Page:Bohemia An Historical Sketch.djvu/98

 the juridical, the medical, and the philosophical one. The university was also divided—according to the nationality of the students—into "nations," of which the Bohemian "nation" also included the students from Moravia, Hungary, and the southern Slav lands. The Bavarian "nation," besides the inhabitants of that country, also comprised the Austrians, Swabians, Franconians, and inhabitants of the Rhine-lands, whilst the Polish "nation" was composed—besides the Poles—of Silesians, Russians, and Lithuanians. The fourth, the Saxon "nation," contained, besides the Saxon students, also those from Meissen and Thuringia, as well as those from Denmark and Sweden.

It was undoubtedly in connection with this foundation that King Charles decided on enlarging the town of Prague by building the "new town" (Nové Město) between the Vyšehrad hill and the banks of the Vltava.

Among the many efforts of King Charles to increase the prosperity of Bohemia, we must not omit the protection he afforded to the commerce of the country. "Every one of the treaties of peace and conventions he made, as a rule, contained stipulations in favour of the Bohemian merchants." Some of the dispositions he made appear strange from the point of view of modern national economy, but were no doubt adapted to the times. Among other similar regulations, Charles decreed that all foreign merchants who crossed the Bohemian frontier should be compelled to come to Prague, and there for a time exhibit their goods for sale. Foreign merchants were further forbidden to transact any business, especially banking business, among themselves, but were only to do so through the medium of a Bohemian merchant.

Two institutions created by King Charles, which still bear his name, date from about this time. In the year 1348 Charles began to build a large fortified castle in a very strong, indeed at that time impregnable, situation on the summit of a steep rock to the west of, and not far from, the city of Prague. This castle, to which Charles gave the name of Karlstein, was intended to be a safe depository for the Crown jewels and treasures of the Bohemian kings, as well as the State archives of the country. It could also