Deals with Charles IV, Roman Emperor, King of the Germans, first
Bohemian King of that name, and Father of his country. Charles as a
warrior and the part he took at Crecy. Some remarks about Crecy.
Friendly relations between Charles and Edward III of England, who at
Charles's suggestion declines the imperial crown. Charles concerns
himself with the welfare of his people. He builds and restores churches.
A short story about St. Wenceslaus, and a description of the chapel
dedicated to him. Of "St. Mary under the Chain" and the house of the
Knights of Malta. Of George Podiebrad, of Frederick the Winter King and
his wife Elizabeth. A word or two about the Hussites and the host of
crusaders that came out of the West and were defeated by [vZ]i[vs]ka. A
pageant of those whose life and work was connected with the Cathedral of
St. Vitus. Charles and Church Reform, and of a Pope who was himself in
need of reform. St. Henry and Kunigunde his wife, and the church
dedicated to them. Frederick II of Prussia and the church which Charles
had built and consecrated to the Virgin and St. Charles. St. Stephen's
Church. Some remarks on the saints who are patrons of Bohemia or in one
way or another interested in that country. A passing reference to
London's patron saint Erkenwald and some remarks about a students'
feast-day.
Despite his undoubted gallantry in battle, Charles, as a warrior, was
overshadowed by his picturesque sire; moreover, he shone more brightly
as a man of peace, as scholar, as founder and builder, even as author;
in the latter capacity he has left behind a remarkable work, his
autobiography, written in Latin: "Commentarius de Vita Caroli Bohemiae
Regis ab ipso Carolo conscriptus." Yet, had he done nothing else, his
military achievements would probably have brought him lasting renown. As
we have seen, he acquitted himself well, when quite a young man, in his
father's campaigns in Italy. He took part with conspicuous gallantry in
the Battle of Crecy. I gather that it was his advice not to attack with
tired troops, but he was overruled; not but what the result might have
been the same had the French agreed to wait another day. It was the
Bohemian cavalry that had already distinguished itself by preventing the
passage by the English Army of the bridge of St. Remy, and it was not
their fault that the ford of Blanche-Taque was insufficiently guarded
and thus left open a crossing over the Somme. Many of us know that
country about Abbeville well, the lush meadows and clumps of trees not
so unlike our own river scenery. Some of us may even have recalled
memories out of school of that battle fought out in so small a space
compared to the "shows" to which we had become used. While out of the
line in that neighbourhood I myself met the direct descendant of French
warriors who fought at Crecy, the mayor of a small village. I happened
to refer lightly to that page of long-ago history, but the mayor
corrected me--it had indeed been a most serious affair; he had lost
thirteen ancestors on that occasion, and the family had not recovered to
this day. As a social function the Battle of Crecy was certainly an
important affair; many of the best people in Europe were represented
there, four kings among others, and a brave show of nobles many of whom
indeed, did not recover.
John and Charles had undertaken this trip to France together no doubt
drawn by their relationship to the French royal family, and Charles had
fought valiantly by his father's side until forced to withdraw by his
nobles, who, according to Bene[vs] de Weitmil, were "fearful of losing
both their Kings."
One would think that this the first introduction to the English of
Bohemia's King would not make for cordial relations; as a matter of
fact, it led to an alliance between Charles and Edward III arising out
of circumstances which prove both these monarchs to have been wise men.
England had risen considerably in the estimation of continental Europe
in consequence of this victory, and an attempt was made, perhaps the
first in history--for you cannot take Richard of Cornwall seriously--to
draw our country into the sea of troubles that raged as usual in the
Holy Roman Empire. There was, of course, a section of German nobles who
opposed Charles and who on the death of King Louis offered the imperial
crown to the victor of Crecy. Edward III was wise enough to decline,
influenced, it is said, by a mission which Charles had sent to England;
what is more, a treaty of alliance was arranged between these two
countries, and this, to my thinking, had far-reaching effects on their
future relations, intermittent but extending over several centuries.
