Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Archdiocese of Prague

(PRAGENSIS). An archdiocese in Bohemia.

From about the middle of the sixth century Slavonic tribes advancing into Bohemia drove the Marcomanni to the borders of the country. The Slavs soon came under the influence of the Carolingian civilization. In 845 Czech princes and their warriors appeared at the Court of Louis the German at Ratisbon, where they were baptized on the octave of Epiphany (13 January) by the Bishop of Ratisbon. Although many German priests now came into Bohemia to aid in the spread of Christianity, the land soon fell under the dominion of Moravia, which was naturally followed by the appearance of Slavonic priests from Great Moravia. It is supposed, though it cannot be proved, that the Bohemian Duke Boriwoi was baptized by Methodius, the apostle to the Slavs. The first Duke of Bohemia of whom there is historic certainty that he was a Christian is Boriwoi's son, Spitigniew, who in 895 allied himself to Carlmann's son, Arnulf of Carinthia. Spitigniew's brother and successor, Wratislaw I, built the church of St. George upon the Hradschin (castle hill) at Prague. His wife Drahomira, who belonged to a pagan Slavonic family, though probably baptized, was not Christian at heart. Their sons, St. Wenceslaus and Boleslaw I the Cruel, were still minors at the death of their father. The most important factor in the history of Bohemia at this time was the opposition between the pagan or national party and the Christian or German party. Wenceslaus hoped to gain everything from the Germans. Desiring to build a church upon the Hradschin he requested permission from the diocesan bishop who came to the consecration. The church was dedicated to St. Vitus, as Henry I the Saxon of Germany had sent a present of a precious relic of this saint. The struggle between pagan and Christian divided even the ducal family. On 28 September, 935, Wenceslaus was murdered by his brother Boleslaw and his accomplices at the door of the church in Altbunzlau. Yet Boleslaw found himself obliged to rule in a manner favourable to the Christian-German party. Much was done for the Christian civilization of Bohemia by his children, Boleslaw II the Pious, Milada, and Dubravka. Boleslaw II desired to be independent of Germany in ecclesiastical matters and sought to have Prague made a bishopric. Otto II of Germany aided this effort, for he regarded it as a protection against Hungary. John XIII consented on condition that the Latin Rite should be used. Milada, sister of the duke, who lived in a Benedictine abbey at Rome, was appointed by the pope under the name of Maria abbess of the Abbey of St. George on the Hradschin, the first monastic foundation in Bohemia. Bohemia then formed a part of the Diocese of Ratisbon, suffragan of Salzburg. St. Wolfgang drew up the charter for the new diocese and it was made a suffragan of Mainz.

Thietmar, a monk from Magdeburg who had a thorough knowledge of the Slavonic language, was appointed (973) the first Bishop of Prague. The new diocese included: Bohemia, Silesia including Cracow, and Lusatia; Moravia, western Hungary as far as the Waag and Danube Rivers; Lower Austria between Taja and Kamp. In Moravia, Vracen was appointed bishop. St. Adalbert, second Bishop of Prague, appointed by Otto II at Verona, was consecrated by Willigis of Mainz. He proved in Bohemia and Moravia a stern censor of morals, striving to suppress concubinage among the clergy, polygamy, and heathen practices, but, obliged to withdraw, took refuge in a monastery at Rome. At the request of the Bohemians he returned with twelve monks from Monte Cassino, among them Christinus, Benedictus, and Matthæus. In 993 Adalbert founded for these monks the first monastery for men in Bohemia, that of Brewnow near Prague (St. Margaret), and appointed his teacher Radla (Anastasius) abbot. Two years later Adalbert was again obliged to flee. The pope now dissolved his connexion with Prague and Adalbert died (997) a martyr in Prussia. Severus, sixth Bishop of Prague, was one of the retinue of Duke Bretislaw Achilles, who brought (1039) the relics of St. Adalbert from Gnesen to Prague. The ambitious Bretislaw wished to be independent of Germany. It was his intention to make use of the Benedictine monastery of Sazawa, founded in 1037, with a Greek-Slavonic liturgy, as a national church; he appointed St. Procopius the first abbot of this monastery. A part of his plan was that Bishop Severus, as the lawful successor of St. Methodius, should receive the pallium. As, however, the Polish Church complained of the robbery of the relics of St. Adalbert, the duke and bishop became involved in an investigation and they were condemned to found a monastery as