Literature

Latin - Czech - German - Timeline - Bibliography

Bohemia had a strong interest in and demand for literature, and enjoyed poetry, song, and religious tracts in many languages. Song and poetry was composed by monks and university students alike, and literature was enjoyed by an audience of literate but unscholastic townfolk and country gentry. There was an earthy realism in most of the work, rejecting the ideals of secular chivalry for Mies Dei. The Bohemians enjoyed an almost burlesque humour and biting satire as well as deeply spiritual and political metaphors. Through their literature, we can see examples of cultural cross-overs. Bohemian versions of popular contemporary German, French, and Italian lyrics were speedily developed, putting a typically Bohemian slant on the stories: exotic, realistic, religious, anti-outsider, anti-chivalric, and bawdy.

Not only men but also women were great patrons of the arts. Queen Sophie was an avid reader who owned 11 books, mostly in the Czech language. Elizabeth Rejc^ka maintained a sciptorium in Brno which produced 8 illuminated codices for Cistercian nuns. Highborn women were well known for their love of poetic saints’ lives.

Noblewomen were educated and were able to both read and write. Most of them used their own hand only for emergency writing, preferring instead to use a secretary or scribe to take dictation. Female writing is primarily seen in correspondence. Women readers are portrayed in Bohemian literature and art. In Annunciation scenes, Mary is often portrayed as reading two books: one in Czech and one in Latin. In Tandarias and Floribella, Floribella reads a book while, in contrast, her German-authored counterpart primps.

up Latin

The first known Latin chronicle, the Life of Saint Wenceslas, was written by a Premyslid monk named Kristian in 994. Historical literature in the form of the Chronica Bohemorum by Cosmas of Prague displays a “critical spirit unsual for his day” (Sedlar, 432) and includes material derived from actual documents. Finally, events from 1253-1338 are covered in the latin Zbraslav Chronicle.

Despite strong linguistic nationalism, Charles I chose Latin as the language for his autobiography Vita Caroli, and despite their similarly strong preference for the vernacular in religion, most Hussite tracts were also written in Latin. For example, John Milic of Kromeriz spoke both Czech and German, but wrote in Latin; as was Peter of Mladonovic’s account of the trial and burning of John Hus. The principle chronicler of the Hussite Movement, Lawrence of Brezova, wrote a 1760 verse (8 syllable lines with epic fragments, monologues, dialogues, lyrics, and Bible quotations) Latin-language poem celebrating the 1431 Hussite victory over the Catholic army at Domazlice.

There was also a specifically Bohemian literature form, called Latin Exempla. These secular, didactic tales with explicit morals were composed to serve as anecdotes in church sermons. Extant collections of exempla have survived from as early as the fourteenth century.

upCzech

The earliest extant Czech-language works include Hospodine, Pomiluj ny, which dates from the 10th or 11th century. This poem, first line translating as “Lord, have mercy on us”, and a 12th century Hymn to St. Wenceslas whose first verse runs ‘Saint Wenceslas, duke of the Czech land, our prince, pray for us to God and the Holy Ghost. Kyrie eleison.” (Sedlar, 440), became nationalist state songs in the fourteenth century. These songs were sung in churches, at Royal coronations, and by soldiers in battle. Also, isolated fragments of 12th century ancient songs and verse prayers. There are also glosses of Czech written in the margins of Latin books, presumably to help the readers comprehend the contents.

In the fourteenth century, a tradition of Prague-dialect vernacular literature developed. Early fourteenth century Bohemian epic poetry had a characteristic style which used rhymed couplets of 8 syllable lines in an irregular rhythm. The 3500 verse Legend of Saint Catherine dates from the founding of Charles University, and the Alexandreis, are both examples of this epic style. The latter is the oldest secular epic, dating from the late 13th century. It employs “rich and correct language with skillfully constructed, rhymed 8 syllable lines” (Sedlar, 441).

The earliest extant rhymed Czech-language chronicle, Dalimil, comes close to the spoken language of its time. Sedlar describes it as “notable for its vivid expressions and gnomic sayings...using a simpler vocabulary and syntax.” The poem retells ancient legends and recent events with an intense nationalism unusual in the middle ages. It is considered one of the best achievements of late medieval Czech historiography.

