September 24, 1483 ( 1483-09-24 )
114-483: Kukal is a Czech and Slavic surname: This Czech history –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This surname -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . History of the Czech lands The history of the Czech lands – an area roughly corresponding to the present-day Czech Republic – starts approximately 800 years BCE. A simple chopper from that age
228-575: A Hussite priest at the church of the Virgin Mary of the Snows , led his congregation on a procession through the streets of Prague to the New Town Hall on Charles Square . The town council members had refused to exchange their Hussite prisoners. While they were marching, a stone was thrown at Želivský from the town hall and allegedly hit him. This enraged the mob and they stormed the town hall. Once inside
342-582: A common state, based on the right of a people to self-determination . After the capitulation of Austria-Hungary three years later, the Czechoslovak Republic became a reality. The so-called First Republic lasted for 20 years, cut short by the advent of the World War II . Following the end of World War II, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia took power in 1948, and Czechoslovakia became a member of
456-511: A dung heap, a story unknown to contemporaries and probably coined in response to divine intervention claims. Philip Fabricius was later ennobled by the Emperor and granted the title Baron von Hohenfall (literally 'Baron of Highfall'). Immediately after the defenestration, the Protestant estates and Catholic Habsburgs started gathering allies for war. After the death of Matthias in 1619, Ferdinand II
570-593: A major cultural hub of Europe during his reign. He was a reclusive ruler who preferred his hobbies to the daily affairs of the state. In 1605 Rudolf II was forced by his other family members to cede the rule of Hungary to his younger brother Archduke Matthias following the Bocskai Uprising after the Long Turkish War . The differences of opinions between the two brothers ultimately resulted in Rudolf's imprisonment at
684-453: A new democratic republic of Czechoslovakia took its place. The republic of Czechoslovakia was declared in October 1918. It was a democratic presidential republic. In 1920, its defined territory was not inhabited only by Czechs and Slovaks, it contained significant populations of other nationalities: Germans (22.95%), Hungarians (5.47%) and Ruthenians (3.39%). The Great Depression starting at
798-665: A new document confirming religious freedoms – replacing the older Compacts of Basel , that did not take non- Utraquist Protestants into account. He also showed his religious tolerance by reaffirming the Statuta Judaeorum – a document providing legal protection for the Jews in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. His son Rudolf II succeeded him in 1576 and in 1583 he moved the royal court to Prague. Thanks to Rudolf's patronage of art, Prague became
912-488: A prolonged religious conflict inside Bohemia (the Hussite Wars , 1st defenestration) or beyond ( Thirty Years' War , 3rd defenestration), while the second helped establish a religious peace in the country for 31 years ( Peace of Kutná Hora , 2nd defenestration). The First Defenestration of Prague involved the killing of several members of the city council by a crowd of Czech Hussites on 30 July 1419. Jan Želivský ,
1026-530: A rapid urbanization. Population in centers of industry doubled or tripled within a few decades. At the start of the 20th century, Austria's unilateral annexation of Bosnia in 1908 caused the Bosnian Crisis and prompted the eventual assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria , sparking the World War I in 1914. Many of the Czech nationalists saw the war as an opportunity for gaining full independence from
1140-557: A rebellion in Hungary, aged only seventeen. Many of his contemporaries suspected he was poisoned, but modern examinations of his skeleton proved he died of acute leukemia . With his death the Albertinian Line of the House of Habsburg ended. In 1458, the estates of Bohemia elected George of Poděbrady as the new King of Bohemia. He had a difficult role trying to maintain a fragile peace between
1254-639: A saint by the Catholic Church) ruled from 921 and had to submit to the Saxon king Henry I in order to maintain his ducal authority. He was murdered by his younger brother Boleslaus I . Boleslaus I expanded the Duchy of Bohemia eastwards conquering the lands of Moravia and Silesia and areas around Kraków . He stopped paying tribute to the Saxon king igniting a war which he lost and was forced to recognize Saxon suzerainty over
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#17328527686501368-708: A treaty on unity and common action, which brought the dominion of the Utraquism . The development then led to religious reconciliation and the declaration of equality of both churches at the Kutná Hora Assembly in 1485. This defenestration significantly influenced the history of Europe and led to the Thirty Years' War . In 1555, the Peace of Augsburg had settled religious disputes in the Holy Roman Empire by enshrining
1482-510: A trial. Similar letters patents were published in other territories under his rule and led to mass killings of Romani people. After Joseph I's premature death in 1711, the Austrian throne went to his younger brother Charles VI . Charles VI had no male heirs and with the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 he ensured that all the titles held by him could be inherited by a woman. Charles VI sought
1596-581: Is the Venus of Petřkovice , found in what is today Ostrava. Remains of mammoth hunters from 22,000 BCE were also found in the aforementioned Kůlna Cave along with the remains of reindeer hunters and horse hunters, dated to about 10,000 years later. Approximately between 5500 and 4500 BCE, people of the Linear Pottery culture resided in Czech lands. Their settlement was discovered in Bylany near Kutná hora. Their culture
1710-579: The Bohemian–Hungarian War . After the king George's death, the war was continued by Vladislaus II from the House of Jagiellon , who was offered the throne of Bohemia by George of Poděbrady himself. After ten years of fighting, the Bohemian-Hungarian War finally ended by signing of the Peace of Olomouc in 1479, in which Moravia , Silesia and Lusatia were ceded to Matthias Corvinus for
