Английская Википедия:History of Christianity in the Czech lands
The history of Christianity in the Czech lands began in the 9th century. Moravia was the first among the three historical regions of what now forms the Czech Republic whose ruling classes officially adopted Christianity, between the 830s and the 860s. In 845 Bohemian chieftains or duces also converted to the new faith, but it was just a short-lived political gesture (next year they returned to paganism). The real beginning of efforts to promote Christianity in Bohemian territory has to be placed in the period after 885. Moravia was the earliest center of the Old Church Slavonic liturgy after the arrival of Constantine (Cyril) and Methodius in 863, but their opponents, mainly priests of German origin, achieved the banishment of their disciplines in the 880s. Bohemia became the center of Christianization following the fall of Moravia in the early 10th century. Changes in burials and the erection of churches throughout the Czech lands demonstrate the spread of the new faith in the 10th century.
Two dioceses (the bishoprics of Prague and Olomouc) came into being by the end of the 11th century, but the system of local parishes only strengthened in the 12th century. The dukes and wealthy noblemen also set up a number of Benedictine, Cistercian, and Premonstratensian monasteries in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Early Middle Ages (till 976)
Early Slavs (before c. 830)
Шаблон:See also Archaeological finds with close analogies in UkraineШаблон:Spaced ndashsunken huts with corner ovens, small cremation cemeteries, and "Prague pottery"Шаблон:Spaced ndashsuggests that the first Slavic-speaking groups settled in the lands now inhabited by the Czech people in the second half of the 6th century.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Almost all information on early Slavic mythology and cults derives from sources first recorded in the late 10th century.Шаблон:Sfn According to these sources, the Czechs' ancestors worshipped Perun, Veles, and other deities of the Slavic pantheon.Шаблон:Sfn
The remains of pagan cult sites, most of which have been excavated in Moravia, are "difficult to interpret."Шаблон:Sfn For instance, finds at a cemetery at Mikulčice which was in use from the late 8th century to the middle of the 10th century point at the existence of a rite connected to horse burials.Шаблон:Sfn The earliest inhumation graves, dated to the 8th century, were also unearthed in this region.Шаблон:Sfn Fortifications at Mikulčice, Staré Město, and nearby settlements proves that important centers of power existed in the valley of the river Morava.Шаблон:Sfn
Likewise around 800, strongholds were erected at Kouřim and other places in the Vltava river's valley in Bohemia.Шаблон:Sfn Charlemagne's biographer Einhard lists the "Bohemians" among the peoples with whom Charlemagne "had armed conflict."[1]Шаблон:Sfn The heads or ducesШаблон:Sfn of the Bohemian tribes agreed to pay tribute to the emperor in 805 and 806.Шаблон:Sfn Bohemian and Moravian emissaries participated at the Diet of Frankfurt in the Carolingian Empire in 822.Шаблон:Sfn
Beginnings (c. 830–c. 906)
The earliest Christian missionaries came to Moravia from the dioceses of Passau, Regensburg, and Salzburg.Шаблон:Sfn The Frankish aristocrats' way of life attracted the Moravian and Bohemian leaders who identified it with Christianity.Шаблон:Sfn The adoption of the new faith was initially the personal decision of individual aristocrats.Шаблон:Sfn Czech religious terminology also indicates the chieftains' preeminent role in Christianization.Шаблон:Sfn For instance, the Czech word for church (kostel) derived from Old High German kastel ("fortress") and the word for priest (kněz) from Common Slavonic kŭnędzĭ ("prince or chieftain").Шаблон:Sfn Reginhar, bishop of Passau, baptized "all Moravians" and their prince, Mojmir I (r. c. 830–846) in 831, at least according to the Reports of the Bishops of Passau.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Crosses from graves at fortresses suggest that most Moravian chieftains converted to Christianity by the 850s,Шаблон:Sfn but the Frankish prelates described the Church in Moravia as "coarse" at their synod of 852.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Indeed, the pagan temple at Mikulčice which was in use till around 850 demonstrates that heathen cults survived the official adoption of the new faith.Шаблон:Sfn
