The folly of windows in Prague

Unlike anywhere else the combination of politics, religion, windows and defenestation plays an important role in Prague's long history. Defenestration is the act of throwing someone or something out of a window. Bohemia and Prague saw quite a few of those; Two of them are of historical importance, triggering prolonged conflicts within Bohemia and beyond. The First Defenestration involved the killing of seven members of the city council by a crowd of radical Czech Hussites on 30 July 1419 after the town council members had refused to exchange their Hussite prisoners. The mob stormed the town hall and threw the judge, the major, and some thirteen members of the town council out of the window into the street, where they were killed by the fall or dispatched by the mob. King Václav IV (Wenceslas in English, Wenzel in German), upon hearing this news, was so stunned that he died a little time after, supposedly due to the shock. The Second Defenestration is known as "THE Defenestration of Prague" (Prager Fenstersturz). On 23 May 1618, four Catholic Lord Regents, responsible for persuading King Matthias to write a letter which ultimately removed Protestant religious freedoms that had been granted earlier by King Rudolf II, were thrown out a third floor window along with the Regents' secretary. They fell 70 feet (21 metres), landed on a large pile of manure in a dry moat and survived. Roman Catholic Imperial officials claimed that the men survived due to the mercy of angels assisting the righteousness of the Catholic cause. Protestant pamphleteers asserted that their survival had more to do with the horse manure in which they landed than the benevolent acts of angels. This Defenestration was unsuccessful in its immediate motives, but served to precipitate the Bohemian Revolt and the Thirty Years' War.

© CT-Graphics - Christine Till

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A Cross on St Vitus Cathedral Prague

The Treasury of St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, the largest church treasury in the Czech Republic and one of the most extensive in Europe, traces its beginnings back to the early Middle Ages. It suffered major losses during the Hussite wars and was plundered many times in subsequent periods of social tumult and economic shortages.
Even so, Prague's St. Vitus Cathedral still boasts a huge collection of precious artefacts that is breathtaking in its extent. Among the finest masterpieces is the golden coronation cross as well as a cross with a fragment of Christ's loincloth, the reliquary of St. Catherine, a crystal jug holding the tablecloth from the Last Supper, a diamond-studded monstrance, the guilded tomb of St Wenceslas; There are examples of goldsmiths' art dating from the 19th century as well as panel paintings with vera icons believed to be impressed images of Christ's true appearance.
Even in its hidden corners and winding stairways the cathedral houses tens of thousands of secrets: Icons, ancient relics, walls with inlaid gem stones, wall paintings showing Christ's passion, gilded stucco, the shadow of screaming gargoyles and the crypt of kings under the cathedral containing the remains of Charles IV himself. Those secrets, incredible riches - and more - you'll have to discover on your own.

© CT-Graphics - Christine Till

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