1824-670: The Catholic side and the Hussite side, for which he earned the nickname King of two peoples . Despite his efforts, he ultimately did not succeed and in 1465, the catholic nobles formed the Unity of Green Mountain and challenged his rule. A year after, he was excommunicated by the new Pope Paul II , which gave a justification for the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus to invade the Czech Lands and start
1938-557: The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia seized power in a coup d'état. Klement Gottwald became the first communist president. He nationalized the country's industry and collectivized its farms to form Sovkhozs inspired by the Soviet model. Czechoslovakia thus became a part of the Eastern Bloc . Attempts at a reformation of the political system during the Prague Spring of 1968 were ended by
2052-649: The Eastern Bloc . In August 1968, armies of the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia to prevent further attempts at the reformation of the Communist system. In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution replaced the Communist regime with a democratic Czech and Slovak Federative Republic . Three years later, Czech and Slovak representatives agreed to the Dissolution of Czechoslovakia and the formation of separate states. In 1999,
2166-523: The House of Habsburg , who died shortly after. The claim to the Lands of the Bohemian Crown was passed to his unborn son Ladislaus , who gained the nickname Posthumous . He was raised at the court of his distant relative Emperor Frederick III . Although he was crowned the King of Bohemia in 1453, his regent George of Poděbrady continued to effectively rule Bohemia in his stead. Ladislaus died in Prague after fleeing
2280-482: The Hussite Wars . The religious military conflicts stopped in 1434 with the battle Battle of Lipany , but the religious tensions continued on. Although Sigismund became the titular King of Bohemia after Wenceslaus IV's death in 1419, it was not until 1436 that he was recognized by the Czech Estates and he died a year after. After Sigismunds's death the title of the King of Bohemia went to his son-in-law Albert from
2394-670: The Jesuit Order to Prague in 1556. From 1599 to 1711, Moravia (a Land of the Bohemian Crown ) was frequently subjected to raids by the Ottoman Empire and its vassals (especially the Tatars and Transylvania ). Overall, hundreds of thousands were enslaved whilst tens of thousands were killed. Maximilian II succeeded Ferdinand I in 1562 and – like his father – ruled from Vienna. He approved Czech Confession ( Confessio Bohemica in Latin) –
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#17328527686502508-497: The Letter of Majesty – a document granting religious freedoms, signed by Rudolf II. eight years earlier. Ferdinand II did not share the religious benevolence of his predecessors. A year after he was crowned, he prohibited the construction of Protestant ecclesial buildings on royal land. That led to protests among the Protestant nobility – who saw it as a violation of the Letter of Majesty – and
2622-657: The Magyar invasion at the start of the 10th century. A new state formed around the tribe of Premyslids , who founded the Duchy of Bohemia. The duchy existed largely within the sphere of influence of the East Franconia and later the Holy Roman Empire . The duchy sided with the Roman Catholic Church during the East-West Schism and in 1212, the duke Ottokar I was granted the hereditary title of king for his service to
2736-669: The Munich Treaty , stripping the Czechoslovakia of its borderlands, leaving it indefensible. After giving up Sudetenland , the Second Czechoslovak Republic lasted only half-a-year before its full dismemberment before the start of World War II. The Slovak Republic declared its independence from Czechoslovakia and became Germany's client state , while two days later the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
2850-537: The Old Town Bridge Tower as a warning. This contributed to the resentment that gave rise to the Thirty Years' War. More events of defenestration have occurred in Prague during its history, but they are not usually called "defenestrations of Prague". Sometimes, the name "the fourth" or "the third defenestration of Prague" is used, although it has no standard meaning. For example, it has been used to describe
2964-770: The Peace of Pressburg , Francis I lost many of his territories and soon after, the Holy Roman Empire dissolved, replaced by the Confederation of the Rhine . Following the end of Napoleonic Wars , the Congress of Vienna reinstated the Austrian Empire as one of the Great Powers of Europe in 1815. Francis I was a proponent of conservatism and his policies suppressed all of the emerging liberal and nationalist movements in his Empire. He
3078-550: The Prague Castle and all effective power was given into the hands of Matthias. After Rudolf II's death in 1612 the royal court moved back to Vienna. Matthias did not have any children – same as his brother Rudolf – and he died six years later, aged 62. He was succeeded by his cousin Ferdinand II , Archduke of Austria. The Diets of Bohemia confirmed Ferdinand's position as Matthias' successor only after he had promised to respect
3192-612: The Roman Empire were left in south Moravia. After the turbulent times of the Migration Period , the Czech lands were ultimately settled by the Slavic tribes. The year of 623 marks the formation of the first known state in the Czech lands, when Samo united the local Slavic tribes, defended their lands from the Avars to the east and – few years later – won the battle of Wogastisburg against
3306-620: The Schmalkaldic War , they did so very reluctantly. The next year the Czech estates refused to gather an army again and rebelled, for which they were punished after the Schmalkaldic League decisively lost the Battle of Mühlberg . As a result, Ferdinand I managed to strengthen his position in the Land of the Bohemian Crown, limit city privileges and begin the process of recatholicization by inviting