penance. Bretislaw established the collegiate chapter of Altbunzlau in 1096 and two years later founded Raigern, the first monastery in Moravia. Raigern was united with Brewnow. The next duke, Spitihnew, founded (1058) the collegiate church of St. Stephen at Leitmeritz. The Slavonic monks, who were replaced by Latin monks, were transferred to the monasteries of Vesprim, Vyöehrad, Csanad, and Arad. Nicholas II granted the duke the honour of "the mitre" (a cloak) for an annual payment of one hundred marks; this honour was regarded as a sign of royal dignity. Spitihnew's brothers, Wratislaw II, who succeeded him and Jaromir (Gebhard), who was appointed Bishop of Prague, were men very different in character. In 1063 the duke gave his consent to the establishment of the Diocese of Olmütz. The Bishop of Prague received compensation for what he lost in tithes and fiefs, and a monk named John, belonging to the monastery of Brewnow, was appointed first Bishop of Olmütz. The new bishop had much to suffer from Jaromir, who attacked and ill-treated him in his episcopal residence. Alexander II sent to Prague the legate Rudolphus, who held there a synodal diet at which, however, Jaromir did not appear. Jaromir was declared to be deposed; Gregory VII summoned the contending bishops to Rome. At the Easter synod of 1074, Jaromir expressed his regret for his ill-usage of John but was unwilling to yield the fief of Podvin. The pope now wrote to Wratislaw that if necessary he should drive Jaromir away by force.

In the struggle over Investitures Wratislaw II and Jaromir supported Henry IV. After the death of Bishop John, Jaromir secured the union of Olmütz with Prague (1085-91), as his brother had received the title of king from Henry IV and consequently was entirely on the king's side. Wratislaw soon deserted the emperor and gave Olmütz to his court chaplain Wecel (Andreas I), who was made bishop. Jaromir died at Gran, where he was preparing to fight his rival. After Wecel's death Henry IV invested the canon Andreas at Mantua with the ring and crozier, but he was not consecrated until two years later. At Easter (1138) Bishop Henry of Olmütz, called Zdik after his native town, entered the Premonstratensian Order in the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. On his return, he persuaded the Bishop of Prague, John I, to bring Premonstratensians from Steinhof near Cologne and establish them at Strahow. Bitter contention arose between Zdik and his clergy when the princes of Moravia rebelled against Wladislaw II, Duke of Bohemia. Zdik adhered to the duke, and was, therefore, obliged to flee to Prague; after giving warnings in vain he placed the rebels and the land under bann and interdict, which were later removed by the legate Guido. He deposed ecclesiastics who had concubines. Ordinations were only permitted on definite conditions. Wladislaw supported the legate so vigorously that it was said of him that he had enforced clerical chastity throughout Bohemia. Wladislaw also granted Podvin in perpetuity to the bishop and bestowed on him the right to have a mint. Lucius II invited Zdik to Rome. On the way he was attacked and robbed near Boscowicz, and escaped to Leitomischl. In 1143, Bishop Otto settled Cistercians from Waldsassen at Sedlek. When the Second Crusade was preached Bishop Henry of Olmütz was the subdelegate of St. Bernard for Bohemia and Moravia. Henry himself went to Pomerania, but soon returned unsuccessful. In 1156, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem was introduced in the hospice of St. Mary near the Prague bridge. Frederick I Barbarossa in 1158 made Wladislaw a king in return for his aid against Lombardy. The right to crown the king was assigned to the Bishops of Prague and Olmütz. The Bohemian king and Bishop Daniel I supported Frederick in his bitter struggle with Alexander III. The king and bishop were excommunicated and when in 1167 the bishop died the clergy of Prague refused to recite the Office for the Dead. It was during the quarrel between Duke Premysl Ottokar I and Bishop Henry Bretislaw that Kacim, Bishop of Olmütz, ordained deacons and priests at Prague in 1193 but forgot the laying on of hands. Two years later his successor, Engelbert, performed this part of the rite, but the cardinal legate Peter suspended the ordination and in 1197 the entire ordination had to be repeated. At the renewed ordination the cardinal legate insisted positively upon the vow of chastity. The candidates rebelled at this and Peter had to leave the church. Not long after, the legate succeeded in making a synod pass his demands, and the prosperity of the Bohemian Church rapidly increased. About this time St. Hrozata founded the Premonstratensian Abbey of Tepl, which he entered.

