A History of Bohemian LiteratureLützow, Francis, hrabe
History
A History of Bohemian Literature
Lützow, Francis, hrabe
Czech literature -- History and criticism
The legend of St. Prokop (which forms part of the Manuscript of
Königgrätz) also deserves special notice. It incidentally throws
considerable light on the condition of Bohemia at the period when
Christianity was introduced. There was then great antagonism between
the partisans of the Greek ritual, which Cyrillus and Methodius had
introduced, and the followers of the Latin Church, who from Germany had
introduced their ritual into Bohemia. The monastery on the Sazava[9],
of which Prokop became abbot, was the centre of those who sympathised
with the Eastern Church. Up to the time when the Slavonic monks were
replaced by priests of the Latin Church (in 1096), the religious
services were held there according to the Eastern ritual, and when
Charles IV. again established a community of Slavonic monks at Prague,
he obtained for it the Pope's permission to use the Slavonic tongue in
all ecclesiastical functions and to employ the Glagolitic alphabet[10].
The legend, written in an awkward and unattractive style, has little
artistic value. The author was, no doubt, a monk, since the monastery
of Sazava and its records were probably his source of information. As
is the case with most early Bohemian legends, it is very difficult to
fix the date of that referring to St. Prokop. The existent manuscript
probably belongs to the early part of the fourteenth century, though
the circumstance that some rhymes have been corrupted and lines omitted
has led Bohemian critics to the supposition that the legend was written
a considerable time before, perhaps not long after the death of St.
Prokop, who lived in the eleventh century. The legend[11], as already
stated, deals principally with the rivalry between the monks of the
Eastern and those of the Roman ritual. Prokop, who had retired to the
then desert region near the river Sazava, is found there by Prince
Ulrick, who builds a monastery for him on the spot where they met.
After Prokop's death, as well as that of Prince Ulrick, "Germans of the
Latin rite" take possession of the monastery on the Sazava. The ghost
of Prokop three times appears to them, and on his third apparition the
Germans return terrified to Prague.
The author begins by thus addressing his readers: "Listen, old people
and children--To what I wish to tell you--Of the patron of the
Slavs--Of the holy Prokop--He who was born in Bohemia--Who propagated
God's law in a saintly fashion--Who faithfully fulfilled the holy
law--Who worked many miracles.... St. Prokop is of the Slav race--Born
not far from Česky Brod.--That village did God well bless--In which
this saint was born."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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