3420-617: The Second Defenestration of Prague in 1618, which sparked the conflict that would become the Thirty Years' War . The revolting Bohemian estates then chose Frederick V of Palatinate as their new king and gathered an army in preparation of war. They were joined by Lutheran nobility in Austria. Ferdinand II asked his Spanish relative Philip III for help. Spanish army in the Netherlands made sure forces of Protestant Union could not join
3534-523: The Ukrainian SSR . Oblast of Ukraine . Defenestrations of Prague#The 1618 Defenestration of Prague The Defenestrations of Prague ( Czech : Pražské defenestrace , German : Prager Fenstersturz , Latin : Defenestratio Pragensis ) were three incidents in the history of Bohemia in which people were defenestrated (thrown out of a window). Though already existing in Middle French ,
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3648-403: The 15th century saw the rise of Proto-Protestantic sentiments in the Czech lands. The execution of Jan Hus sparked the Hussite Wars and the religious split that followed them. The Jagiellon dynasty ascended the Czech throne in 1471. They ruled for half a century before the king Louis Jagiellon died in the Battle of Mohács and the empty throne was given to the House of Habsburg . After
3762-598: The 1920 constitution . Annexed by Nazi Germany . ČSR; included the autonomous regions of Slovakia and Subcarpathian Ruthenia. Annexed by Hungary (1939–1945). ČSR; declared a "people's democracy" (without a formal name change) under the Ninth-of-May Constitution following the 1948 coup . ČSSR; from 1969, after the Prague Spring , consisted of the Czech Socialist Republic (ČSR) and Slovak Socialist Republic (SSR). Oblast of
3876-547: The 19th century, the nationalist tendencies and movements in the Czech lands known as the Czech National Revival slowly grew, led by activists such as linguists Josef Dobrovský and Josef Jungmann , historian and politician František Palacký or writer Božena Němcová and journalist Karel Havlíček Borovský . The efforts of the Czech National Revival first peaked during the revolutions of 1848 . Ferdinand I
3990-646: The Austria-Hungary. Desertion among the Czech conscripts was commonplace and Czechoslovak Legions were formed to fight for the side of Entente Powers . In the Cleveland Agreement of 1915 , the Czech and Slovak representatives declared their goal of creating a common state, based on the right of a people to self-determination . When the World War I ended in 1918, the Kingdom of Bohemia officially ceased to exist and
4104-458: The Catholic religion. Because of her marriage to Francis Stephen of Lorraine , all of her children were considered to be members of a new joint House of Habsburg-Lorraine . After the death of Maria Theresa's husband in 1765, her son Joseph II started to rule with her as a co-ruler and since 1780 as the sole ruler. He enforced many reforms, among the most notable are the abolition of serfdom , Patent of Toleration expanding religious freedom and
4218-401: The Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The official start of the current Czech Republic was set on 1 January 1993. The Czech Republic became a member of NATO in 12 March 1999, and the European Union in 1 May 2004. Lists: [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] ČSR; boundaries and government established by
4332-436: The Czech Republic joined Nato and in 2004, became a member of the European Union . A simple chopper – left by the ancestors of the present-day Homo Sapiens – dated to 800,000 BCE was uncovered in Red Hill in Brno. First evidence of human camps was found in Přezletice near Prague and in Stránská skála near Brno which dates to about 200,000 years after that. Stone tools were found in the Kůlna Cave in central Moravia, with
4446-419: The Czech lands remained firmly under the control of Austria. The newly formed Real union of Austria-Hungary lasted for the next half-a-century. The policies suppressing the National Revival in the Czech lands under the Austrian government continued, as well as the suppression of the Slovak National Revival under the Hungarian government. The end of the 19th century also was a time of a demographic boom and
4560-438: The Duchy of Bohemia. The Bishopric of Prague was founded in 973 during the reign of his son Boleslaus II . The bishopric was subordinated to the Archbishopric of Mainz . In 1002, during the reign of the duke Vladivoj , the Duchy of Bohemia formally became a part of the Holy Roman Empire . After a period of dynastic infighting, Oldřich took power. His son Břetislav I led many ambitious conquests and later revolted against
4674-570: The Emperor to order the cessation of Protestant church construction on royal lands. According to Count of Martinice himself: Lord Paul Rziczan read aloud ... a letter with the following approximate content: His Imperial Majesty had sent to their graces the lord regents a sharp letter that was, by our request, issued to us as a copy after the original had been read aloud, and in which His Majesty declared all of our lives and honour already forfeit, thereby greatly frightening all three Protestant estates. As they also absolutely intended to proceed with
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4788-443: The Franks invading the Czech lands from the west. The next state appearing in the Czech lands after the dissolution of the Samo's state was probably the Great Moravia . The center of its power lay in the area of Moravia and present-day western Slovakia. In 863, Cyril and Methodius , two scholars from Greece, brought Christianity to the Great Moravia and established the first Slavic script – Glagolitsa . The Great Moravia fell during
4902-423: The Habsburg dynasty declared his younger brother, Matthias , to be family head in 1606. Matthias began to gradually wrest territory from Rudolf, beginning with Hungary. In 1609, to strengthen his hold on Bohemia, Rudolf issued the Letter of Majesty , which granted Bohemia's largely Protestant estates the right to freely exercise their religion, essentially setting up a Protestant Bohemian state church controlled by
5016-400: The Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II . The Přemyslid dynasty died out at the start of the 14th century and was replaced by the Luxembourg dynasty . The most notable of the Luxembourg rulers was Charles IV, who was elected the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He established the Archbishopric of Prague and Charles University , the first university north of the Alps and east of Paris. The start of