Premysl Ottokar I made Bohemia a hereditary kingdom, and independent of Germany; hence the Bishops of Prague and Olmütz no longer received investiture from the emperor but from the King of Bohemia. The cathedral chapter was to elect the bishop. Ottokar wished to make Prague an archbishopric with Olmütz as its suffragan. Innocent III, however, had all the less reason to be gracious to the Bohemian king as Ottokar had just changed his political adherence from Otto IV to Philip of Swabia, against the wishes of the pope. The first king who received Bohemia by inheritance desired to annul the immunity of the clergy and take the church tithes for himself, while Bishop Andreas wished to enforce the decrees of the fourth Synod of Laberno. The king would not permit this. Andreas placed Bohemia under an interdict, the king cut off all the bishop's revenues. The pope commanded that Robert of Olmütz, who, in spite of the interdict, had celebrated Mass at Prague, should be punished. With the aid of a legate a fairly satisfactory agreement was reached (Concord of Skacenze, 1220). One of Ottokar's daughters, St. Agnes, corresponded with St. Clare of Assisi, and founded the convent of St. Clare, called later St. Agnes, in 1234 at Prague; as soror major Agnes was the head of it. She also aided the foundation of the Order of the Knights of the Cross of the Red Star at Prague. While on his journey to Poland St. Hyacinth brought Dominicans to Prague, who established themselves in the monastery of St. Clement. Wenceslaus granted to the Franciscans the monastery of St. James in the Altstadt, Prague. Bohemian nobles who went to France became acquainted there with the Knights Templars. They introduced them into Bohemia and the order flourished to such extent that in 1240 Bohemia became a national priory and Prague had two commanderies, the Temple and St. Laurence. Church life flourished in Bohemia at this era; the country seemed "to breathe nothing but holiness". King Wenceslaus remained a firm adherent of Frederick II even after his deposition by the Council of Lyons. An interdict was pronounced over Bohemia and Bishop Nicholas of Bohemia was suspended. Mass was only celebrated in the monasteries and there behind closed doors without the ringing of bells. For some time, the Teutonic Knights had been fighting against the natives of Prussia. In 1225 Premysl Ottokar II assumed the cross; he wished to gain the favour of the pope and Christendom. The name of the city of Königsberg preserves the memory of the king, who was called not only the Golden but also the Iron. About this time (1256) the first heresy appeared in Bohemia; the Flagellants came from Germany (see FLAGELLANTS). In gratitude for the successful issue of his struggle with Béla IV (battle of Kressenbrunn) Premysl Ottokar II in 1263 founded the Cistercian monastery of Goldenkron, so named because of a relic of the Crown of Thorns set in gold that had been given by St. Louis. Ottokar's viceroy in Austria, Peter of Rosenberg, founded the monastery of Hohenfurt in expiation of his sins and for the salvation of the souls of his ancestors. Bishop John III of Bohemia attended the Council of Vienna in 1276, which had been summoned by the king. The council's nineteen canons treat of the behaviour of the clergy, of the penal power of bishops and abbots, and the relations between Christians and Jews. The Jews were to be distinguished by pointed hats, and on Good Friday they were not to appear in public. Bishop Bruno of Olmütz had brought to Ottokar from the Council of Lyons a letter written by the pope calling upon him to support the election of Rudolph of Hapsburg as Emperor of Germany. When Ottokar recommenced, he was excommunicated; consequently it was not until eighteen years after he had been killed in battle that he was buried in consecrated ground in the Cathedral of Prague. During this time, it is said, there were not less than twenty-one thousand Beghards in Bohemia. The country was also disturbed by off-shoots of the Waldensians who called themselves "Apostolic Brethren", and "Brethren of the Holy Spirit". They even wished to have wives and property in common and sought to live underground. They claimed that God did not trouble Himself about what happened under the earth and so have been called Grubenheimer.