Charles had to rest awhile in France before returning to his country in
order to recover from his wounds received at Crecy. I wonder whether he
tried the waters of Carlsbad on his return home. Charles had been led to
discover the healing qualities of Carlsbad water when out hunting one
day among the lovely wood-clad heights just inside the frontier of
Bohemia. The legend is that Charles heard one of his hounds yelping in
pain, and discovered that the poor beast had plunged into a spring of
hot water. Charles had the water analysed (which sounds very up to
date), and being informed of its healing qualities, built himself a
castle on the spot round which grew up that charming health resort
Carlsbad.
The history of Charles IV as German King and Roman Emperor is
consequently also that of the Holy Roman Empire, but would lead us much
too afar afield from Prague, where this excellent monarch resided by
preference. He had grand schemes for improving the state of the country
and its capital, which he carried out systematically. He must have
begrudged the time he was obliged to spend in travelling abroad in
various imperial interests, when there was so much to claim his
attention at home. He certainly never went abroad for pleasure, for his
trips to Italy and Burgundy, undertaken at different times, were matters
of duty. It was the correct thing for an Emperor to be crowned at Rome,
and Charles was always strictly correct. On the way to Rome it was
obviously the right thing to call at Milan for the iron crown of the
Lombard Kings, which was also an imperial perquisite. Then on another
occasion Charles called at Arles to receive the crown of the Kingdom of
Burgundy, which country formed part of the Empire. Charles had some
business to transact with the Pope at Avignon near by, business
connected with Church Reform, which movement was gaining in strength in
Bohemia and which caused that country much suffering for conscience'
sake. These journeys were episodes in the life of the Emperor; the work
of the King of Bohemia lay in and about his capital, ancient Prague.
From my terrace I will point out to you some of the glorious monuments
raised by that Founder King.
Charles's first concern seems to have been for his people's spiritual
welfare: from all accounts some attention to this side of the national
life of Bohemia was sorely needed. The first and most obvious duty was
to set about the restoration of the Royal Castle, the Hrad[vs]any, with
its venerable cathedral. Both castle and cathedral were inadequate to
the high mission of Prague as a royal and imperial residence. The castle
had been repaired fitfully by one king or another as we have seen, and
had been provided with strong towers chiefly used as dungeons, and had
been allowed to fall into disrepair by the impecunious and extravagant
John. The cathedral was probably in not much better case. We have seen
glimpses of that sacred fane with its memories of royal saints and
martyrs, how St. Wenceslaus built the first church on the site of the
present one, as a casket to hold that precious relic the arm of St.
Vitus, given him by Henry the Fowler. The words of the chronicler will
give you some idea of this first church: "Ecclesiam Sancti Viti quam
Sanctus Wenceslaus construxerat ad similitudinem Romanae ecclesiae
rotundam." This building was yet unfinished when Wenceslaus was
martyred. The body of the saint was conveyed from Stara Boleslav to St.
Vitus for burial, and this was not allowed to pass without a miraculous
manifestation. The old wooden bridge, connecting the right bank of the
Vltava with the Mala Strana, had been partly destroyed by floods;
nevertheless the bearers passed over the half-ruined bridge as if they
had no burden to carry at all. This was very wonderful, and redounded
greatly to the saint's growing reputation, which was enhanced a little
farther along the route to be traversed. As the procession passed the
town-hall prison its inmates, clutching the bars, cried out for mercy;
the bearers were forced to halt, and found themselves quite unable to
proceed until all the captives had been released. Now this was very
beautiful, and it happened long ago.
Prince Spytihnev II, also a pious soul, considered the church built by
Wenceslaus too small for his religious requirements; he had it
demolished, and another one, also in the Romanesque style, erected in
its place. The church that Spytihnev built was also destroyed to make
way for the present edifice, which in its inception is due to Charles.