5130-440: The Holy Roman Emperor Henry III hoping to gain a full autonomy for the Duchy of Bohemia. Despite the initial success in Battle at Brůdek , he could not withstand the second invasion of the imperial army and ultimately had to renounce all of his conquests save for Moravia and recognize Henry III as his sovereign. After Břetislav's death, the infighting among Přemyslids continued – a consequence of seniority inheritance laws . Among
5244-414: The King of Bohemia. The first Czech Industrial Exhibition was prepared in honor of his visit in Clementinum and the Czech Estates commissioned an opera from Mozart for the occasion. Leopold II was succeeded by Francis I , the first-born of his 12 sons. In 1805, Napoleon 's army attacked Austria and defeated the Austrian and Russian army in the decisive Battle of Austerlitz in south Moravia. In
5358-434: The King of Hungary. Four years later, Wenceslaus II died – only 33 years old – probably of tuberculosis . Wenceslaus III abandoned his claim to the Hungarian throne, seeing that his rule was only nominal. Władysław the Elbow-high challenged Wenceslaus III's rule in Poland and conquered Krakow in 1306. Before Wenceslaus III could start his retaliation campaign, he was murdered in Olomouc by unknown assassins. Wenceslaus III
5472-426: The King of Hungary. In 1400, Wenceslaus IV was deposed as the Holy Roman Emperor, mainly due to his failure to address the Papal Schism . Two years later, Wenceslaus IV was briefly imprisoned again, this time by his brother Sigismund, who looted Moravia. After the death of Rupert – who had replaced Wenceslaus as the King of Romans – Wenceslaus IV competed with his brother Sigismund and his cousin Jobst of Moravia for
5586-420: The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were inherited by Ferdinand I from the House of Habsburg, as was agreed during the First Congress of Vienna. After the Battle of Mohács, the Ottomans were unsuccessful in their Siege of Vienna in 1529 and Ferdinand I managed to sign the Treaty of Constantinopole , postponing the Ottoman expansion attempts. Ferdinand and his brother Charles V – who was the Holy Roman Emperor at
5700-446: The Letter of Majesty and our religion ... for there can be no justice to be gained from or by them". Shortly thereafter, the two regents and their secretary were defenestrated, but they survived the 70-foot (21-metre) fall from the third floor. Catholics maintained the men were saved by angels or by the intercession of the Virgin Mary , who caught them; later Protestant pamphleteers asserted that they survived due to falling onto
5814-410: The Marcomanni tribe during the first two centuries CE. Germanic towns are described on the Map of Ptolemaios from the 2nd century, e.g. Coridorgis for Jihlava. The following centuries of what is known as the Great Migration once again changed the ethnic composition of the Czech Lands. In the 6th century, Slavic tribes, displaced by Langobard and Thuringian tribes began to move into the Czech Lands from
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#17328527686505928-472: The Protestants had planned. Count von Thurn turned to both Martinice and Slavata and said, "You are enemies of us and of our religion, have desired to deprive us of our Letter of Majesty, have horribly plagued your Protestant subjects ... and have tried to force them to adopt your religion against their wills or have had them expelled for this reason." Then to the crowd of Protestants, he continued, "Were we to keep these men alive, then we would lose
6042-419: The Slavs to defeat the Avars. Thus the Slavs adopted Samo as their ruler. Later Samo and the Slavs came into conflict with the Frankish empire whose ruler Dagobert I wanted to extend his rule to the east. That led to the Battle of Wogastisburg in 631, in which the newly established Realm of Samo successfully defended its autonomy. The realm disintegrated after Samo's death. The realm of Great Moravia probably
6156-464: The advice of some of our religious enemies, we wish to know, and hereby ask the lord regents present, if all or some of them knew of the letter, recommended it, and approved of it. Before the regents gave any answer, they requested that the Protestants give them the opportunity to confer with their superior, Adam von Waldstein , who was not present. If they were given the opportunity, the Protestants were to receive an official answer to their grievance by
6270-484: The death of Jan Masaryk , who was found below the bathroom window of the building of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 10 March 1948. The official report listed the death as a suicide. However, it was widely believed he was murdered, either by the nascent Communist government in which he served as a non-partisan foreign minister, or by the Soviet secret services . A Prague police report in 2004 concluded after forensic research that at least one other person
6384-434: The death of the Emperor Rudolf II of Habsburg , the religious and political tensions grew, resulting in the Second Defenestration of Prague , which sparked the Thirty Years' War . Many of the Czech nobles supported the Protestant side and were stripped of their properties as a result. Germanization and recatholicisation of the Czech lands followed. The spread of Romanticism during the late 18th century went hand in hand with
6498-434: The defenestration, Ferdinand and the Catholics regained power in the Battle of White Mountain on November 8, 1620. This became known as the first battle in the Thirty Years' War. There was plundering and pillaging in Prague for weeks following the battle. Several months later, twenty-seven nobles and citizens were tortured and executed in the Old Town Square . Twelve of their heads were impaled on iron hooks and hung from
6612-433: The disciples of Methodius after their teacher's death. During his reign, Great Moravia's sphere of influence reached its peak. After his death, the realm was split among his sons and soon after fell to ruin due to infighting and constant Magyar raids during the start of the 10th century. Bořivoj from Levý Hradec was the first known member of the Přemyslid dynasty. In 880, he moved his residence to Prague Castle, which laid
