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Czechoslovakia Golden Age
The fourteenth century, particularly the reign of Charles IV
(1342-78), is considered the Golden Age of Czech history. By that
time the Premyslid line had died out, and, after a series of
dynastic wars, a new Luxemburg dynasty captured the Bohemian
crown. Charles, the second Luxemburg king, was raised at the
French court and was cosmopolitan in attitude. He strengthened
the power and prestige of the Bohemian Kingdom. In 1344 Charles
elevated the bishopric of Prague, making it an archbishopric and
freeing it from the jurisdiction of Mainz and the Holy Roman
Empire. The archbishop was given the right to crown Bohemian
kings. Charles curbed the Czech nobility, rationalized the
provincial administration of Bohemia and Moravia, and made
Brandenburg, Lusatia, and Silesia into fiefs of the Czech crown
(see
fig. 3). In 1355 Charles was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In
1356 he issued a Golden Bull defining and systematizing the
process of election to the imperial throne and making the Czech
king foremost among the seven electors. The Bohemian Kingdom
ceased to be a fief of the emperor.
Charles made Prague into an imperial city. Extensive building
projects undertaken by the king included the founding of the New
Town southeast of the old city. The royal castle, Hradcany, was
rebuilt. Of particular significance was the founding of Charles
University in Prague in 1348. Charles's intention was to make
Prague into an international center of learning, and the
university was divided into Czech, Polish, Saxon, and Bavarian
"nations," each with one controlling vote. Charles University,
however, would become the nucleus of intense Czech particularism.
Charles died in 1378, and the Bohemian crown went to his son,
Wenceslas IV.
Data as of August 1987
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