sperity to his country. The city of Prague
benefited by the bravery of B[vr]etislav, for as a result of that
Prince's successful campaign against the Poles the body of St. Adalbert,
whom you have met before as Bishop of Prague, was captured by the
Bohemians and restored to their capital. There was, I believe, some
trouble about this operation of B[vr]etislav. The ruler and people of
Poland had appointed Adalbert as their patron saint; he had been killed
in their country, had been buried there some time, and had even a
cathedral to himself at Gnesen. The Pope launched a bull or two at
B[vr]etislav over this business. I do not know whether any of them took
effect. The Bohemians were ordered to return Adalbert to the Poles, but
I do not know that they did so, neither have I seen him lying about in
Prague, probably because I have not looked for him. Adalbert is the
patron saint of Emaus in Prague among many other churches in Bohemia,
but no doubt he can find time to patronize Poland as well. Anyway, I do
not anticipate any strained relations between the Republics of
Czecho-Slovakia and Poland on this account; both countries are more
interested in a yet older fossilized form of creation--coal to wit.
With the best will in the world it is difficult to rise to any
enthusiasm over the majority of Bohemia's rulers in the eleventh and
twelfth centuries. There seems to have been nothing of beauty or
interest in individual P[vr]emysls to break the monotony of endless
quarrels between brother claimants to the throne and appeals of
unsuccessful rivals to their German neighbour, whose decision would be
entirely guided by the desire for a further weakening of Bohemia. Prague
has little to show in the way of architectural interest dating from the
eleventh and twelfth centuries, but what there is is good. I doubt
whether any other city in Europe has much to show of that period of
transition from Romanesque to Gothic: whatever there was has generally
been pulled down or built over when the great flood of Gothic poured
over Europe some century or so later. But if there is little to see in
Prague which can be clearly traced to the two centuries under
discussion, it is of interest in showing the expansion of the town since
Libu[vs]a's prophecy concerning it. The Hrad[vs]any came in for some
attention. Another church, dedicated to All Saints and built up very
near the Basilica of St. George, dates back to the eleventh century.
There are, or
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