6726-466: The dissolution of all monastic orders not involved in education, healthcare or science. As part of his centralization efforts, he also pressed for the expansion of German language to all territories under his rule. Both of his wives died relatively young of smallpox and because he had no sons, he was succeeded by his younger brother Leopold II . Although Leopold II only ruled for two years, he spent several weeks in Prague in 1791 and he let himself be crowned
6840-400: The east. They fought with neighboring Avars – Turko-Tartar nomads – who seized the Pannonia and frequently raided the Slavic lands and even the Frankish Empire. In 623 – according to the Chronicle of Fredegar – the Slavic tribes revolted against the oppression of the Avars. During this time, the Frankish merchant Samo allegedly came to the Czech lands with his entourage and joined with
6954-422: The end of 1920's together with the rise of the National Socialist Party in neighbouring Germany during the 1930s caused increasing tensions between the different nationalist groups in Czechoslovakia. In foreign relations the newly established republic relied heavily on its western allies of Great Britain and France. That proved to be a mistake as in 1938, both allied countries agreed to Hitler's demands and co-signed
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#17328527686507068-466: The estates, "dominated by the towns and rural nobility". Upon Rudolf's death, Matthias succeeded in the rule of Bohemia (1612–1619) and extended his offer of more legal and religious concessions to Bohemia, relying mostly on the advice of his chancellor, Bishop Melchior Klesl . Conflict was precipitated by two factors: Matthias, already aging, and without children, made his cousin, Ferdinand of Styria , his heir and had him elected king in 1617. Ferdinand
7182-481: The estimated age of 120,000 years. More stone tools and the skeletal remains of a Neanderthal man were found at the same site in a 50,000-year-old layer. Human remains from 45,000 years ago were found in Koněprusy Caves in Zlatý kůň at Beroun District . Human remains from 30,000 years BCE were found in Mladeč caves mammoth tusks with complex engravings (again around 30,000 BCE) were found both in Pavlov and Předmostí at Přerov , making south Moravia one of
7296-401: The execution against us, we came to a unanimous agreement among ourselves that, regardless of any loss of life and limb, honour and property, we would stand firm, with all for one and one for all ... nor would we be subservient, but rather we would loyally help and protect each other to the utmost, against all difficulties. Because, however, it is clear that such a letter came about through
7410-442: The first university north of Alps and east of Paris. He also legally established the Lands of the Bohemian Crown ( Corona regni Bohemiae in Latin), meaning the core territories no longer belonged to a king or a dynasty but to the Bohemian monarchy (crown) itself. In 1355, Charles IV travelled to Rome where he was crowned the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He ruled as the Holy Roman Emperor for over 20 years and managed to secure
7524-471: The form of murder committed together. The first governmental defenestration occurred in 1419, the second in 1483 and the third in 1618, although the term "Defenestration of Prague" more commonly refers to the third. Often, however, the 1483 event is not recognized as a "significant defenestration", which leads to some ambiguity when the 1618 defenestration is referred to as the "second Prague defenestration". The first and third defenestrations helped to trigger
7638-455: The foundation of the city of Prague that emerged centuries later. He was a vassal to the kings of Great Moravia and was baptised during the christanisation of Great Moravia by St. Cyril and St. Methodius. His son Spytihněv I together with the head of another major Bohemian tribe Witizla used the collapse of Great Moravia and in 895 swore allegiance to the East Frankish king Arnulf of Carinthia . Spytihněv's nephew Wenceslaus (later proclaimed
7752-480: The hall, the group defenestrated the judge, the burgomaster , and several members of the town council. They were all killed by the fall. The procession was a result of the growing discontent at the contemporary direction of the Church and the inequality between the peasants, the Church's prelates, and the nobility. This discontent combined with rising feelings of nationalism increased the influence of preachers such as Jan Želivský, influenced by John Wycliffe , who saw
7866-496: The increased corvée occurred, but all in vain. In 1705, Leopold I's rule ended and his son Joseph I succeeded him. Joseph I planned to enact many administrative reforms, most of which he did not get the chance to finish, due to his premature death of smallpox . One year before his death he issued letters patent ordering that all Romani people in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown had one of their ears cut off. If they returned after being expelled, all Romani men were to be hanged without
7980-422: The invasion of armies of the Warsaw Pact . The Czechoslovakia remained under the rule of the Communist Party until the Velvet Revolution of 1989. One of the leaders of the dissent , Václav Havel became the first president of the democratic Czechoslovakia. Slovakia's demands for sovereignty were fulfilled at the end of 1992, when the representatives of Czechs and Slovaks agreed to split the Czechoslovakia into
8094-494: The king of Poland, was murdered and Wenceslaus II gained the Polish crown for himself. At the end of the 13th century, huge deposits of silver were found in Kutná Hora , which allowed him to start issuing vast amounts of silver coins called Prague groschen . In 1301, another neighbouring monarch died – Andrew III of Hungary , the last male member of the Árpád dynasty . Wenceslaus II married his son Wenceslaus III to Andrew III's only daughter and had him crowned in Székesfehérvár as
8208-429: The king of both Hungary and Bohemia. In 1521 he refused to pay the agreed annual tribute to the new Ottoman sultan, Süleyman I and executed his ambassadors. War ensued, Belgrade fell to Ottoman hands the same year. In 1526, Louis II led his forces against Suleiman I in the Battle of Mohács , which ended with a decisive defeat of the Hungarian army and Louis II drowned during his attempted retreat. He left no heirs and so
