Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIII.djvu/825

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

PRAGUE It was abandoned by Louis XL, but after his quarrel with the pope it had again the force of law until in 1516 Francis I. substituted for it his concordat with Leo X. III. The ordi- nance confirming the decrees of the same coun- cil, adopted in Germany in 1439 by the diet of Mentz. It was abandoned in 1448 by Ger- many in consequence of negotiations with Pope Nicholas V. IV. The instrument by which the emperor Charles VI., of the house of Haps- burg, in default of male heirs, endeavored to secure the succession in his Austrian domin- ions to his heirs of the female line. This ordi- nance was ratified by the estates of the princi- pal countries subject to the Austrian crown, and by most of the sovereignties of Europe from 1720. In consequence of this, Charles's daughter Maria Theresa, wife of Francis of Lor- raine, ascended the throne on his death in 1740. The attack of Fred- erick the Great of Prussia on the Austrian province of Silesia was the signal for a violation of the instru- ment and for a general war through- out Europe. V. The instrument by which Charles III. of Spain, in 1759, settled the right of succession to the throne of the Two Sicilies upon his third son and his descendants. PRAGUE (Boh. Praha, Ger. Prag), a city of the Austro-Hungarian mon- archy, capital of Bohemia, on the Moldau, 155 m. N. W. of Vienna- lat. 50 5' N., Ion. 14 25' E. ; pop. in 1870, 157,713, of whom about 90,000 were Czechs and the rest Germans and Jews (inclusive of sub- urbs, 189,949). It is situated in a picturesque valley, surrounded by hills. The Moldau, spanned by the massive Charles bridge of the 14th century, with a monument of St. John Nepomuk, and by other bridges, and embracing in its course several islands, flows through the city from S. to N". On the E. bank are the Altstadt, or old town, the principal business quarter; the Neustadt, or new town ; and the Josephstadt, which is almost exclusively inhabit- ed by Jews. On the left -bank are the Hrad- schin, with many edifices of historic interest, among them the former palace of the Bohe- mian kings, and the Kleinseite, which con- tains the diet house, the principal government buildings, and many palaces belonging to the nobility, including the Waldstein or Wallen- stein palace. Outside of the city wall, which is 12 m. in circumference, and provided with eight gates, are the suburbs of Karolinenthal and^Smichow, a manufacturing centre, and the ancient acropolis or Wysehrad. The city has fine squares and streets, many Catholic and several Protestant churches, and 10 synagogues, one of them, a small Gothic building, the old- 801 est in Europe. Its numerous domes and tur- rets give Prague a semi-oriental appearance shrinT ft""!' T ^ 6 Hradschin > 'ntains the about 37 J hn f Ne .P muk ' ornamented with about 37 cwt. of silver, and a mausoleum Hfrh by dol T p h ^ k belfry is ft high The Themkirche, in the Altstadt, !?A* ? a been founded in 88 , contains the tomb of Tycho de Brahe. The university of Prague, established in 1348 by Charles IV after the model of that of Paris, was attended early m the 15th century, when Huss lectured there, by 20,000 students. In 1873 it had 154 professors and 1,811 students, of whom 1 178 were Czechs. It comprises departments of The Theinkirche. theology, philosophy, law, and medicine, an observatory, a botanic garden, and various oth- er institutions and collections. There are two polytechnic institutions, one German with 39 professors and 451 students, and one Czech with 45 professors and 713 students. In 1874 the library of the university had upward of 140,000 volumes. The collection of books in the Strahow monastery numbers 50,000 vol- umes, and those in the Lobkowitz and Kinsky palaces respectively 70,000 and 40,000. The principal manufactures are cotton and linen goods, machinery, leather, and glass. The ori- gin of Prague is obscure, but a portion of it was probably built in the 8th century. It has