It must have been about the time when Charles joined his father at
Luxemburg, in 1344, that the former interviewed the master-builder
Matthew of Arras, to discuss plans for the reconstruction of Prague's
Cathedral Church. John and Charles, as we have seen, then went on
together to visit the Pope at Avignon. It seems to have been on this
occasion that Prague was raised to the dignity of an archbishopric, and
Charles wished to build a temple worthy of the high dignity to which in
matters spiritual, as temporal, his country had arisen; and so under the
hand of skilled craftsmen, from out the ruins of earlier shrines, rose
that crowning glory of Golden Prague, the Cathedral of St. Vitus. This
great temple was many years a-building, and is not completed yet. Great
men devoted their labours to this glorious fane: Peter Parler and his
son John, Bene[vs] of Loun and others were among the master-builders,
while many artists, goldsmiths and other craftsmen famous in their day
contributed to the decoration of "the Father's House." Great men lie
buried under its shadowy arches, and their memory lives on in sculpture,
in paintings and wonders of wrought iron. In a chapel dedicated to St.
Wenceslaus rests that princely martyr; you may see his epitaph and the
shirt of mail he wore. In the bronze gates of this chapel you are shown
a ring to which the saint is said to have clung when his murderers
hacked him down. The walls of the chapels are inlaid with the precious
stones of Bohemia--jasper and achates, chalcedon, amethyst and
carneol--and are adorned with frescoes illustrating incidents in the
life of the saint, most of them dating from the reign of Charles; the
scene of his martyrdom is from the brush of Lucas Cranach. The
candelabra and statue of St. Wenceslaus are attributed to Peter Fischer.
King Charles, the founder, father of his country, lies buried here with
his four wives, so do other Kings of Bohemia, Ladislas Posthumus, George
Podiebrad, Ferdinand I and Maximilian.
Looking out over my terrace to where the Cathedral of St. Vitus points
its tapering spires towards high heaven, a misty pageant seems to pass
beneath it. Following rapidly on the golden peace of Charles come the
troublous days of religious strife, for with his son began the Hussite
wars which left Bohemia desolate and a prey to the eagles of Habsburg.
Angry flames rising up out the township below the Hrad[vs]any cast
clouds of smoke over the cathedral what time the Hussites failed to
capture the Royal Castle and in their zeal for reform set fire to
various quarters of the Mala Strana. The Bishop's Palace, which stood
near the left bank bridgehead, was utterly destroyed, the glorious
Church of "St. Mary under the Chain," and with it the home of the
Knights of Malta, suffered the same fate. Of St. Mary's Church there
remain the chancel and two stout towers; I can see them from my
embowered terrace, the blunt red roofs rising above a glorious riot of
fruit blossom. The pageant moves on, giving a flash here and there of
some one who stood up above his fellows like George Podiebrad, or the
strong men who precipitated the Thirty Years' War. Then follows a
fleeting vision of a stranger King, a German Protestant with his wife
Elizabeth, daughter of "douce Jamie." A short reign this of Frederick
Count Palatine, the "Winter King." We see him enter by the Strahov Gate
to be crowned at St. Vitus on November 4, 1619. We may imagine the
indignation of his people at Frederick's Calvinist divines who wished to
remove the altar and paintings from the cathedral. We see Frederick a
year later, again entering the city by the Strahov Gate, fleeing in hot
haste from the stricken field of the White Mountain where Bohemia's
freedom went under before the foreign mercenaries of the Emperor. Not
for the first time either that the troops of Western Europe had marched
on Prague to conquer it in the name of religion. Shortly after the
burning of "St. Mary under the Chain" the Pope called upon Western
Europe to undertake a crusade against the Hussites. A contemporary
chronicler, Lawrence of Bre[vz]ova, gives us a list of the nationalities
represented in this host of crusaders raised by Sigismund, King of
Bohemia, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, and led by an English
Cardinal. According to Lawrence there were Bavarians, Saxons, Austrians,
Frenchmen, men of Brabant and Dutchmen, Switzers, Lusatians and
Spaniards, a compact body of English, and soldiers of many other
nationalities; their number is estimated at between one hundred thousand
and one hundred and fifty thousand. Sigismund entered the Castle of
Prague and his motley forces encamped around the town, but "the Empire's
mismanaged feudal levy was no match for an infuriated people which stood
shoulder to shoulder in the service of the same inspiring idea." I quote
from _Europe in the Middle Age_, by Thatcher and Schwill. Moreover, the
Hussites were led and inspired by one of the greatest military leaders
of all ages, John [vZ]i[vs]ka. This is not the place to tell of the
doings of those Hussite armies and their exploits, and how they kept all
Europe at bay so that every Bohemian might feel secure in the faith that
was in him. Right away in the hazy background of hills against which
stand up the towers and spires of Prague you may see an incline sloping
down towards the river and to northward. This incline is now all built
over, and this quarter of the town is called [vZ]i[vs]kov in memory of
the great Hussite who held this hill against repeated attacks until he
was in a position to go over to the offensive. Dissensions had broken
out among the crusaders, the imperial armies melted away and left
Sigismund to face his people alone. He came to some agreement with the
leaders of the opposition and was even solemnly crowned at St. Vitus;
but the battle on [vZ]i[vs]ka's hill marked the beginning of the Hussite
wars.
