Kalhous D.
Anatomy of a Duchy
The Political and Ecclesiastical Structures of Early Přemyslid Bohemia
BRILL, Leiden (The Netherlands) 2012
Scheda a cura di: Kalhous D.
Collana: East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450
An analysis of the early Premyslid realm provides an opportunity for
recognizing the importance of different factors involved in the
formation of stable social structures in the early medieval regnum. The
contemporary narrative emphasizes the importance of violence, where the
Premyslid princes and their powerful retinues imposed princely will on
elites and freemen in Bohemia and Moravia. However, our attention also
turns to the problematic evidence of assumed powerful cavalry armies and
the importance of communication between prince, elites and church,
somewhat problematizing the role of violence as the primary tool of
governance.
Furthermore, an analysis of “otherness” in Saxon chronicles and a
comparison of different traditions of St. Wenceslas and Great Moravia
confirm the importance of the “Identitätsbildung”-process and
“ideology” as stabilising factors in the new Premyslid regnum.
Table of contents
Abbreviations ... vii
Preface ... xi
Maps ... xiii
Introduction ... 1
I. “Weak” Bohemia: A Non-State Retinue-Based Polity in Central Europe? ... 11
1. Preconditions of the Genesis of the Premyslid Realm ... 11
2. Territorial Extent and Development of Premyslid Realm ... 46
3. The Premyslid Aristocracy and the Relationship betweenb Centre and Periphery ... 104
4. The Origins of Ecclesiastical Organisation in the Czech Lands ... 143
II. A Premyslid Strength—Forging Common Identity ... 171
1. Image of Premyslids in Tenth-Century Sources ... 173
2. Legenda Christiani as a Tenth-Century Source ... 186
3. Christian and Great Moravia ... 193
4. Old Church Slavonic Literature and Liturgy in the Tenth and Eleventh Century Premyslid Realm ... 208
5. Christian and St. Wenceslaus ... 237
Conclusion ... 263
Bibliography ... 267
Index ... 307
A cura di Giulia Tarquini