Bishop John IV of Prague had taken in preparing the decrees concerning the dispute between the Mendicant Orders and the secular priests, which were drawn up at Vienna. After his return, he desired to execute these decrees. The Mendicants were only to preach in their own churches and not there during the service at the parish church; they were not in any way to encroach upon the pastoral work, and must have episcopal authority to hear confessions. The Mendicants appealed to their exemption and made loud complaint that the bishop denied the validity of confessions heard by them. The parish priests of Prague announced that they would publish the decisions of the Council of Vienna in their churches. The Mendicants also made their preparations. Bishop John established the Court of the Inquisition as the council had desired. When in the course of a year, however, this court delivered to the State fourteen heretics who were burned at the stake, the bishop sent the Inquisitors away and opened their prisons. Complaint having been made against him, he had to go to Avignon, and after an investigation of eleven years he finally returned home. After the suppression of the Knights Templar, their lands were given by King John of Luxemburg to other orders of knights, and he substituted religious houses founded by him. He also established the first Carthusian monastery in Bohemia, Maria Garten am Smichow, and at Raudnitz a monastery of Augustinian Canons. The increasing prosperity of the Church reached its most flourishing period during the reign of Charles IV. The emperor had been educated at the French court; his teacher and friend Peter de Rosières was now Clement VI. It was, therefore, not difficult for Charles to obtain from him in 1344 a Bull raising Prague to an archbishopric, with the suffragan Dioceses of Olmütz and of the newly founded Leitomischl. The archbishop was to anoint and crown the Bohemian kings; thus he was the Primate of Bohemia. The first archbishop was St. Ernst of Pardubitz, the advisor of Charles IV in his great undertakings. Charles brought Matthias of Arras from Avignon to Prague so that, with the aid of Peter Parler of Gmünd (in Suabia), he might build the beautiful Cathedral of St. Vitus, the corner-stone of which had been laid by the emperor's father. It is yet unfinished. The emperor even included his crown among the treasures with which he thought to enrich the cathedral; from that time it adorned the head of St. Wenceslaus. The crown jewels were kept in the Castle of Karlstein built by Arras. The chapel of Castle Karlstein was built in the shape of a cross; its walls were inlaid with Bohemian garnets on a gold ground, so that the lights of the altar were reflected many hundred times. At Emaus Charles founded an abbey for Benedictines, who were to use the Glagolitic Liturgy in celebrating Mass. The foundation in which Charles was most interested was the University of Prague, established in 1348, the oldest German university. The archbishop was to be its chancellor (Protector studiorum et Cancellarius). In 1349 Archbishop Ernst held the celebrated provincial synod that defined the rights and duties of the clergy. Correctores Cleri were provided who were to supervise the carrying out of the Statuta Ernesti and to supply what was lacking.

