Smíchov: Jan Lucemburský founded a monastery, he did not live to see it today
John of Luxembourg was always more “at home” beyond his own kingdom. By the way he died abroad and was buried. Nevertheless, he was an excellent Czech king who believed that her people would remember them even after death. Following the example of his royal and princely predecessors, he founded a monastery in Prague.
The first Carthusian monastery
“He decided to establish the first Carthusian monastery in Bohemia“We will read in the Archaeological and Topographical Monuments: the organ of the Archaeological Choir of the Museum of the Kingdom of the Czech and Historical Association in Prague from 1868. He chose a place in Smíchov, where there was a plow yard, which the king bought.
“The court, with all its accessories, bought the king from Bomlina with the hill of Újezd for 400 kopecks of Prague groschen and gave her brothers of the Carthusian order to build a monastery with sufficient dwellings for a convert and 24 monks (each for each), with a decent solid fence around to the wheel, “we will learn further.
“Free” wine
In order for the monastery to prosper immediately after its foundation, it gave it John of Luxembourg several privileges. He answered for example only to royal officials. If someone was eligible for a monastery, he had to reimburse it twice by royal decree. However, other privileges are also remarkable.
“Whenever monasteries or messengers would went for wine to Austria or elsewhere, or for other needs for construction or livelihood, nowhere in Bohemia and Moravia to pay any duties, not even on water, “the book states. And we will read, for example, that “no one should bother the monastery with visits and accommodation, unless the prior invited someone himself.” In other words, whoever had no place to look in Prague at that time did not walk in the monastery.
In memory
Speaking of that time, it would be appropriate to say when the monastery was actually founded. “The foundation of the Carthusian monastery happened on February 1, 1342. On the same day and year, the new Carthusian received approval and confirmation from the Bishop of Prague with the Chapters of Prague. “
The reason that John of Luxembourg takes next to this step is truly prosaic. “John of Luxembourg wantsas he himself has long said, to leave behind a monument that, on his behalf, would commemorate in the future, ”We learn. Nevertheless, the monastery had to save its son Charles IV, who later entered as the Fatherland.
The demise of the monastery
The monastery has not been preserved to this day. It is not easy to judge what it actually looked like during its time. It started to darken over him already during the Hussite stormswhen it was plundered by the people of Prague. Sigismund of Luxembourg, Jan’s grandson, intended to restore the monastery, but this never happened. Extinct so not only the monastery, but also the church of the Virgin Mary, which stood on its premises.
The place where the monastery stood is not entirely clear. According to the findings, it was between Újezd and Petřín. Specifically on the level of “by the Vltava River near the Lesser Town of Prague. ”However, the names of the streets will help us to determine the exact topography. The Carthusian Monastery, which refers to the ancient monastery, runs along the Sacré Coeur Park to the Strahov Tunnel. There was a medieval monastery somewhere there.
Czech King John of Luxembourg.
Author: ČTK