PRAGUE 1580–1680, THE PLACE OF CONFESSIONAL CLASHES

The book written by prominent experts, which is part of the joint project of the Prague City Museum and the Prague City Archives, was designed for the 400th anniversary of the Battle of White Mountain (8 November 1620) and the execution of twenty-seven nobles in Prague’s Old Town Square (21 June 1621). As central points of the project, the two milestones – the battle and the execution – symbolise a watershed of the religious and political development of the Czech lands and their capital. The publication takes the reader through the pre-White Mountain period and a relatively open-minded Prague at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, the turbulent events of 1620–1621, the uncertain and cruel Thirty Years’ War, and the first post-war decades in the reconstructed country following the Counter-Reformation. The boroughs of Prague are presented not only as the location of historical events that influenced the political development of Europe, but also as an important and active player in this development.