No objects connected to Christianity which can be dated to the period before the mid-9th century have been unearthed in Bohemia.Шаблон:Sfn The Annals of Fulda writes of "fourteen of the duces of the Bohemians" who visited Louis the German in Regensburg where they were baptised "on the octave of the Epiphany," that is on January 13, 845.[2]Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The Czech chieftains hoped that their conversion could contribute to maintain the peace with the Franks, because they soon returned to paganism after Louis the German invaded the Christian Moravia and dethroned Mojmir I in 846.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn
Mojmir I's nephew and successor, Rastislav (r. 846–860) turned to the Holy See to ask for missionaries in 860.Шаблон:Sfn However, his request fell on deaf ears, so he sent emissaries to Constantinople with the same task.Шаблон:Sfn The Byzantine Emperor Michael III sent two brothers, Constantine and Methodius, who were fluent in Slavic, to Rastislav's realm.Шаблон:Sfn They arrived in Moravia in 863 or 864. They used the vernacular not only in education but also in liturgyШаблон:Sfn which enabled them to strengthen the local element of the clergy.Шаблон:Sfn Constantine even created a new script fitted to Slavic phonology.Шаблон:Sfn
The Byzantine missionaries' success caused conflicts with the Frankish prelates who accused the two brothers of heresy at the Holy See.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn On hearing this, Constantine and Methodius visited Rome where Pope Hadrian II sanctioned the use of Slavonic in liturgy and ordained their disciples as priests in 869.Шаблон:Sfn Constantine adopted the name Cyril and entered a monastery in Rome,Шаблон:Sfn but died on February 14, 869.Шаблон:Sfn Although the Pope consecrated Methodius as archbishop of Sirmium (Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia), he was arrested by German prelates on his travel from Rome.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn He only returned to Moravia after Pope John VIII had in 873 achieved his release.Шаблон:Sfn According to his Life, Methodius received jurisdiction over all churches, most of which were located in fortresses, in Moravia.Шаблон:Sfn Шаблон:Quote
Moravia underwent a significant territorial expansion in the reign of Svatopluk I (r. 869–894).Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The Bohemian dukes also accepted his suzerainty from the 880s.Шаблон:Sfn According to a legend which was first recorded in the Life of Václav and Ludmilla around 994,Шаблон:Sfn Methodius personally baptized a Bohemian duke named Bořivoj I (r. 872–889) who was the head of the emerging Přemyslid dynasty.Шаблон:Sfn The duke soon had a church erected at Levý Hradec, but his subjects who insisted on paganism rose up and expelled him.Шаблон:Sfn Assisted by Svatopluk I, Bořivoj I returned to Bohemia and defeated his enemies around 885.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn He had a new church built at Prague Castle.Шаблон:Sfn
Methodius died on April 6, 885.Шаблон:Sfn His opponents took advantage of his death and persuaded Pope Stephen V to forbid the use of the vernacular in liturgy.Шаблон:Sfn Svatopluk I soon expelled Methodius's disciples from his empire.Шаблон:Sfn Svatopuluk I died in 894.Шаблон:Sfn The Czechs soon rose up and accepted the suzerainty of King Arnulf of East Francia.Шаблон:Sfn
Pope John IX sanctioned the establishment of an archbishopric and four suffragan bishoprics in Moravia in 898 upon the request of Svatopluk I's successor, Mojmir II.Шаблон:Sfn However, no report of the actual consecration of new Moravian prelates has been preserved.Шаблон:Sfn Moravia finally disintegrated after the arrival of the Hungarians who conquered its core territory between 903 and 906.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn A heathen sanctuary built on the ruins of a Christian church at Pohansko suggests that traditional Slavic cults revived following the fall of Moravia.Шаблон:Sfn
Christianization (c. 906–976)
