Benjamin Kuras:Events that made Czechs who they are now (part 2) / Udalosti, ktere Cechy udelaly (cast 2.)

It’s history time! What made Czechs who they are now? Last time we reviewed the unfortunate and quite brutal Prague defenestration, today we are going to go back and look at the very beginning of the Czech nation.

(The following summary is taken from Benjamin Kuras’ book called Events that made Czechs who they are now)

1. THE ARRIVAL OF THE CZECHS

The first Czechs came to the middle of today’s Czech Republic in about 6th century.

2. KING SAMO’S EMPIRE

Samo was a Frankish merchant who was the first ruler of the Slavs. He created Samo’s Empire which lasted for 35 years (623 – 658) but it falls apart after his death when about 35 of Samo’s sons try to steal everything in the orphaned empire for themselves.

3. PREMYSLID DYNASTY

Premyslov dynasty was founded during the time of Samo’s Empire. The Czech lands had a high economic, cultural, and political status during the Přemyslid rule. Their main residency was the Vysehrad castle, overlooking the river Vltava. The dynasty lasted for 600 years!!

4. GREAT MORAVIA

Great Moravia was founded by Mojmir in 830 who unified 2 neighboring states by force. The main cultural development of this state was caused by Christian missions of Saints Cyril and Methodius who come with their Slavonic worship, Slavonic devotional language and Slavonic translation of some parts of the bible. The church worship could be now not only in Greek and Latin but also in Slavonic language.

Under the new name the Great Moravia successfully fends off the invasions of dangerous Franks and adds on the Czech lands together with Slovakia and some parts of today’s Hungary and Austria. Most Czechs switch from Slavic liturgy to Latin liturgy. Since 905 the Great Moravia is stressed by the invasion of the Hungarians, under which Moravian kingdom cracks (907) and Moravian music begins to sound like czardas 🙂

CZ: A je na case zopakovat si historii :). Minule jsme si s panem  Benjaminem Kurasem zopakovali, co je to Prazska defenestrace a dnes se podivame na samotny vznik ceskeho naroda.

Cesi  se usadili ve strednich Cechach pravdepodobne behem 6. stoleti. Kratce pote poprve sjednocuje Slovany na Morave zidovsky kupec Samo a vybuduje si tzv. Samovu risi. Po 35-ti letech ale Samo umira a zanechava po sobe nekolik desitek synu (~35), kteri se o sve dedictvi pretahuji a hadaji tak vehemente, ze se Samova rise nakonec rozpadne.

V dome Samove byla zalozena take nejvyznamnejsi ceska dynastie – dynastie Premyslovcu. Jejich hlavnim sidlem byl Vysehrad, kde panuji zhruba 6 stoleti.

Zhruba 200 let po zaniku Samovi rise zalozi Mojmir roku 830 Velkou Moravu. Hlavni misionarskou praci tam vykonavaji dva misionari ze Solune – Cyril a Metodej. Ti prinaseji na moravu slovanskou krestanskou bohosluzbu, slovansky liturgicky jazyk, a slovanske preklady  casti Bible. Papez jim take dovoluje uzivat Slovanskou mluvu jako treti povolenou liturgii hned vedle recke a latinske. Nejen ze se sjednocena Morava uspesne brani invazim Franku, ale take rozsiruje sve uzemi a pripojuje Cechy (spolu se Slovenskem) a casti jeste tehda Slovany obydleneho Madarska a Rakouska. Tento ‘zlaty vek’ ale netrva dlouho; Moravske kralovstvi v roce 907 podleha Madarskym invazim a moravska muzika se zacne podobat cardasi 😉.