Now began a religious movement that plunged Bohemia and the surrounding countries into war, seriously retarded the growth of the Church, and left the See of Prague vacant for one hundred and forty years (1421-1561). For details of this period, see HUS AND HUSSITES; CONSTANCE, COUNCIL OF: III. THE REPRESSION OF HERESY. These hundred years of religious unrest had prepared a fruitful soil for the Reformation. Matthias preached Luther's doctrines openly on the public roads; Thomas Münzer and Gallus Cahera preached them in Prague. King Ferdinand, who had taken up his residence on the Hradschin, checked the growth of Protestantism, but the war over the Hungarian throne and the struggle with the Turks impeded his efforts. The Utraquist Consistory of Prague obtained in Mistopol an administrator who was even inclined to Lutheranism. During the Smalkaldic war the Bohemian Brethren united with the Protestants. After the battle of Mühlberg (1547), the religious reformers, driven out of the cities of Bohemia, went to Poland and Prussia, which were added by the Bohemian Brethren as a third province to Bohemia and Moravia. The greatest aid received by the Catholic Church came from the Jesuits. In 1556, Peter Canisius brought the first twelve Jesuits to St. Clement's at Prague; their college there, called Clementinum, ranked with the Carolinum. In 1561, Prague again received an archbishop, Anton Brus of Müglitz in Moravia. At the Council of Trent the archbishop sought to gain the cup for the laity, which Pius IV granted in 1567 for the countries ruled by Ferdinand. As, however, the result expected from this concession did not appear, the Utraquists becoming more largely Lutheran, Pius V recalled the permission. Maximilian II was more favourable to Protestantism. In 1567 he annulled the Compacta for the benefit of the Utraquists. Not only the Utraquistic Catholics, but also all Utraquists (Protestants) were to be tolerated. At the Diet of Prague they demanded the introduction of the Augsburg Confession. The "Bohemian Confession" was drawn up in twenty-five articles; it maintained Luther's teachings, but was indefinite on the doctrine of the Eucharist. The administrator of the consistory was to ordain their priests also, while fifteen defenders were to be added to the consistory. Thus the imperial cities which had been Utraquistic rapidly became Lutheran. At Prague three Lutheran parishes were soon formed. When Rudolph II shut himself up in the castle on the Hradschin the archdukes of Austria selected Matthias as the head of the Hapsburg dynasty. The Bohemian estates, taking advantage of the family quarrel of the Hapsburgs, elected a directory and raised an army. They remained indeed loyal to Rudolph, but forced from him in 1609 the royal charter (Majestätsbrief), which confirmed the Bohemian Confession, opened the university to the evangelical estates, granted them the right to elect defensors, and also permitted the three secular estates of lords, knights, and imperial cities to build Protestant churches and schools. Rudolph finally abdicated and in 1611 Cardinal Dietrichstein of Olmütz crowned Matthias King of Bohemia (1611-9). Contrary to the regulations of the royal charter granted by Rudolph, subjects of the Archbishop of Prague built a Protestant church at Klostergrab and subjects of the Abbot of Braunau one at Braunau. The archbishop commanded these to be closed, and when the Emperor Matthias sanctioned this order the result was the Third Defenestration of Prague, with which the Thirty Years' War began. A government of thirty directors was formed, and the head of the Protestant Union and of the German Calvinists, Frederick V, Elector of the Palatinate, was elected King of Bohemia. The Cathedral of Prague was arranged for Calvinistic services; altars were torn down, pictures and statues destroyed. The court preacher Scultetus drew up an independent liturgy for Bohemia.