8322-490: The lands he had acquired south of Bohemia. Ottokar refused and waged two wars against the emperor which ended with his death at the battlefield of Marchfeld in 1278. The crown was passed to his 6-year-old son Wenceslaus II. Otto V, Margrave of Brandenburg ruled as a regent in his stead, later replaced by Záviš of Falkenstein , who married Ottokar II's widow. In 1290, Wenceslaus II had Záviš beheaded for alleged treason and began ruling independently. Year later, Przemysł II ,
8436-572: The lands of the Boii. The Dacian occupation primarily affected modern-day Slovakia but also held sway over regions of present-day Czech Republic and Pannonia . Following Burebista's demise in 44 BC, his empire crumbled, liberating the lands of the Boii from Dacian rule. Traces of Roman army camps were found in south Moravia, most notably near Mušov . The winter camp in Mušov was built to house approximately 20,000 soldiers. The Romans were repeatedly at war with
8550-561: The language composition of the Czech Lands. His son Wenceslaus I had to deal with the Mongol invasion of Europe at the start of 1240s. He managed to defend Bohemia, but Moravian lands were heavily plundered. When the Duke of Austria Frederick II died in 1246 without male heirs, Wenceslaus I tried to secure the Austrian lands by marrying his eldest son Vladislaus to Frederick's niece Gertrude . This plan failed because of Vladislaus's premature death in
8664-681: The loss of Silesia, which became a part of Prussia . That was the ended the unity of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. In 1757 during the Seven Years' War , the Prussians invaded Bohemia again and laid siege to Prague, but subsequently lost the Battle of Kolín and were repelled. Maria Theresa was not able to regain Silesia and the war ended in a draw. She tried to follow the ideas of Enlightenment , she established compulsory secular primary schools, but also state censorship of books that were deemed to be against
8778-699: The more notable rulers belong ( Vratislaus II and Vladislaus ) who were awarded lifetime titles of kings by the Holy Roman Emperors for their services. In 1212 Ottokar I was granted a hereditary title of the King of Bohemia by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II . Thus began the Kingdom of Bohemia , which lasted de iure until the end of World War I. His reign marked the start of the German eastward colonization , which over time significantly altered
8892-636: The most important archeological areas in Europe. The archeological site in Předmostí at Přerov represents the largest accumulation of human remains of the Gravettian culture, known for creating so-called Venus figurines . One of such figurines is the famous Venus of Dolní Věstonice (29,000–25,000 BCE) found in Dolní Věstonice in south Moravia along with many other artifacts from that time. Another Venus figurine
9006-505: The movement of the Czech National Revival . After 1848, the leading representatives of the Czech National Revival increased their political efforts to gain more autonomy for the Czech lands within the Habsburg Monarchy. The start of World War I opened the possibility of gaining full independence and formation of a sovereign state. In the Cleveland Agreement of 1915, the Czech and Slovak representatives declared their goal of creating
9120-482: The next Friday (the encounter took place on the eve of Ascension Day , and they all had to observe the holy day). The Protestant lords, however, demanded an immediate answer. Two regents, Adam II von Sternberg and Matthew Leopold Popel Lobkowitz, were declared innocent by the Protestant Estate holders, deemed to be too pious to have any responsibility in the preparation of the Emperor's letter. They were removed from
9234-673: The nickname John the Blind. A year later he took the side of King Philip VI of France in the Hundred Years' War and died in 1346 in the Battle of Crécy . His eldest son, Charles IV succeeded him on the Bohemian throne. Earlier in 1346, the Pope Clement VI declared the Emperor Louis IV a heretic and demanded a new Imperial election . Charles IV was the pope's preferred candidate and he
9348-447: The other European powers' approval, which he gained in exchange for various concessions. Regardless, after her father's death, Maria Theresa had to defend her inheritance from the coalition of Prussia, Bavaria, France, Spain, Saxony and Poland in the War of Austrian Succession , that broke out mere weeks after her coronation in 1740. She ultimately managed to defend her title, but paid for it with
9462-434: The principle of Cuius regio, eius religio , allowing a prince to determine the religion of his subjects. The Kingdom of Bohemia since 1526 had been governed by Habsburg kings, who did not force their Catholic religion on their largely Protestant subjects. In 1609, Rudolf II , Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia (1576–1612), increased Protestant rights. He was increasingly viewed as unfit to govern, and other members of
9576-452: The rest of his life and both monarchs were allowed to use the title of King of Bohemia. In 1485, Vladislaus II confirmed right of all Bohemian noblemen and commoners to freely adhere either to Hussitism or Catholicism in the Peace of Kutná Hora . After Matthias Corvinus died in 1490, Vladislaus II was elected the King of Hungary and gained all the territories he ceded 30 years earlier. From then on he ruled from Buda . Although Vladislaus II
9690-402: The revolt happening in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and in Austria. After dealing with the Austrian rebels, Ferdinand II decisively defeated Frederick V at the Battle of White Mountain , near Prague. Widespread confiscation of property followed, which was then sold to loyal nobles, often of foreign origin. Ferdinand II also had the 27 leaders of the revolt publicly beheaded and strengthened
9804-472: The room; before leaving, Adam II von Sternberg made it clear that they "did not advise anything that was contrary to the Letter of Majesty". This left Count Vilem Slavata of Chlum and Count Jaroslav Bořita of Martinice (who had replaced Thurn as castellan), both known Catholic hard-liners, and Philip Fabricius , the secretary to the regents. They eventually acknowledged responsibility for the letter and, presuming they would only be arrested, welcomed any punishment
