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6 Czechs, the rôle of hereditary enemy was played by the Austro-Germans. Our earliest historical and literary documents, legends, customs, and traditions bear unmistakable traces of these struggles. Indeed, they colour our entire civilisation.

It was when the last king of the first autochtonous dynasty of the Premyslides died, and the kingdom of Bohemia passed to the House of Luxembourg, that Bohemia's most brilliant and glorious period commenced: it was her king, Charles IV., who, having been crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, continued to hold his Court at Prague, and contributed largely towards making Bohemia one of the intellectual centres of Europe. Not only did he promote the economical prosperity of his country, enlarge his territories, and embellish his capital of Prague with monuments of great artistic value, but he also founded the University of Prague, and thus gave birth to the great intellectual, moral, and religious movement from which arose John Hus, and with him the splendid period of the Hussite wars.

Without entering into details of these stirring times, we may state that the Czechs consider this period as one of the most glorious of their history. They gave Europe the man who began the fight for the freedom of individual conscience, John Hus. He was not only a religious reformer, he