[Illustration: ST. VITUS.]
With the defeat of the Bohemian army on the White Mountain ends the
story of St. Vitus as the cathedral of a free country. The building was
resumed after the Thirty Years' War came to an end, and other kings were
crowned in the church that had known the glory of Charles IV and George
Podiebrad; but those who came after were aliens to Bohemia, neither came
they to that country intent only on its interests; a succession of
Habsburgs passes by in pageant, to receive the crown of Bohemia as one
among many distinctions to which their house was heir. Ferdinand III and
Leopold I pass by, and Leopold's second son Charles VI second as King of
Bohemia, last male representative of the House of Habsburg, who was
succeeded by his daughter Maria Theresia. Troubles began again as in the
days when the P[vr]emysl dynasty died out, and the German Electors
decided to choose a new Emperor. The choice fell on Charles of Bavaria,
so old St. Vitus saw again a coronation pageant and one which much
resembled that of Frederick the Winter King. Charles of Bavaria was
crowned at Prague with all the usual pomp and ceremony; he then left
Bohemia never to return. Officially this Charles' coronation seems to
count for nothing in the history of Austria into which that of Bohemia
was merged. Bohemia became for years a pawn in the stern game between
Maria Theresia and Frederick of Prussia, and St. Vitus suffered damage
from the latter's guns; the glory of Golden Prague had departed and the
stately cathedral looked down for nearly three centuries on a city that
had been put aside, out of the way of the world's commerce and its great
affairs, to dream of the days when Charles IV was King and Bohemia the
land of a free and prosperous people.
* * * * *
We were really still in the days of Charles IV when it occurred to me to
sketch out a special pageant for the Cathedral Church of St. Vitus.
Charles, as I have said before, was particularly interested in churches,
was altogether a good, pious soul, and never missed an opportunity of
bearing testimony to his faith by deeds as well as words. This does not
mean that he submitted his judgment, even in things spiritual, entirely
to the ruling of the Church; on the contrary, he found that there was
more need of reform among the clergy of his land than of churches. He
did not hesitate, either, to point out to the Pope what reforms were
needed, and, moreover, took his part in improving matters, with his
usual energy and thoroughness. Indeed, according to all accounts, the
Bohemian clergy were sorely in need of the curb: they allowed their
sporting proclivities to run to excess in such pastimes as warfare,
tournaments, hunting and gambling, and the law of celibacy had fallen
into complete disuse. I have already noted that the St. Anthony of one
particular kind of temptation (I forget whether he was of Padua or
elsewhere) was not as popular in Bohemia as were many other saints.
After all, the clergy of Bohemia were probably no worse than that of
other countries, and Rome was not of much use as a "godly ensample";
there is, for instance, that little story told by Richenthal in his
chronicle about one of the Popes travelling across the Alps to some
council or other. This pontiff, it appears, "clothed himself with curses
as with a garment" and his horrible imprecations filled with terror the
souls of the pious peasants who flocked to see him. So when by some
accident the carriage of His Holiness was upset and himself pitched into
the road he exclaimed: "Here I lie in the name of the devil." This
sounds a bit feeble, and I could probably do better myself under similar
provocation; but such language at all is very shocking in a clergyman.