Spytihněv I, Duke of Bohemia (r. 894–915) played a preeminent role in the evolution of the Church organization.Шаблон:Sfn He had a number of fortresses erected which became important centers of both secular and ecclesiastic administration.Шаблон:Sfn The First Latin Legend of WenceslasШаблон:Sfn refers to a "greater priest" (maior presbyter) who seems to have represented the bishop of Regensburg in Bohemia.Шаблон:Sfn The same source states that Bavarian and Swabian priests arrived in the reign of Wenceslaus I (921–935),Шаблон:Sfn but many priests known from this periodШаблон:Spaced ndashincluding Krastĕj at Stará Boleslav and Učen at BudečШаблон:Spaced ndashbore Slavic names which implies that they came from Moravia.Шаблон:Sfn
Wenceslaus I's grandmother Ludmila became the first local saint.Шаблон:Sfn She had been murdered in 921 because of her conflicts with her daughter-in-law, Drahomíra (Wenceslaus's mother).Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Her cult began around 925 in the reign of her grandson.Шаблон:Sfn Wenceslaus I who was murdered by his own brother's servantsШаблон:Sfn also became a subject of veneration.Шаблон:Sfn He was regarded as "eternal prince" of Bohemia from the end of the century.Шаблон:Sfn The legends of Wenceslaus I and his grandmother are among the first works of local literature.Шаблон:Sfn The parallel use of Latin and Old Church Slavonic in a religious context is a remarkable feature of these texts.Шаблон:Sfn For instance, the earliest legend of Wenceslaus was written in Latin in the 960s, but its Old Church Slavonic version also appeared in short time.Шаблон:Sfn
Wenceslaus's brother Boleslaus I (r. 935–972) defeated a number of Bohemian dukes who opposed his rule, erected new fortresses all over Bohemia, and conquered significant parts of Moravia, Silesia, and other territories.Шаблон:Sfn Cosmas of Prague reports that Boleslaus I "built twenty churches for the Christian religion"[3] in his reign.Шаблон:Sfn Churches from the second half of the century have been found at Dobřichov, Plzeň, and other settlements.Шаблон:Sfn The earliest churches in Bohemia were wooden constructions.Шаблон:Sfn The church dedicated to the Virgin at Prague Castle was the first to have been built of stone.Шаблон:Sfn Boleslaus I ordered that markets be held on Sundays in his forts in order to persuade his subjects to attend Sunday Mass.Шаблон:Sfn Pope John XIII authorized him to establish two bishoprics in his realm in 962, Шаблон:Sfn but Michael, Bishop of Regensburg, prevented the division of his diocese.Шаблон:Sfn Cosmas of Prague narrates that the Pope forbade Slavic liturgy in his letter to Boleslaus II, but the credibility of this report has been challenged.Шаблон:Sfn
Changes in burials reflect the spread of Christianity in Bohemia in the 10th century.Шаблон:Sfn The growing number of traditional tumuli used for inhumation instead of cremation demonstrates that pagan and Christian customs co-existed.Шаблон:Sfn Likewise, the custom of placing eggs or other foodstuffs in graves survived up until the early 11th century even in "row cemeteries" which appeared in the late 9th century.Шаблон:Sfn
Boleslaus II (r. 967–999) established a monastery (the St. George's Convent) for Benedictine nuns in Prague.Шаблон:Sfn Its first abbess Mlada was his sister,Шаблон:Sfn who represented him in his discussions with the Holy See on the establishment of the Czech bishoprics.Шаблон:Sfn The two dioceses, of Prague and Moravia, were finally set up in 975.Шаблон:Sfn Their bishops became suffragans of the archbishops of Mainz.Шаблон:Sfn
Middle Ages (976–c. 1410)
Development of church structure (976–c. 1200)
A member of the powerful Slavník dynasty, Adalbert, became the bishop of Prague around 983.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Emperor Henry IV's diploma of 1086 (the text of which has been preserved by Cosmas of Prague) describes the boundaries of Bishop Adalbert's diocese.Шаблон:Sfn According to the diploma, Bishop Adalbert's jurisdiction included both Bohemia and Moravia, which suggests that the see of Moravia had meanwhile been dissolved.Шаблон:Sfn The diploma states that parts of Silesia, Lesser Poland (including Kraków), and modern Slovakia also belonged to the bishopric in the late 10th century.Шаблон:Sfn
Bishop Adalbert attempted to strengthen Christian values in his diocese, for instance by condemning polygamy.Шаблон:Sfn However, he failed in his efforts and departed his see for Italy in 988 or 989.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn He only returned to Prague upon the request of Boleslaus II in 992.Шаблон:Sfn In next year the duke and the bishop jointly established Břevnov Monastery for Benedictine monks.Шаблон:Sfn Bishop Adalbert again left for Rome just before the massacre of his kinsmen by the duke in 995.Шаблон:Sfn Adalbert himself suffered martyrdom among the pagan Prussians in 997.Шаблон:Sfn His canonization was initiated in 999 by Emperor Otto III.Шаблон:Sfn
