Abstract:
The issues of nationalism and confession in Bohemian medieval and Early Modern
periods presented a significant history-forming element of a long-term nature. The author
focuses on the period at the break of the 15th and 16th centuries characterized by significant
changes in given field of interest. In regard to the perception of nationality, the temporary
Bohemian establishment started to feel a threat to national interest from Germany (Holy
Roman Empire, the Reich), despite the notion of a nation as a significant state-forming
element is, at the same time, being determined in neighbouring Germany within the empire
reform under Maximilian I. The author explains such an apparent discrepancy by the fact
that in the Bohemian political atmosphere at the end of the 15th century, the Czech character
of the establishment was pursued, Czech language became and official language and the
Bohemian Kingdom was legally separated from the Reich (1486) by a corporative decision
of domestic aristocracy. Domestic aristocracy started to observe a greater danger from the
side of Hungarian aristocracy that was becoming more influential due to the transfer of
royal court to Buda (German: Ofen), and due to the increased land ownership in Czech
lands. This was one of the reasons why Moravian (1480) aristocracy, followed by the
Bohemian noblemen (1500), approaches the formation of a precise definition of nobility,
that time vastly formed by Czech families. Religious Conciliation in Kutná Hora (1485)
represented a landmark in the development of domestic religious scene. This political
agreement made it possible to separate political component from the confessional one.
Consequently, a social standard prevailed in the establishment, where the social status and
nationality of an aristocrat were preferred to the confession despite the confession was
formally outlawed (such as Jednota bratrská = the Union of Brethern). This principle was
considered fundamental in the creation of a so called “super-confessional Christianity”. The
author applies the model on Vilém of Pernštejn (1437-1521), an aristocrat who used his
wealth and exceptional political power in the country to form a significant precedent in
terms of nationality and confession, fundamentally affecting contemporary social standards.
