time of Ernest of Pardubice. In the same year in which the archbishopric of Prague was founded, King John of Luxemburg, together with his son Charles, signed a solemn declaration stressing the inseparability of Kladsko from the kingdom of Bohemia: "Promittimus firmiter et spondemus, quod Castrum ipsum, Civitatem et districtum Glacensem ... ex quacunqua occasione vel causa a Regno Bohemiae nullatenus separare volumus aut debemus."2 Four years later, on the same day on which the University of Prague was founded, Kladsko - "dominium Glacense" - again was declared to be a part of the kingdom of Bohemia.3 Thus, the reaffirma- tions of the Czech presence in Kladsko took place simultaneously with the two most important events in the fourteenth-century-history of Bohemia - events whose significance for the spiritual and political emancipation of the Czechs with respect to the Holy Roman Empire, became clear only in the next century. Did Ernest of Pardubice, first archbishop of Bohemia and first chancellor of the University, play any role in focussing the attention of the kings - John and, later, Charles IV - on the importance of Kladsko? This is possible, though not certain. Neither is it certain that he was born in Kladsko; what is certain is that his father was the governor of the castle of Kladsko, that Ernest spent his student days there, and that his emotional attachment to that region lasted throughout his life. What is also certain is that his loving interest in Kladsko found its expression in concrete deeds by which the Czech elements in this area were unquestionably strengthened. On March 25, 1349, he was present at the consecration of the new Augustinian monastery at Kladsko, which he had founded.4 The monks 1 J. V. Simak, "Kdy a kde se narodil arcibiskup ArnoSt z Pardubic", Cesky iasopis historicky, XXXV (1929), 381-90, esp. 389. 2 LBS, II, 171; GQGG, I, 82-3. 3 LBS, I, 9; GQGG, I, 90-1. 4 GQGG, I, 57, 98. 1186 Milic Capek who settled in the new monastery came from the monastery of Roudnice, and were very probably of Czech nationality; in any case, their first prior was a Czech (Joannes natione Bohemus), who was also a "very learned man" (vir literatura magnce) according to the chronicle of the monas- tery.5 We shall see soon what effect this event had at the beginning of the Hussite Wars. Although the foundation of the new monastery was inspired mainly by religious motives, national motives might have played some role too; in any case, they were thus interpreted by the German settlers atSchwedeldorf,who were reluctant to recognize the authority of Ernest, even though their village was on the monastery's estate. They had to be firmly reminded by King Charles himself of the loyalty they owed to the kingdom of Bohemia.6 After 1350, the situation of the Czech population in both the city and the district of Kladsko was visibly improving. Czech names began to appear in various documents, particularly in commercial contracts, thus indicating the improvement in Czech social status. In 1356, the Czechs in the city, who were concentrated mainly in the so-called Böhmische Gasse ("platea dicta bohémica", according to Balbin), had two represen- tatives at the city court: Mirislaus and Blahut Berne (Böhme).7 As in many other towns in Bohemia at that time, they were either in a minority, or they were not proportionately represented in the administration. De- Germanization was far more pronounced outside the city, in the rural districts, where some noblemen began to recall their ancient Slavic origin. This was the case with the noble families of Panvic and Haugvic in the Western corner of the district, whose names indicate their Slavic, and, more specifically, Lusatian, origin. When Diezcko (Détíich) of Panvic established the altar of St. Catherine in Dusniky (Reinerz) around 1350, he explicitly stipulated that there be no discrimination against the Czech-speaking parishioners in ecclesiastical matters; the officiating priest had no right to refuse them holy communion, confession, or extreme unction. This stipulation was confirmed by his sons in the special charter 5 F. Tadra, Kulturní styks s cizinou az do vdlek husitskych, 333; A. Prazák, Národ se bránil (Praha, 1945), 18. The stipulation that the monks of the mon- astery at Roudnice must be of Czech nationality was abolished by the archbishop Ernest, but this could not possibly have suddenly changed the ethnic character of the monastery. About the prior Joannes, who died in 1382, see Balbin, Miscel- lanea Histórica Regni Bohemiae, Liber III, Caput V, 5; GQGG, I, 100. « 'The letter of King Charles, August 29, 1350', GQGG, I, 113-14. 7 Balbin, op. cit., Caput V, 3; P. Knöte, "Die Strassennamen der Graffschaft Glatz", Graffschaft Glatz, 1926, 124; GQGG, I, 156-57. Czech Reformation in the District of Kladsko 1187 written in Latin and dated March 1, 1366: it was nothing less than a declaration of equality for both nationalities.8 Another significant document is dated January 29, 1375; in it, the same sons of Décko signed themselves as "brothers of Dusniky" (jraires de Dussnik) thus introducing - probably reintroducing - the Czech name for Reinerz. The content of this document is equally significant: it deals with the resignation of the altarist, Divis of Onétice, and his replacement by Zdislav of Pécin; the names of both priests are Czech, as are the names of the villages from which they came and which are located in Bohemia.9 At the beginning of the fifteenth century (1403), the stipulation of Panvic was renewed by the new master, Détrich of Janovice, lord of Nächod and captain of the district of Hradec Kralové (Königgrätz); it was under his rule that the castle of Landfried near Dusniky received its Czech name, Homole, which was probably its original name. In 1406, the same lord further stipulated that the parson of Dusniky, if he were German, must have a Czech vicar, and, if Czech, a German vicar; thus, the equal status of both nationalities was further secured.10 In 1401, Détrich Haugvic renamed the village of Friedersdorf - in the same Western corner of the region - Luznice.11 It would be a mistake to believe that this trend was confined to the Western corner of the Kladsko district, where the Czech element was always strong, and where it has survived to the present day; the process of de-Germanization was quite general. Thus, the Czech name Mezilesi, for Mittelwalde, appeared — or, rather, reappeared in 1379; similarly, Wünschelburg became Radkov in 13 86.12 Even more characteristic are the frequent appointments, in various settlements of Kladsko, of Czech ministers coming from Czech parsonages inside Bohemia or Moravia: conversely, priests from Kladsko were sometimes appointed in Bohemia or Moravia. Thus, in 1381, Oldrich (Ulricus) of Svatobof exchanged his place with the minister at Landek; in 1401, Zbynko of Bobolusk (in the diocese of Olomouc) was appointed to the same town of Landek, which 8 GQGG, I, 192-4; Max Perlbach, "Reinerz und die Burg Landsfried (Hum- melsburg) bis zum Jahre 1471", ZGAS, IX (1868), 275.