Bohemia’s Contribution to Literature
By Jaroslav J. Zmrhal, Ph. B.
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ITERATURE is perhaps the most important of the indexes to a nation’s spiritual life. It contains records of the people’s struggles, aspirations and achievements; it discloses the nation’s soul; it displays potentialities of the language, by which the mental capacity of races is measured. Language in which lofty ideas are expressed is a language of a superior race. Literature rich in spiritual achievements is a literature of a nation of the future. This applies to Bohemia with particular significance since its literature had its great inspiration, its roots, so to speak, in that miracle of modern history—the
Bohemian Reformation.
However, its beginnings date back to the Dark Ages. Church songs, legends, and epics were composed by unknown authors. Of the church songs, the best known are the “Gospodine pomiluj ny” (“Lord Have Mercy”) and Song of St. Václav; the best known epic is the “Alexandrine” named after its hero, Alexander the Macedonian. Besides, there were many legends about the Virgin Mary and the Saints. To this period also belongs Dalimil’s Chronicles, written as a protest against the German invasion of settlers who abused the hospitality of the natives (Czechs) and outraged their feelings by untold arrogance.
In the days of Charles IV (14th Century) the literature produced was largely didactic, represented by Smil Flaška of Pardubice, (Rada otce synovi---Counsel of the Father to His Son; Nová rada---New Counsel.) Flaška of Pardubice was also a collector of the Bohemian proverbs.
One of the most important writers of this era was Thomas of Štítné, the forerunner of Jan Hus. Thomas of Štítné was a philosopher and a patriot as well as a reformer. His works Řeči besední (The Table Talks) and Knížky šesteré (The Six Books) have for their subjects life’s wisdom and morality.
But, as said before, Bohemian Literature had its Great Beginning with the Bohemian Reformation, whose soul and moving force was Jan Hus.
