This is the first comprehensive study in English of Czech society and politics in the High Middle Ages. It paints a vivid portrait of a flourishing Christian community in the decades between 1050 and 1200. Bohemia's social and political landscape remained remarkably cohesive, centered on a throne in Prague, the Premyslid duke who occupied it, a society of property-owning freemen, and the ascendant Catholic church. In decades fraught with political violence, these provided a focal point for Czech identity and political order. In this, the Czechs' heavenly patron, Saint Vaclav, and the German emperor beyond their borders too had a role to play.
An impressive, systematic dissection of a medieval polity, Hastening Toward Prague is based on a close rereading of written and material artifacts from the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Arguing against a view that puts state or nation formation at heart, Wolverton examines interactions among dukes, emperors, freemen, and the church on their own terms, asking what powers the dukes of Bohemia possessed and how they were exercised within a broader political community. Evaluating not only the foundations and practice of ducal lordship but also the form and progress of resistance to it, she argues in particular that violence was not a sign of political instability but should be interpreted as reflecting a dynamic economy of checks and balances in a fluid, mature political system. This also reveals the values and strategies that sustained the Czech Lands as a community. The study honors the complexity and dynamism of the medieval exercise of power.
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"An exemplary piece of work. . . . [Hastening Toward Prague] will interest any medieval, political, or social historian who picks it up and starts reading. It is beautifully written, clear, even elegant."—William Chester Jordan, Princeton University
About the Author
Lisa Wolverton teaches history at University of Oregon.
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
In the story of the first duke Premsyl, as told by Cosmas, the Czechs become dissatisfied with appealing their disputes only to arbiters, however wise, and so choose to subject themselves to a single ruler with the power to enforce decisions. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
ducal lordship, ceské mince, predetermine succession, ceského státu, ducal iconography, martyred duke, historica bohemica, matice moravské, véstník moravsky, dynastic charisma, ducal grant, sborník historicky, prominent magnates, ducal seals, imperial investiture, collegiate chapter, cum terra, witness lists, imperial charter, other freemen, ducal power, imperial campaigns, episcopal election, ducal throne, lay magnates Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Saint Václav, Conrad Otto, Bishop Henry, Canon of Vysehrad, Premysl Otakar, Duke Sobéslav, Duke Vladislav, Saint Adalbert, Duke Vratislav, Pfemysl Otakar, Conrad of Znojmo, Duke Spitihnév, Bishop Daniel, King Vladislav, Bishop Meinhard, Chronica Boemorum, King Vratislav, Conrad of Brno, Duke Bretislav, Hroznata of Peruc, Stará Boleslav, Otto of Olomouc, Duke Svatopluk, Monk of Sázava, Vratislav of Brno New!
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
In the story of the first duke Premsyl, as told by Cosmas, the Czechs become dissatisfied with appealing their disputes only to arbiters, however wise, and so choose to subject themselves to a single ruler with the power to enforce decisions. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
ducal lordship, ceské mince, predetermine succession, ceského státu, ducal iconography, martyred duke, historica bohemica, matice moravské, véstník moravsky, dynastic charisma, ducal grant, sborník historicky, prominent magnates, ducal seals, imperial investiture, collegiate chapter, cum terra, witness lists, imperial charter, other freemen, ducal power, imperial campaigns, episcopal election, ducal throne, lay magnates Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Saint Václav, Conrad Otto, Bishop Henry, Canon of Vysehrad, Premysl Otakar, Duke Sobéslav, Duke Vladislav, Saint Adalbert, Duke Vratislav, Pfemysl Otakar, Conrad of Znojmo, Duke Spitihnév, Bishop Daniel, King Vladislav, Bishop Meinhard, Chronica Boemorum, King Vratislav, Conrad of Brno, Duke Bretislav, Hroznata of Peruc, Stará Boleslav, Otto of Olomouc, Duke Svatopluk, Monk of Sázava, Vratislav of Brno New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 11
books:
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2
books
cite this book:
- The Middle Ages by Morris Bishop on page 253, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Bohemia in History by Mikulas Teich in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- The Little Czech and the Great Czech Nation: National Identity and the Post-Communist Social Transformation (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology) by Ladislav Holy in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Bloodtaking and Peacemaking: Feud, Law, and Society in Saga Iceland by William Ian Miller in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Origins of Peasant Servitude in Medieval Catalonia (Cambridge Iberian and Latin American Studies) by Paul Freedman in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 11 books this book cites
- The Central Middle Ages (The Short Oxford History of Europe) by Daniel Power in Back Matter
- Women at the Beginning: Origin Myths from the Amazons to the Virgin Mary by Patrick J. Geary in Back Matter
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