Vyšehrad

“ When leaving the Vysehrad the traveller can either descend to the banks of the Vltava, follow the Podskal Street, and then the Palacky Quay—from which a bridge, also named after the great historian, leads to the suburb of Smichov—and finally reach the Bohemian theatre; or passing through the ‘Na Slupi’ Street he may, turning to the right into the Horská Ulice, reach the Karlov Church, which is at the corner of the Horská and Karlova Streets. ”

“ Dark autumn clouds will scud above your head and winter will cover Slavin with ermine snow, but spring will come again, the meadows and woods will flower in the Czech land, in Vysehrad the lilac will bloom and the honeysuckle will bloom on Ales’s grave. ”

“ The traditions connected with the spot have been the subject of many Bohemian poems. Recently Zeyer published his Vysehrad, which will interest those who wish to penetrate somewhat deeper into the past of Prague. [2] Of the old semi-mythical residence of Libussa no trace remains, and the mediæval citadel that played so important a part in the Hussite Wars has also disappeared. The existent fortifications are of modern date. Of the many former churches on the Vysehrad two only now require notice. One is the Romanesque Chapel of St. ”

“ The contemporary chronicler Laurence of Březova thus describes the mournful aspect of the battle-field: "What man, who was not more cruel than a pagan, could pass through these fields and vineyards and view the brave bodies of the dead without compassion? What Bohemian, unless he were a madman, could see these dainty and robust warriors, these men so curly-haired and so comely without deeply bewailing their fate? "The castle of the Vyšehrad surrendered to the Praguers immediately after the battle. ”

“ Paris, for example, undoubtedly a great city, is quite content to stand on two hills, Montmartre and Montparnasse, the latter quite worn flat by the levelling tendencies of modern times.
It is now time that we delved down into the history of Bohemia, and in this we gain inspiration from the hills of Prague, the works of man that crown them and the traditions, legends, shreds of history that cling to them. Of these hills that of Vyšehrad is entitled to hold seniority in the history of Prague. ”

“ Of the occasional rocks that jut out above the trees, one claims to be the jumping-off place of a Prague damsel who was tired of life; such places are pretty frequent in all scenery with any pretence to romance. Given a rocky eminence, you will always find that somebody or other has leapt therefrom and thus given it a name, the "Maiden's Leap" or the "Knight's Leap." It is obvious, for instance, that the Vyšehrad, the rocky eminence on which stood the first castle of Bohemia's rulers before ever Prague was built, should have a jumping-off story. A knight was imprisoned in the Vyšehrad Castle ”

“ A very large number of Moravian nobles fell in this battle, and many also died of their wounds at the village of Pankrac, after receiving communion in the two kinds, as the pious chronicler states. It is touching to note that the Praguers sorrowed over the death of the Moravian nobles, who, though they had fought against the city, yet belonged to the same race as the citizens. The citadel of Vysehrad surrendered on the day of the battle, and on June 7, 1421, the garrison of the Hradcany—which had unsuccessfully{60} attempted a diversion during the battle of the Vysehrad—also capitulated. ”

“ Sigismund and his forces first entered the Vysehrad fortress, and then, crossing the river, provisioned the Hradcany Castle, the siege of which the Hussites were obliged to abandon. The vast army—according to the chroniclers it consisted of 100,000 or 150,000 men, but the latter figure is probably nearer to truth—-now encircled Prague in every direction. The German soldiers, who were encamped on the left bank of the Vltava, opposite the Staré Mesto, insulted—their enemies by incessant cries of ‘Ha, ha! Hus! Hus! ”

“ They were from the earliest historical period united by a bridge that stood near the site of the present far-famed bridge.
Buildings not connected with either the Vysehrad or the Hradcany settlements sprang up at a very early period. According to Professor Tomek, as early as the year 993 some houses stood on the site of the present Poric Street (close to the State Railway Station) . ”

“ This will therefore be the usual starting-place for those who have sufficient time to walk leisurely through the streets of Prague. As the former divisions of the town have great historical importance, I shall refer separately—firstly to the old town, then to the new town and Vysehrad, lastly to the Malá Strana and Hradcany. For the last-named walk the traveller will start from the bridge. Immediately opposite the Hybernská Ulice is the powder tower. ”

“ Those hostile to Church reform not unnaturally dreaded the outbreak of hostilities, and we read that seven hundred families from the old, and seven hundred families from the new town, either sought refuge in the castles of Hradcany and Vysehrad, that were held by Sigismund’s troops, or left Prague altogether. The citizens in no way hindered their departure, which, indeed, in view of the coming siege, was advantageous to the Hussite cause. ”

“ For more than two centuries a religious conflict, interwoven with the racial struggle in a manner that cannot be defined in few words, attracted the attention of Europe to Bohemia, and particularly to Prague; for the battles of the Zizkov and the Vysehrad were fought within the precincts of the present city. ”

“ Armed meetings of Hussites were held in all parts of Bohemia, and it became known that such a meeting had been planned at Prague also for November 10. The Queen and her councillors therefore considered it necessary to take precautions. The Hradcany Castle, the Strahov Monastery and the archbishop’s palace received strong garrisons of German mercenaries. The defence of the Vysehrad was entrusted to the former bodyguard of King Wenceslas. ”

“ Towards the end of the year 1482, Bohuslav returned to Bohemia, and here, at an exceptionally early age, obtained the dignity of provost of the Vyšehrad at Prague. Humanism had by this time spread in Bohemia, and he became the centre of a small society which devoted itself entirely to the study of the classic languages. ”

“ The strong attitude assumed by the predominant city appears very clearly in the manifesto [20] which the Praguers, in union with some of their allies among the nobles, issued a few days after the victory of the Vysehrad. ”