Dawn Songs, poems set to music traditionally performed at tavern revels, depicted the pain of young lovers forced to part by the rising sun. Many of these songs have survived from 14th century Bohemia. These stem from the new social milieu formed by the teachers and students of the newly established university. Written in Latin, Czech, and in the “macaronic style,” a mixture of Latin and Czech, these are secular songs. They express the joy in life and delight of pleasure and drink. They are beggar, drinking, and love songs. They are also satires and parodies. The earlist known Czech composer of dawn songs was Zavis, active in the 1370s and 1380s.

A sophisticated form of satirical poetry developed in the fourteenth century. Full of aphorisms and decorative elements, it is epitomized by the collections of czech and foreign proverbs Smil Flaska adapted for his poetic work “A Father’s Advice to His Son” and in the folk wisdom in his 1390s poem “the New Council of the Animals.” Numerous anonymous student works in ths genre show playful humour, self-mockery, and awareness of social conflicts. Jean Sedlar cites ’The Quarrel between Water and Wine,’ a parody of academic disputes; “Song of Merry Poverty,” about the carefree but difficult life of a student; and, “The Groom and the Student,” a dispute between an aged country servant and a poor urban student. These poems depicted members of poorest strata comparing their situations “Intended as entertainment rather than edification, it reflects the atmosphere of czech taverns in a realistic way” (Sedlar, 442).

Bohemia was the first country in East Central Europe to develop a strong demand for vernacular religion. Both Matthew of Janov and John of Jesenic encouraged Czech language religious education. In the last two decades of the fourteenth century, Czech gradually became the language for secular legal and administrative documents. Surviving word-lists show the development of a technical, vernacular, vocabulary.

up German

In thirteenth century Bohemia, the language of the court and of nobility was German. High German was the language of ballads sung at the royal, ducal, or noble courts. Ottokar II of Bohemia (The Golden King), brough German poets and singers to his court in the third quarter of the thirteenth century. One of these poets was the Bohemian native Ulrich of Eschen Back, who composed a poem about Alexander the Great. Ottokar II’s heir and son, Wenceslas II, wrote love poetry in the German language and maintained a splendid court which attracted many poets.

Although in the fourteenth century the Luxembourg court was more focussed towards French culture, German poetic forms and especially love lyrics remained popular. In many towns, the higher social stratas were composed of German-speaking Czechs, and the the Imperial Court at Prague had high German representation. John Milic wrote prayers in German as well as Czech, and John of Neumarkt, the Imperial Chancellor, wrote letters and correspondance in german. An important German language work from the early fifteenth century was the popular novel “Ackerman aus Bohmen” (Plowman from Bohemia) by John of Tepl, which is considered a high point of medieval German prose. It served as the model for its Czech-language counterpart, Tkadlecek (the Little Weaver), written after 1407 by an anonymous courtier.


upLiterature Timeline

10th Century
First Church Slavonic Life of Wenceslas just after 967, Latin Life of Saint Ludmilla
Second Church Slavonic Life of Wenceslas
Hospodine, pomiluj ny!

11th century
Slavonic Liturgy
Life of Sts Wenceslas and Ludmilla (Vita et passio sancti weceslai et avie eius Ludmilae) by Czech monk Kristia’n.
Chronica Boemorum (1119-22) by Cosmas, dean of Prague Chapter 1045-1125.
1085 Vys^ehrad Codex

12th Century
ca1100-1200s Ostrov Codex
Hymn to Saint Wenceslas

13th Century
1260-90 Song of Ostrov
late 1280s-1302ish Prayer of Lady Kunigunde / Passional of Abbess Kunigunde

14th Century
Alexandreida 1290-1300
First Cycle of Legends
Dalimil 1308-11
Life of Saint Catherine
The Ointment Seller (Unguentarius) ca 1340s
The Legend of St. Procopius 1350s
Duke Ernest 1350s
Lavrin 1378
About Dietrich of Verona 1380
Tandorias and Floribella 1380
Tristram and Izalda
The New Council 1394 by Smil Flas^ka z Pardubice

15th Century
Tkladlec^ek (the weaver) 1407/9

upBibliography

Betts,Reginald R. Essays in Czech History, London, 1969.

Klassen, John Martin. Warring Maidens, Captive Wives And Hussite Queens : Women And Men At War And At Peace In Fifteenth Century Bohemia .

Thomas, Alfred. Anne's Bohemia. Czech Literature and Society, 1310-1420, Minneapolis, MN., c. 1998.

Sedlar, Jean W. East Central Europe in the Middle Ages, 1000-1500. Seattle : University of Washington Press, 1994

French, A., Anthology of Czech Poetry . Ann Arbor, Mich. : Czechoslovak Society of Arts and Sciences in America, 1973-