9918-466: The royal power over the estates. The Lands of the Bohemian Crown and especially Silesia were some of the territories that were hit the hardest by the devastating Thirty Years' War. The war continued even after Ferdinand II's death during the reign of Ferdinand III . In 1648, the Thirty Years' War finally ended with the Peace of Westphalia . Ferdinand III continued the recatholicization and centralization policies of his father. After his death in 1657, he
10032-604: The same time – had to deal with not only the Ottoman threat, but also with the Schmalkaldic League which formed in 1531 to advance the interests of Lutheran states in the Holy Roman Empire. Largely Protestant Czech nobility had a favorable view of the Schmalkaldic League's goals and so when in 1546 Ferdinand I ordered the Czech estates to raise their army and march against the Protestant Electorate of Saxony as part of
10146-729: The start of the Bronze Age . Celts – who came during the 5th century BCE – are the first people known by name. One of the Celtic tribes were the Boii (plural), who gave the Czech lands their first name Boiohaemum – Latin for the Land of Boii . Before the beginning of the Common Era the Celts were mostly pushed out by Germanic tribes. The most notable of those tribes were the Marcomanni and traces of their wars with
10260-569: The start of the Bronze Age, Únětice culture appeared. This culture got its name from a village near Prague, where the first discovery was made in the 1870s. Many of their burial mounds were uncovered, mostly in central Bohemia. It was followed by the Middle Bronze Age Tumulus culture from around 1600 BC. The Urnfield culture is blanket term for various Late Bronze Age cultures dating from c. 1300-800 BC who cremated their dead and buried
10374-570: The start of the Iron Age. The most prominent tribe in Bohemia were the Boii (plural), who gave the area the name of Boiohaemia (Latin for the land of Boii ), which later turned into Bohemia. Before the start of the 1st century CE, they were pushed out by various Germanic tribes ( Marcomanni , Quadi , Lombards ). Around 60 to 50 BC, the Dacian king Burebista established an empire that extended its reach into
10488-517: The state of the Catholic Church as corrupt. The First Defenestration was thus the turning point between talk and action leading to the prolonged Hussite Wars . This defenestration took place on 24 September 1483 during the storms of the Prague population during the reign of King Vladislaus II of Hungary . He was king of Bohemia at that time but he became the ruler of Moravia and Hungary only after Matthias Corvinus died in 1490. It
10602-415: The title of the King of Romans for his eldest son Wenceslaus IV . Wenceslaus IV did not share the governance abilities of his father. In 1393, the torture and murder John of Nepomuk – vicar-general of the archbishop Jan of Jenštejn – sparked a noble rebellion. He was imprisoned for two years at Králův Dvůr and was only released after an intervention from his younger brother Sigismund , who had become
10716-570: The title of the King of Romans. He ultimately surrendered the title to Sigismund in exchange for keeping Bohemia. In 1414, Sigismund called the Council of Constance , which finally resolved the Papal Schism. It also condemned the teaching of Jan Hus , rector of the University of Prague and a popular church reformist. After Jan Hus refused to retract his teachings, he was burnt alive at stake, which prompted
10830-608: The urns with their ashes. The Hallstatt culture was the last culture of the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. The key archeological site of the Hallstatt culture in the Czech Lands is the Býčí skála Cave , where a rare bronze statue of a bull was found. Many of these archeological sites were occupied by multiple cultures throughout the ancient times. The area was settled by the Celtic tribes at
10944-655: The word defenestrate is believed to have first been used in English in reference to the episodes in Prague in 1618 when the disgruntled Protestant estates threw two royal governors and their secretary out of a window of the Hradčany Castle and wrote an extensive apologia explaining their action. In the Middle Ages and early modern times, defenestration was not uncommon—the act carried elements of lynching and mob violence in
11058-506: The year after. Wenceslaus I then decided for the invasion of Austria and he was successful. His successor, Ottokar II , continued the expansion of the realm. He gained more territory south of Austria and led two crusades against the pagan Old Prussians . He was hoping to gain the Imperial crown, but lost in the 1273 election to Rudolf of Habsburg , the first in a line of Habsburg emperors. Rudolf of Habsburg demanded that Ottokar II returns all of
11172-483: Was a proponent of the Catholic Counter-Reformation and not likely to be well-disposed to Protestantism or Bohemian freedoms. Bohemian Protestants opposed the royal government as they interpreted the Letter of Majesty to extend not only to the land controlled by the nobility or self-governing towns but also to the king's own lands. Whereas Matthias and Klesl were prepared to appease these demands, Ferdinand
11286-592: Was created by St. Cyril and St. Methodius , who arrived in Great Moravia in 863 from Thessaloniki in Byzantine Empire . They were invited by the king Rastislav who invited them to introduce literacy and a legal system to Great Moravia. His nephew and successor Svatopluk I 's diplomacy was oriented more towards Rome. Great Moravia was taken under the protection of the Holy See in 880 and six years after, he expelled
11400-645: Was crowned as the King of Romans in November 1346 in Bonn . Charles had been in charge of the administration of Czech Lands since 1333, due to his father's absence and health indisposition. Soon after his coronation as the King of Bohemia and the King of Romans, he settled in Prague and laid the foundations of the New Town expanding the capitol. In 1348 he founded the University of Prague ,