It is chiefly German historians who complain of Charles as being
priest-ridden, and also of neglecting the affairs of the Empire while
concentrating too much on Bohemia. This is a matter for historians to
wrangle about; personally I consider that by his Golden Bull, which very
much restricted the power of the Popes to interfere with the election of
Kings of the Germans, and in the protection he extended to priests
accused of heresy for their ardour on reform, Charles proved himself a
strong man, free from undue outside influence, and no bigot. But we are
concerned with what Charles did for Prague, and will take a look round
the churches which meant so much to him, many of which he built or
restored himself. One of these appeals to me particularly; I cannot say
why exactly, perhaps because I heard some glorious music there, one grey
evening in Lent. St. Henry's has long been famous for its Musical
Society. I have mentioned this church before; it is dedicated to St.
Henry and his wife Kunigunde. It is interesting and unusual to find a
married saint; in fact, as in this case, a couple of them. The portraits
of these two may be seen in the chancel of St. Henry's Church, but it
was too dark for me to distinguish anything on the occasion of my visits
there; moreover, I was sufficiently impressed with the shapely Gothic
pillars, the work of Charles IV's craftsmen, which rose over the
dilapidations of a much earlier building. Charles lost no time about the
restoration of St. Henry's, as he seems to have begun it in 1348 and it
was finished two years later. This church stands back from the rushing
traffic of the Henry Street--Jind[vr]i[vs]ska Ulice, to give it its
Czech name; the campanile of St. Henry's, a graceful tower with
characteristic turrets and saddle-roof, is set apart and looks down the
broad thoroughfare. This campanile is of more recent times than the
church: it dates from the early days of Vladislav II, about the end of
the fifteenth century. A sixteenth-century bell hangs in the campanile
of St. Henry's Church; its inscription recalls the famous lines of
Schiller's _Die Glocke_: "En ego campana, nunquam pronuntio vana, Ignam,
vel festum, bellum, vel funus honestum." About the time of the
restoration of St. Henry's, since much rebuilt outside, Charles set
about building another church on the rising ground north-east of
Vy[vs]ehrad; it is quaint rather than beautiful. You may note this
church by its squat appearance, a broad cupola flanked by a couple of
more slender ones, and the whole group is generally concealed by
scaffolding. This church has had as hard a time as any of those in
Prague. King Charles built it in 1350 and intended it to remind him of
the cathedral at Aachen where Charlemagne is buried. There certainly is
a good deal of resemblance still within this church dedicated
appropriately to the Virgin and St. Charles, for the original outlines
remain, as also the crypt below. But this church has suffered heavily
both at the hands of wilful destroyers and of the restorer. Matthew of
Arras was the architect. I wonder whether he would recognize his work
to-day, so much has happened to it since he completed it. Consecrated in
1377 and given over to the monks of the Augustine Order, church and
monastery were thoroughly destroyed by the Hussites less than a century
later. The church was rebuilt in 1498, seriously damaged in 1611, and
left in a state of disrepair for forty years. It had not long been
restored for the second time, when Frederick II of Prussia made a target
of it in his siege of Prague. Some eight hundred hot shot are said to
have struck this church and set it on fire more than fifty times: quite
good shooting but bad manners. No wonder, then, that this Church of the
Virgin and St. Charles has lost its pristine beauty; yet it has an
attraction of its own to those who sympathize with its misfortunes, and
there are still some quaint old corners of the Hermitage attached to the
edifice, built by Dienzenhofer, for those who like _baroque_.
We have noted Charles's interest in his cathedral on the Hrad[vs]any; he
also paid a delicate compliment to the Lady Abbess of the convent
attached to St. George's Church within the castle precincts. You will
remember how Boleslav II, of pious memory, founded this convent and that
his sister Milada was the first abbess. Charles raised that lady's
successors to princely rank and gave them the right to place the crown
on the head of the King at his coronation.
[Illustration: ST. STEPHEN'S.]