“ This is the most ancient record of the foundation of Prague on which all subsequent ones are based. The older castle on the Vysehrad, separated from the newer foundation by the vast extent of land now occupied by the Staré Mesto (old town) and the Nové Mesto (new town) continued to be the frequent residence of the Bohemian princes.
The date of the foundation of Prague by Libussa is as uncertain as everything concerning that semi-mythical princess. Hajek of Libocan, a chronicler of the sixteenth century, gives the year 752 as the date of the foundation of the castle on the Hradcany Hill. ”

“ Pankrace or of the Vyšehrad, fought on November 2, which the men of Prague justly considered as their crowning mercy; for the defeat that they here inflicted on Sigismund freed the Bohemians from his rule for a considerable period, while the leading part that the citizens of Prague had taken in this campaign obtained for their town a temporary hegemony over almost all Bohemia. I can quote only a small portion of Březov’s account of this great victory. ”

“ After the disastrous defeat at Vyšehrad, Sigmund, as has been said, fell back to Kuttenberg, where he tried to make the people believe that he had won a signal victory. To make up for his losses, he plundered the estates of noblemen, not even sparing those that had not yet taken up arms against him. The Hungarian division of Sigmund’s army, stationed at Nimburg, committed fearful depredations upon the surrounding country. Villages were plundered and sacked without mercy, and the inhabitants subjected to the most atrocious cruelties. ”

“ The nobles in the royal army, seeing that the men of the Vyšehrad did not intend to help the king, and that the Praguers were strongly entrenched, advised him to desist from the attack on Prague; he would thus avert great damage from his army. But the king said: “Avaunt from me. I must assuredly fight with these peasants to-day.” Then Lord Henry of Plumlov [10] speaking affably said: “Know, lord king, that you will incur great loss to-day; for my part, I fear the fighting-flails of these peasants.” The king answered, “I know that you Moravians are cowardly and unfaithful to me.” ”

“ It was undoubtedly in connection with this foundation [5] 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. [6]
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." ”

“ It is, as Monsignor Lehner writes, ‘the only remaining relic of the splendour of the Vysehrad during the period of Romanesque architecture.’
Another interesting church is that of St. Peter and St. Paul, built originally as a Romanesque basilica, but altered considerably after the Hussite Wars. An interesting legend connected with the church is, or rather was, related to the visitors of St. Peter’s Church. Mr. Kohl, who visited Prague in 1841, writes: [3] ‘A memorable tale was told me by my conductress. “Once upon a time a poor man went into the forest. ”

“ The once powerful Bohemian nobility had been weakened by dissension. Some of its members still, though reluctantly, remained faithful to Sigismund. Others, perhaps also reluctantly, recognised the city of Prague as their over-lord, though they never—as was the case in some Italian cities—became merged in the mass of the citizens. The Taborites, who had taken but little part in the ‘crowning mercy’ of the Vysehrad, had not yet attained the height of their power. ”

“ The oldest account, and therefore the most valuable, is that of the chronicler, Cosmas of Prague (about 1045 to 1125) , whom I shall again quote. He tells us that Libussa, ‘standing on a high rock on the Vysehrad in presence of her husband Premysl, and the elders of the people incited by the spirit of prophecy uttered this prediction: I see a town the glory of which will reach the stars. There is a spot in the forest, thirty stades from this village, which the River Vltava encircles, and which to the north the stream Brusnice secures by its deep valley ”

“ The New Town seems to have developed along a line of local politics all its own and at variance with that of its very close neighbours, Old Town, Vyšehrad and Mala Strana. Their local politicians did not lack initiative; no one can accuse them of that failing. I can recall one instance as example. During the days when the Protestants of Prague, in their religious ardour, had split up into at least two distinct and hostile parties, a procession of Utraquists, priests leading with the Host, passed by the New Town Hall. ”

“ The writer has copied extensively from the chronicle of Březov. The chronicle of Bartošek of Drahonic is the work of a soldier, and warlike deeds obviously alone had interest for the writer. He served in the armies of Sigismund it may be noted that he was one of the king’s men who garrisoned the Vyšehrad, and he writes as a royalist and a Romanist. Yet that strange antipathy to everything German which is innate in the Bohemian appears in his book also. ”

“ In this plan the invaders were to be aided by the garrisons which occupied respectively the fortress of the Vys̆ehrad and the castle of Prague. The battle began by an attempt to storm the hill which Z̆iz̆ka had fortified. This attack was undertaken by the Margrave of Meissen, the hereditary enemy of the Bohemians. As his soldiers charged up the hill they were encountered, not only by Z̆iz̆ka’s forces, but also by private citizens, and even by women. The stones hurled by these defenders produced such effect that the first attack was repelled. But the Germans quickly returned to the charge ”

“ Yet he, some time after the execution of Hus, joined the forces of Sigismund, whom, after the death of King Venceslas, he considered his legitimate sovereign. He fell fighting against his country at the battle of the Vysehrad, [19] and before dying received communion in the two kinds according to the custom of his own Bohemian Church. [20] Perhaps among no class of men have these conflicts of contradictory duties been so frequent and so painful as among the nobles of Bohemia. ”

“ Several noblemen had followed C̆enek in his desertion of the national cause; and at last the citizens decided to send a new embassy to Sigismund, under the protection of Wenceslaus of Duba. Sigismund’s hope and indignation had alike been raised by the recent events; and he demanded that the citizens should surrender all their arms to the defenders of the Vys̆ehrad. On receiving this demand, the Town Council of Prague sent defiance to the king, and resolved to fight till the last. ”