11514-599: Was discovered at the Red Hill ( Czech : Červený kopec ) archeological site in Brno . Many different primitive cultures left their traces throughout the Stone Age , which lasted approximately until 2000 BCE. The most widely known culture present in the Czech lands during the pre-historical era is the Únětice Culture , leaving traces for about five centuries from the end of the Stone Age to
11628-566: Was elected Holy Roman Emperor. At the same time, the Bohemian estates deposed him as King of Bohemia and replaced him with Frederick V, Elector Palatine , a leading Calvinist and son-in-law of the Protestant James VI and I , King of Scotland, England and Ireland. Because they deposed a properly chosen king, who also happened to be emperor, the Protestants could not gather the international support they needed for war. Just two years after
11742-642: Was established in the area of today's Moravia and western Slovakia in the 830s. It saw the rise of the first ever Slavic literary culture in the Old Church Slavonic language and the creation of the Glagolitic alphabet , the first alphabet dedicated to a Slavic language. Glagolitic was later simplified into the Cyrillic alphabet that is today used in Russia and many countries in eastern Europe and central Asia. Glagolitic
11856-475: Was forced to abdicate and his successor was his young nephew Francis Joseph I . When he – after losing the war with Italy in 1859 – also lost the war with Prussia in 1866, the Hungarian representatives forced Francis Joseph I to end his absolutist rule over Hungary in the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 . The Czech representatives who hoped for a similar increase in autonomy were left out and
11970-521: Was involved in Masaryk's death. This report was seemingly corroborated in 2006 when a Russian journalist said that his mother knew the Russian intelligence officer who defenestrated Masaryk. However, a more recent investigation opened in 2019 again called those findings into question, with new research claiming that Masaryk fell not from the bathroom window, but from the adjacent exterior ledge. That investigation
12084-537: Was married three times, he only had two children late in his life: son Louis and daughter Anne . Vladislaus II's two children married two children of the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I as a result of negotiations at the First Congress of Vienna , tying the House of Jagiellon and the House of Habsburg together. A year after that, in 1516, Vladislaus II died and his ten-year-old son Louis II became
12198-431: Was not; in 1618 he forced the Emperor to order the cessation of construction of some Protestant chapels on royal land. When the Bohemian estates protested against this order, Ferdinand had their assembly dissolved. On 23 May 1618, four Catholic lords regent, Count Jaroslav Bořita of Martinice , Count Vilem Slavata of Chlum , Adam II von Sternberg (who was the supreme burgrave ), and Matthew Leopold Popel Lobkowitz (who
12312-640: Was proclaimed. During the World War II – given the high level of industrialization of pre-war Czechoslovakia – the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia served as a major hub of military production for Germany. The oppression of ethnic Czechs increased after the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich by members of the Czech resistance in 1942. After Germany's defeat in 1945, the vast majority of ethnic Germans were forcefully deported from Czechoslovakia. In February 1948,
12426-591: Was succeeded by his only surviving son Leopold I . During the fourth Austro-Turkish War in 1663 the Turkish army invaded Moravia before being stopped in the Battle of Saint Gotthard . Leopold continued waging wars with Ottomans and France throughout his long rule. He increased corvée to three days a week which caused the Peasant Revolt of 1680 . The infamous Losiny Estate Witch Trials took place between 1678 and 1696 resulting in almost 100 dead. More protests against
12540-569: Was succeeded by the Lengyel culture , Funnelbeaker culture and Stroke-ornamented ware culture , which coexisted in the Czech Lands during the end of the Stone Age. Corded Ware culture in the north and Baden culture in the south were the predominant cultures in the Czech Lands throughout the Copper Age . The Bell Beaker culture represented the transition from the Copper Age to the Bronze Age . With
12654-518: Was the first of Austrian monarchs to widely utilize the secret police and he increased censorship. His son Ferdinand I became the Austrian Emperor after him. Because of his frequent seizures, he was not capable of ruling and the actual executive power was held by the Regent's Council. In 1836, one year after his succession, he was crowned the King of Bohemia under the name of Ferdinand V. Throughout
12768-489: Was the grand prior), arrived at the Bohemian Chancellery at 8:30 am. After preparing the meeting hall, members of the dissolved assembly of the three main Protestant estates gathered at 9:00 am, led by Count Thurn , who had been deprived of his post as castellan ( burgrave ) of Karlštejn Castle by the Emperor. The Protestant lords' agenda was to clarify whether the four regents present were responsible for persuading
12882-658: Was the last male member of the main branch of Přemyslids. The Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII of the House of Luxembourg married his son John to Wenceslaus III's sister Elisabeth and secured for him the Bohemian throne. John of Luxembourg was raised in Paris, did not speak any Czech and was widely unpopular among the Czech nobility. John never stayed long in the Czech lands, he traveled all across Europe and took part in multiple military conflicts. While crusading in Lithuania in 1336, John lost his eyesight due to ophthalmia , which earned him
12996-567: Was then that the party of the Communion under both kinds , fearing for their influence, carried out a violent coup in the Old and New towns and Lesser Town . The Old Town Burgomaster and the dead bodies of seven New Town councilors were defenestrated from the respective town halls. The coup in Prague contributed to the limitation of ruling power and prevented the resumption of pre-Hussite conditions. On October 6, 1483, three Prague municipalities signed
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