There are several other churches which have survived the chances and
changes of centuries, among these one which appeals to me on account of
its modesty. This church is tucked away among a congerie of respectable
elderly buildings that cluster to eastward of the Stepanska Ulice, one
of the thoroughfares that link up the higher lying part of the Nove
M[ve]sto, the New Town, with the Vaclavske Nam[ve]sti. This church has
indeed a somewhat neglected look: its quaint pointed steeple rises
almost apologetically above some scrubby trees, and hardly ventures to
o'ertop the grimy houses, that close it round. Nevertheless this ancient
church should have reason to hold high its head, for Bohemia's great
King and Father built it and dedicated it to a carefully selected saint,
to wit St. Stephen. St. Stephen's Church shows pleasant traces of the
gracious spirit which informed the master mind in those golden days of
Charles IV. Moreover, St. Stephen's Church has kept the best of
exclusive company during the six centuries of its existence, for close
by, separated only by a narrow lane, stands one of Prague's oldest
temples, the romanesque chapel of St. Longinus which from its memories
harking back to the first P[vr]eysl King, Vladislav, probably looks upon
its neighbour as a mere child.
You will have noticed how many and varied are the names of saints
mentioned in these my reflections from "a Terrace in Prague." I do not
profess deep knowledge of saints, and do not as a rule venture on the
hallowed ground where saints disport themselves. Nevertheless, while
dealing with the city of Prague in particular or the Bohemian people in
general, and endeavouring to become acquainted with them, you are faced
with the fact that there is in this country a strong and no doubt
commendable attraction towards saints of all possible varieties, and,
let us hope, a favourable reaction on the part of the latter. I do not
suggest that a saints' day merely means a holiday.
To begin with, the Bohemians, on taking to Christianity at all, started
with some very fine vintage saints of their own growing. You have heard
all about them: Ludmilla, Wenceslaus, Milada, Adalbert. These estimable
people were, after all, following the precepts of those who had brought
the "Glad Tidings" to Bohemia, and therefore were entitled to high
consideration and respect. We have met some of these most worthy people.
There were the brothers Constantine (better known as Cyril) and
Methodius, who did much missionary work in Central Europe, especially
among those of their own, the Slavonic race, for these two were citizens
of Solun (Salonika), where pure Slavonic was spoken in the ninth
century. As Slavs these two missionaries were disliked by the Germans,
but both Popes Adrian I and John VIII approved of them; we have heard
how Methodius converted that stubborn pagan Prince Bo[vr]ivoj. Another
couple of saints whom I have mentioned before, Cosmas and Damian, have
always been most popular in Bohemia. They came from the West, or at
least their reputation did, for they had been martyred in the third or
fourth century, before Czech and his merry men had arrived at [vR]ip,
before the Slavs had appeared in Europe in fact. Pope Felix III held
these two gentlemen in high esteem, had dedicated a church to them in
Rome, and his successors had no doubt recommended this worthy couple to
the Bohemians when the latter began to ask for spiritual patronage.
Cosmas and Damian, the oldest patron saints of Bohemian Christendom,
became very popular, and many churches were dedicated to them; in fact,
as we have seen, it was zeal in their cause that brought about the
martyrdom of St. Wenceslaus. I believe these two, Cosmas and Damian,
were precursors of that excellent body of medical missionaries who
wisely get at a man's soul by healing his body. There must be something
in my theory about Cosmas and Damian, as the medical faculty of Prague
University put up a sculptured group supposed to represent these two
saints, on the Charles Bridge, early in the eighteenth century. As
portraiture this group is not convincing.
The leading patron saint of Prague seems to be St. Vitus; at least in
the great cathedral dedicated to him he dominates not only the city but
also his co-patron saints of this most famous of all the city's many
churches. You will remember that in course of a friendly exchange of
concessions between St. Wenceslaus and King Henry the Fowler the latter
presented Bohemia's ruler with an arm of St. Vitus. I do not quite
understand how St. Vitus came to hold such high importance in Bohemia.
