Status report: May 2022
Work on the book progressed a lot during the first months of this year. All corrections to the text have been made. We have also corrected numerous typographical shortcomings. Finally, I have finished all the short remaining texts and the book is now written to the last part. As farContinue Reading
The Burden of Repaying the Grunt
Czech literature on land books is mostly scattered in a number of smaller, often regional or historical journals. They are published by regional museums, archives or other public institutions. Recently, I finally had a chance to read the Ústecký historický sborník from 2011. In it you would find an articleContinue Reading
Status Report: December
The progress of the work to complete the book was not as great as we would have liked. The summer holidays were a greater distraction than usual after the first year of the epidemic. Then in the autumn, the covid disease struck both authors. Nevertheless, I have completed the editingContinue Reading
Land Books Terms: Brány
Brány (Ger. Egge) is one of the terms which, when translated with a dictionary or in a translator, can lead you to a false interpretation. Brány are not gates but harrows. Moreover, the Czech language uses the form brány for both singular as well as plural. Harrows are used toContinue Reading
An Unfortunate Fate of Tobias Fiedler from Vernéřov Estate (1680)
It rarely happens that „great and small history“ intersect in the person of one man and in one land record. Yet, here is an example of such a case. At the beginning of 1680, the first rebellions of the subjects came to the Bohemian lands. One estate after another roseContinue Reading
Doom of Thirty Years War
I have found inspiration for this post in the newest book of Jaroslav Čechura who recently published the monograph titled Neklidné století: Třeboňsko v proměnách válečného věku (1590–1710), in translation Turbulent Century: Třeboň Region in the Changes of the War Age (1590–1710). The monograph focuses on the period covering moreContinue Reading
Land Books Terms: Vůl…
is an ox (Ochse in German), an animal used for drawing or as a source of meat. We can also see a variant with the adjective tažný, meaning „draught“; the German is also using the word Zugeochse (draught ox), combining, in the best tradition of the German language, an adjectiveContinue Reading
Pitiful whining of Duchoslav Běle from Víska (1720)
When you go through the land books you may be sometimes extremely lucky and find a document that goes far beyond what you would expect to find in a land book. I had such luck with the land book for a place named Víska belonging to the Lnáře Estate. AmongContinue Reading
Two reviews on Gutsherrschaft und „zweite Leibeigenschaft” in Böhmen
I have discovered two book reviews on a book published in German in 2001 with the title Gutsherrschaft und „zweite Leibeigenschaft” in Böhmen. The book was written by a renowned Czech historian Eduard Maur. Since the book is written (actually translated into) in German it may be more accessible thanContinue Reading
The pros and cons of farmer’s specialisation
The book with a long title Rolnictvo na pozdně středověkém Chebsku: sociální mobilita, migrace a procesy pustnutí (in translation Peasantry in late medieval Cheb region: social mobility, migration and processes of desertification) brought many interesting information on the topic. However, one passage containing general conclusions about the advantages and disadvantagesContinue Reading