Saint Adalbert's relics were initially buried in the Gniezno Cathedral in Poland, but they were translated by force to Prague under Duke Bretislaus I (r. 1035–1055).Шаблон:Sfn On this occasion, in 1039, the duke issued decrees which prescribed the general observance of Christian customs, including the prohibition of working on Sundays and on feast days and a ban on burials outside Christian graveyards.Шаблон:Sfn The separate diocese for Moravia, with its seat in Olomouc, was restored under Duke Vratislaus II (r. 1061–1092), although his brother Bishop Jaromír of Prague (r. 1068–1090) made every effort to hinder the dismemberment of his diocese.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn Likewise, the establishment of the wealthy Vyšehrad Chapter around 1070, which was directly subordinated to the Holy See, diminished the power of the bishops of Prague.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn On the other hand, a large basilica dedicated to St. Vitus was erected on the site of an earlier rotunda at Prague which served as the new see of the bishopric.Шаблон:Sfn A new cathedral was built at Olomouc under Bishop Jindřich Zdík (r. 1126–1150) who moved his see to the castle in the town.Шаблон:Sfn
Bretislaus I's decrees of 1039 make references to archpriests and archdeaconsШаблон:Sfn which points at the existence of large parishes with their seats in strongholds.Шаблон:Sfn The development of the local church system accelerated after a papal legate Cardinal Guido obliged the two Czech bishops to determine the boundaries of the parishes in their dioceses in 1143.Шаблон:Sfn The erection of new cathedrals contributed to the development of cathedral chapters which were organized in accordance with the ideas of contemporary canon law, including celibacy.Шаблон:Sfn However, marriage and concubinage remained widespread among the lower clergy up until the end of the 12th century.Шаблон:Sfn Cardinal Guido even wrote of clergymen "found bigamous or married to widows or repudiated women."Шаблон:Sfn
In the 11th and 12th centuries a number of new monasteries were founded in the Czech lands, most of them by the dukes.Шаблон:Sfn Sázava Monastery which was established around 1032 became a significant center of Slavic literature,Шаблон:Sfn but its German abbot had all Slavic books destroyed in 1097.Шаблон:Sfn Further Benedictine abbeys were established up until the middle of the 12th century when new religious orders arrived and became popular in the Czech lands.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The Cistercians were first settled at Sedlec Abbey upon the initiative of a Czech nobleman named Miroslav in 1142 or 1143.Шаблон:SfnШаблон:Sfn The first Premonstratensian house was set up at Strahov in 1143 or 1144.Шаблон:Sfn
Further history (1410–present)
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See also
Footnotes
References
Primary sources
- Cosmas of Prague: The Chronicle of the Czechs (Translated with an introduction and notes by Lisa Wolverton) (2009). The Catholic University of America Press. Шаблон:ISBN.
- "Einhard: The Life of Charles the Emperor" (2009). In Charlemagne and Louis the Pious: Lives by Einhard, Notker, Ermoldus, Thegan, and the Astronomer (Translated with Introductions and Annotations by Thomas F. X. Noble). The Pennsylvania State University Press. pp. 21–50. Шаблон:ISBN.
- The Annals of Fulda (Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II) (Translated and annotated by Timothy Reuter) (1992). Manchaster University Press. Шаблон:ISBN.
- "The Life of Methodius" (1983). In Medieval Slavic Lives of Saints and Princes (Marvin Kantor) [Michigan Slavic Translation 5]. University of Michigan. pp. 97–138. Шаблон:ISBN.
- "The Life of Saint Adalbert Bishop of Prague and Martyr (Translated by Cristian Gaşpar)" (2013). In Saints of the Christianization Age of Central Europe (Tenth-Eleventh Centuries) (Edited by Gábor Klaniczay, translated by Cristian Gaşpar and Marina Miladinov, with an introductory essay by Ian Wood) [Central European Medieval Texts, Volume 6.]. CEU Press. pp. 77–182. Шаблон:ISBN.
Secondary sources
- Шаблон:Cite book
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Шаблон:History of Christianity in Europe
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