A sovereign has seldom begun his reign under greater difficulties than Ferdinand II (1619-37). The insurgents under Thurn were at the gates of Vienna; within the city the non-Catholic estates made common cause with the besiegers. Ferdinand, however, never yielded. After the battle of the White Mountain (1620) he took more severe measures against the disturbers; they were driven out of the country, the royal charter that had been the source of so much disorder was annulled, and a system of government introduced in 1627 that among other things made the clergy the first estate. It granted the bishops, prelates, and abbots seats and votes in the diet (the ecclesiastical bench) and the title of Primas regni to the archbishop. Only the Catholic religion was to be permitted. An imperial commission of reform ("dragonnades", "saviours") was to traverse the country purging it of preachers, heretical schoolmasters and books. Thirty-six thousand families were welcomed in neighbouring countries, but with all this the country was not made thoroughly Catholic. Many conformed only externally and the varying phases of the Thirty Years' War, for which in the end religion was merely the excuse, constantly favoured Protestantism. In the Peace of Westphalia (1648), however, Ferdinand III did not allow himself to be dictated to. During the period when princes were absolute rulers, events protected the Church against fresh attacks. Pastoral care, instruction, and ecclesiastical administration were improved. The Montscratines, Piarists, Theatines, and Ursuline nuns were introduced into the country, the clerical seminary was founded, and the new Dioceses of Leitmeritz (1655) and Königgrätz (1665) were erected. The old University of Prague and the Clementinum, the Jesuit college, were united into the Caroline-Ferdinand University. The tax of fifteen kreuzers on salt, either mined in Bohemia or imported, was applied to Church purposes, the St. Wenceslaus fund was used to distribute good books, and the Emeritus fund was employed to aid poor priests. For two years from 1712 the churches even in Prague were closed on account of the plague. In 1729 the canonization of St. John Nepomucene was celebrated with great festivities. The power of the sovereign over the Church was introduced by Protestantism. The Catholic rulers at first only assumed this position as regards their Protestant subjects. In the course of time, however, they began to exercise this power also as regards their Catholic subjects. As the maintenance of religion (the Counter-Reformation) was their work and they obtained the chief patronage of the Church, a State Church was the natural consequence. Even in the reign of Maria Theresa edicts were issued concerning ecclesiastical matters. No one could take the vows of an order until fully twenty-four (1770); monastic prisons were to be suppressed (1771). As the basis of theological instruction were to be used: Sagan's Catechism (1772), Riegger's "Institutiones jurisprudentiæ ecclesiasticæ", and Rautenstrauch's "Synopsis juris ecclesiastici". Trumpets and drums could no longer be used in the churches; in the lessons of the Breviary for the feast of St. Gregory VII the places concerning the power of the pope to depose kings were to be omitted. Parish priests were expressly forbidden to speak abusively of the laws of the country. Within ten years Joseph II issued sixty-two hundred laws, orders of the court, and ordinances. Even what was good showed marks of haste; laws and ordinances contradicted one another. When in 1781 the patent of toleration was issued quite a number who had been Protestants in secret now appeared as such openly. The Bull "In cœna Domini' and "Unigenitus" were to be suppressed. It was forbidden to study theology at Rome, Roman dignities and titles could only be assumed after obtaining permission of the ruler. A general seminary was established at Prague, where both secular priests and candidates for the orders were to be educated. Even the number of Masses to be held in a church and the number of candles that could be used at such services were prescribed by law; the litany of the Trinity was forbidden "on account of various additions's. Many monasteries were suppressed, the remaining ones were regulated by the State, and fell into decay. One good measure of the emperor was, that he formed a fund for the maintenance of religion from the property of the suppressed monasteries and used it to increase the number of parishes. In this way Joseph II founded eighty-one parishes and three hundred and fourteen dependent churches in Bohemia. He also established the Diocese of Budweis.

