The Czech expierence (Part one of three)

This will be the first of three parts :: No Pictures for now, as I can not upload/they will be added.

Czech Republic:

All right kids, I dont know if anyone is reading, but this one will be a bit long so I hope you have some patience.

As some of you know my roots on my fathers side are from Bohemia, Some of the oldest settlers of the Czech lands were the Boii, a Celtic tribe that inhabited the region from around the 4th century BC and gave Bohemia its name. The Celts were later replaced by Germanic tribes, and around the 6th century AD, the Slavs finally reached the territory from the east. In the 7th century, a Frankish merchant Sámo succeeded in uniting the Slavic tribes under his empire and defeating the tribe of the Avars that occupied today's Hungary.

In addition to this background, my Grandfather and Grandmother served in World War two, these two corralate later in my story as we explore the magnificent and amazing story of the Czech people before during and after the war.

The first slovic tribes arrived in about 500 ad and were quickly conqured by the Great Moravian Empire: 830AD, the Great Moravian Empire (Velkomoravská říše) which did not last long after the great Hungarian Invasion after 907. The check people were nomads wandering through the lands,  Around 880, the Prague Castle was founded by prince Bořivoj, the first of the Přemyslid princes, and the seat of power was moved there.  it also said that the city was founded by a phsycic princess and after the city was founded they decided that it was not proper to be led by a woman so they made her marry a farmer. Přemyslid.

The Czech lands had a high economic, cultural, and political status during the Přemyslid rule, which was further strengthened by Vratislav II being granted the royal crown and becoming the first Czech king in 1085 - The Přemyslid dynasty ended with the death of its last member, Wenceslas III, in 1306.

Things in the 15th Century is when the real turmoil of the city began, at the beginning of the century, a reform movement (reformace) was started and lead by priest John Huss (Jan Hus). Influenced by the writings of John Wycliffe, Huss spoke against the corruption of the Catholic Church. He was said to have invented Protistantism, and would not be cited for it and Marin Luther would take credit for it over a hundered years later in England. However, the Catholic Church decided to give him credit, by burning him at the stake in 1415.

The killing of Hus started a massive protest movement by his followers, the Hussites. In 1419, the First Defenestration (Defenestration means, throwning people out of windows.) of Prague took place when the Hussites threw seven counselors out of the windows of Prague's New Town Hall.

1419 the Pope Declared the Czech Republic a "Heritc State" and sent army after army, cursade after crusade into Czech. The Czechs had little to defend themselves with and may have done something that could be considered the first "tank" ever used in war, A big spikey cart with a man in the middel with a gun (the English would take credit for the tank 500 years later) The war did not end well for the Czech people and left them without a King untill Rudolf II.

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, was crowned the Czech king in 1576 and moved his court back to Prague in 1583, thus promoting Prague to the imperial seat of power again. This era is sometimes referred to as Prague's Second Golden Age. It was during his reign that Prague earned its nickname "Magic Prague". Rudolf's court attracted scientists and artists from all over Europe, including astronomers Tycho de Brahe and Johannes Kepler. The legend of the Golem comes from that time, too.

Rudolf's successor Matthias attempted to deprive the Protestants of the few freedoms they were left with since the Habsburgs took the throne, and this oppression resulted in another Protestant uprising. The rebellion started with the Second Defenestration of Prague in 1618 in which the Protestants were severly defeated, 27 Protestant leaders were executed on the Old Town Square in May 1621 and all religions except Catholic were banned. The Czech language and national consciousness were suppressed for the next 150 years. Prague lost its importance and the Prague Castle deteriorated. This period in Czech history is referred to as the Dark Age (doba temna).

This is the end of Part one.

Ill give you a breather before parts 2 and 3.