WORKSHEET FOR HIGH SCHOOLS 1. Read the text and fill in the verb in correct form: Three Prague bridges The first mention of a wooden footbridge over the Moldau River can be found in the legend of St. Wenceslas (Sv. Václav). It _______ (seem) that in the 10th century it was already possible to cross the river by foot. But the wooden footbridge was often destroyed by frequent Prague floods. Judith, the wife of the king Vladislav, was instrumental in the construction of the first partly stone bridge which _________ (carry) her name and thus is known as the Judith Bridge. It was built between the years 1158 and 1173. Unfortunately the bridge ______________ (destroy) by the big spring flood in 1342. Charles IV decided not to renovate the old bridge but to build a new, stronger and more solid one. He consulted astrologists in order to find out the best date for the foundation of the bridge. He __________ (give) the exact day and time. The foundation stone was then laid down in 1357 on the 9th July at 5:31am. Notice that the numbers are magical, because they ___________ (read) the same forward and backwards. The construction of the bridge took a long time and it was most probably completed in 1411. The bridge now carries the name Charles Bridge and for centuries it was the only bridge connecting both sides of the Moldau River. Only in the 19th century when the industry ______________ (develop) heavily, it was necessary to build other bridges. Let us hope that the astrologists___________ (choose) the date well and the Charles Bridge will face successfully all the misfortunes that might come in the future and it will not be necessary to build a third bridge on the same spot. 2. Connect the work with the artistic Judith Bridge style it was created in. Baroque Gothic Charles Bridge Romanesque Statues on the Charles Bridge www.charlesbridgemuseum.com 3. Which of these people could cross the river either over the Judith Bridge or the Charles Bridge and which of them could not cross the bridge at all? Connect the person with the right statement. John of Bohemia ( Jan Lucemburský) Charles Bridge St. Agnes of Bohemia Thomas Garrigue Masaryk (Svatá Anežka Česká) (T. G. Masaryk) Judith Bridge ferry Wenceslas IV St. Wenceslas (Václav IV.) (St. Václav) Ottokar II of Bohemia Judith of Thuringia (Přemysl Otakar II.) ( Judita Duryňská) 4. In the picture there are strange symbols.What were they used for? You can use the free spot to describe your own symbol. ......................................................................................................................................... www.charlesbridgemuseum.com 5. From the following pictures choose the wives of Charles IV. In what order did he marry them? Number the pictures. Sophie of Bavaria Blanche of Valois (Žofie Bavorská) (Blanka z Valois) Anna of Falz Judith of Thuringia (Anna Falcká) ( Judita Duryňská) Agnes of Bohemia Charles IV Anna von Schweidnitz (Anežka Česká) (KAREL IV.) (Anna Svídnická) Elizabeth of Bohemia Elizabeth of Pommern (Eliška Přemyslovna) (Alžběta Pomořanská) 6. Connect what belongs together: St. John of Nepomuk ( Jan Nepomucký) Wenceslas IV (Václav IV.) Agnes of Bohemia (Anežka Česká) Knight of the Cross (Křižovník) www.charlesbridgemuseum.com 7. The plaque that you see in the following picture can be found in the museum. Find 8 differences between the two pictures, circle the differences. Who is the main character of the legend? Write down who else is in the picture. ................................................................................. 8. Number the pictures so that the order of the events corresponds with the legend about St. John of Nepomuk. Nepomuk’s life as described in the legend does not correspond with the real facts we know about him. Why is it so? ......................................................................................................................................... www.charlesbridgemuseum.com 9. Decide whether the statement is correct or wrong: a) The construction of the Charles Bridge was during the lifetime of Charles IV led by Kilián Ignác Dientzenhofer. b) St. Agnes of Bohemia was canonized in 1989. c) The big feast that takes place on the Moldau River and celebrates St. John of Nepomuk is called Navalis. d) St. John of Nepomuk died during the lifetime of Charles IV. e) The statue of St. John of Nepomuk on the Charles Bridge was made by Jan Brokoff. 10. Read carefully the life story of St. Agnes of Bohemia and answer the questions. It is believed that St. Agnes of Bohemia (Sv. Anežka Česká) was born on 20th January 1211 in Prague. Her father was the king Ottokar I of Bohemia (Přemysl Otakar I.) and her mother Constance of Hungary (Konstancie Uherská), Ottokar’s second wife. At the age of three, Agnes was engaged to the Polish duke Boleslav and together with her sister Anne she was sent for education to a Cistercian convent of their aunt, St. Hedwig, in Trzebnica. After the death of her fiancé, her father sought connection with the Emperor’s house and promised Agnes to be married to Henry, 9-year-old son of the Emperor Friedrich II and sent Agnes to be brought up at the court of Leopold VI of Babenberg in Vienna. Unfortunately, Leopold VI managed to engage Henry to his own daughter and therefore the Czech princess had to return to Prague in 1225.The following year the delegation of the English king Henry III Plantagenet arrived in Prague and offered to Ottokar to engage Agnes to their king. The engagement was settled, but in 1229 Henry cancelled it. The last offer came from the Emperor Friedrich II himself, but Agnes refused him. Agnes saw the example of her cousin St. Elizabeth of Hungary and she decided to enter the order of Poor Clares nuns. With her brother Wenceslas I (Václav I.) she founded the hospital of St. Francis in Prague and in 1234 she became the first abbess of the new convent of Czech Poor Clares order. She and her brother built beautiful buildings used both as a convent for the Poor Clares nuns and monastery of the Franciscan monks. In this large complex you would not only find two monastic buildings and two churches, but also rooms used by hospital brotherhood founded by the princess in 1233. This brotherhood became later an independent order of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star. Agnes led by the ideals of St. Francis and St. Clare held closely to the original order rules and was exchanging letters with St. Clare and also with popes Gregory IX, Innocence IV and Urban IV. The vigorous abbess was a pious follower of the Franciscan ideal and wise counselor to her royal family. www.charlesbridgemuseum.com In 1249 she negotiated peace between her brother Wenceslas and his son Přemysl, margrave of Moravia, and later she used her diplomatic skills in the argument of her nephew Přemysl Otakar II and Rudolph I Habsburg. She strived for pure holiness and modesty connected to love to her sisters-nuns, the poor and the abandoned. Agnes died in the St. Francis convent in Prague on 2nd March 1282. Since 1328 Elizabeth of Bohemia had been striving for Agnes‘ canonization, but these demands had not been heard for centuries, even though Prague archbishops, rulers and grandmasters of the Knights of the Cross had been calling for it. First in 1874 she was beatified on the demand of Prague Archbishop Schwarzenberg. Thus the worship of St. Agnes spread outside the order of the Knights of the Cross. At last, on 12th November 1989 she was canonized by the Pope John Paul II and the Czech royal saint is therefore also connected to the fall of the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia in the same year. • What was the name of Agnes’ mother? ................................................................................... • Which order did Agnes join and in what year? ......................................................................... • How many years have passed since her death? .......................................................................... • How old was she when she died? ........................................................................................... • With whom did she exchange letters? ..................................................................................... • Name all the men Agnes was engaged to. ................................................................................ • Which famous king was her nephew? ..................................................................................... • Which order was founded from Agnes’ initiative? ..................................................................... Check questions: What was the name of the oldest stone bridge in Prague? What century was it built in? ......................................................................................................................................... Who founded the order of the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star? ......................................................................................................................................... Which king had tortured St. John of Nepomuk? In which century did it take place? .......................................................................................................................................... What reasons led Charles IV to build the new stone bridge? When was the foundation stone laid down? .......................................................................................................................................... www.charlesbridgemuseum.com.