Joseph's brother Leopold II soon changed conditions. The general seminaries were abolished, there was no further suppression of monasteries, and books for theological instruction were submitted to the censorship of the bishop. Francis II was a pious ruler, who took a serious view of his duty in regard to conscience and religious duties, but for nearly a generation the war with France claimed all the strength and energy of the Government. In the meantime both laity and clergy grew more and more accustomed to the Josephine reforms of the Church. Were any ecclesiastical concessions made the Josephinists raised a cry over the unjustifiable demands of the Church and the unheard of concessions of the Government. One of the results of the French war was the demand of the Government for the silver plate in 1806, 1809 etc., when all the Church silver not absolutely necessary went to the mint. In return, the churches received from the Government an acknowledgment of the indebtedness. During this period the priest, Bernhard Bolzano, a philosophical writer and professor of theology at the University of Prague, wrote: "Lehrbuch der Religionswissenschaft" (4 vols.); "Wissenschaftslehre"; "Logic" (4 vols.); "Athanasia oder die Gründe für die Unsterblichkeit der Seele"; "Erbauungsreden an die akademische Jugend" (4 vols.); "Ueber die Perfektibilität des Katholizismus". The authorities were suspicious of him on account of his teachings, but his archbishop, Prince von Salm, protected him. In 1820 he was removed from his professorship and died in 1848. In 1848 Alois, Freiherr von Schrenk became Prince Archbishop of Prague. On 15 March, the emperor announced his intention of granting a constitution. Schrenk may have thought that "freedom is a great good for those who know how to use it". On 22 March he issued a censure, as some priests, forgetting their sacred calling, turned the pulpit into a political platform. The freedom gained should rather be the signal for greater activity. His address at the Easter festival, posted on the streets in Czech and German, sought to allay the hostility to the Jewish population. A meeting of thirty-five ecclesiastics, parish priests, members of orders, cathedral canons, professors, and prelates, called together without asking the consent of the archbishop by F. Nahlowsky, principal of the seminary for Wends, Upper Lusatia, was held at the seminary on 18 and 22 May. In his address Nahlowsky expressed his opinion concerning the unsuitability of the unessential system of celibacy; the monasteries should be thoroughly reformed. The proceedings of this assembly even appeared in print. Naturally both the archbishop and Bishop Hille of Leitmeritz, of which diocese Nahlowsky was a priest, expressed "their deep sorrow". Late in August the pamphlet issued by the Bohemian episcopate appeared. The contents discussed the two questions: What is the position of the Church towards the State in general and what are the special rights of the Church in dogma, liturgy, and administration. The strain he had undergone shattered the health of the archbishop and he died in March, 1849, at the age of forty-seven. His successor was Cardinal Schwarzenberg. The present prince archbishop is Leo Cardinal von Skrbensky.

The Archdiocese of Prague (1911) has a population of 2,228,750 Catholics, 63,475 Protestants, 51,016 Jews. There are: 570 parishes; 1348 secular, 258 regular priests; 1517 nuns in 76 orders. (See BOHEMIA; MORAVIA.)

DOBNER, ''Mon. hist. Bœmiœ (6 vols., Prague, 1764-85); Fontes rerum bohemicarum (4 vols., Prague, 1871-84); GINDELY, Mon. hist. Bohemica (5 vols., Prague, 1864-90); Mon. Vat. res bohemicas illustrantia, 1342-1404 (5 vols., Prague, 1903-05); PELZEL AND DOBROWSKY, Scriptores rerum Bohemicarum'' (2 vols., Prague, 1783-). Works on Bohemia: BACHMANN, ''Gesch. Böhmens, I (1899) to 1400, II (1905) to 1526; FRIND, Die Kirchengesch. Böhmens (4 vols., Prague, 1864-78); Die Gesch. d. Bischöfe u. Erzbischöfe von Prag (Prague, 1873); PALACKY, Gesch. von Böhmen (9 vols., Prague, 1836-67); SCHINDLER, D. soziale Wirken d. Kath. Kirche in d. Prager Erzdiözese (Vienna, 1902); WATTENBACH, Beiträge zur Gesch. d. Christ. Kirche in Mähren u. Böhmen (Vienna, 1849); VON LUTZOW (non-Catholic), Bohemia, A Historical Sketch (London, 1896); DENIS, La Bohême depuis la Montagne Blanche'' (Paris, 1903).

C. WOLFSGRUBER