He was born in Sicily of pagan parents, poor perhaps, possibly honest,
about the beginning of the fourth century. Two Christians, Modestus and
Crescentia, taught young Vitus and converted him without his father's
knowledge. There was nothing unusual in this. Vitus was martyred in
Rome, an experience which might happen to any Christian in those days,
and we hear no more about him until he appears as patron saint of a
church founded about the middle of the ninth century on the Island of
Ruegen, by the monks of Corvey in Saxony. These monks had by some means
or other got hold of the relics of St. Vitus; perhaps they parted with a
bit to King Henry the Fowler, who then handed it on to Wenceslaus. The
Slavonic islanders of Ruegen relapsed into paganism but kept green the
memory of St. Vitus, whom they worshipped as a god.
Whereas St. Wenceslaus secured only an arm of St. Vitus, King Charles
acquired the rest of his body. St. Wenceslaus was, I fear, caught
napping on several occasions. He is not dead, according to popular
tradition, but sleeps inside a mountain, and sleeps soundly too, for he
seems to have missed the resurrection of his people. By way of useful
information I may tell you that the shrine of St. Wenceslaus is
sanctuary for murderers, but I cannot say whether this custom still
obtains under the constitution of the new Czecho-Slovak Republic.
King Charles arranged a great festival when the remains of St. Vitus
reached the cathedral dedicated to him. With his own hands Charles
placed a crown of gold upon the saintly head, or, as one old chronicler
puts it with unexpected humour, upon the head of one or other St. Vitus.
Charles was peculiarly expert in the matter of relics and a zealous
collector, which shows his constant concern for his people's welfare,
not only spiritual but physical as well. So, for instance, did that
pious monarch cause the remains of St. Sigismund to be conveyed to
Prague. St. Sigismund was a good sound sixth-century saint of France who
in the days of Gregory of Tours had frequently been invoked to ward off
fever; his remains would therefore be a useful asset as complement to
the limited knowledge of the art of healing in those days. Not that I
attach much importance to the opinion of Gregory of Tours. You may
remember that he admired one Chlodovech, King of all the Franks, who
outdid any other Teuton founder of kingdoms by his record of crime, of
murder and treachery, and generally speaking he had a tough lot to
compete against. Londoners have probably forgotten that they also have a
famous febrifuge in their city's patron saint, St. Erkenwald, to whose
shrine came many pilgrims for relief from pain. Modern pilgrims to
London come in their thousands to watch football matches--there is
little of healing in this. Other relics collected by Charles were the
spear, a bit of the cross and a nail, and the tablecloth used at the
Last Supper. All these precious relics, together with the crown jewels,
were kept in a strong castle built by Charles for the purpose. You may
catch a glimpse of this castle, Karlov Tyn, Karlstein, as you pass down
the valley of the winding Berounka of a summer's evening, coming to
Prague from Paris via Cheb. A day was set apart for the Feast of Relics,
the _Allatio Reliquiarum_. On this day the relics were conveyed to the
cathedral and exhibited to the people, and Charles had arranged that all
who attended this solemn function should be granted indulgence. I take
it there was no work done that day in Prague; as it happens this feast
coincided with that set apart for several saints, Macarius and Abel,
besides being the octave of St. Stephen, a further reason for
holiday-making.
Talking of holidays in Prague, I came across one such fixed for August
9th, and seriously described by a sound old writer on the manners and
customs of Bohemia. This feast was observed, I cannot say religiously,
but with great enthusiasm, by the students of the University. It was
called quite simply _Beano_. This will sound familiar to you, and you
will probably pronounce it as if derived from the bean, the common or
garden bean and the feast thereof. Not so. This _Beano_ should be
pronounced with due stress on each particular vowel, as if it were an
Italian word; indeed, it is derived from the Latin. Attempts have been
made to trace this word to early French influence at Prague University,
and to derive it from _bec-jaune_, pronounced with a certain abandon.
This, again, is wrong. _Beano_ is, or was, the great day on which the
new students, the "freshers," were initiated into the mysteries of
scholastic life with all manner of weird ceremony and horrible
observances. There was used much, indeed undue, emphasis, said some, in
order to impress upon the youngsters that a serious change of life was
upon them, for, quoth the elders: "Beanus est animal nesciens vitam
studiosorum."