John married Beatrice of Bourbon, Charles
Blanche of Valois; if I know anything of John, he probably stayed in
Paris, whereas Charles would hurry back to Prague to continue his
programme of improvements. Amongst these improvements is one directly
inspired by Blanche, his "snow-white" bride, which you may see to this
day. I could just point it out to you, the Church of "St. Mary of the
Snow," but it is difficult to pick out among the sea of roofs. Although
it is the tallest church in Prague, it no longer has steeple or spire
pointing to the sky; whatever of the kind there was disappeared during
some street-fighting or other which frequently took place around this
church. If you follow the Narodni Třida straight along from the river
towards the Vaclavské Naměsti you will see "St. Mary's of the Snow"
on the right, tucked away behind some quaint old buildings formerly the
Carmelite Monastery founded by Charles.
It would seem that Charles, when in doubt, either built a new church or
restored an old one. There was a good deal to do in Prague in the latter
line of business especially, and Charles, with the real founder's zeal,
set about putting his capital in order. He was rather handicapped by an
expensive father, who, however, had no particular objection to repairing
religious institutions, his trouble being that he generally had no money
left for constructive work after he had been round dealing out
destruction, impelled thereto by his chivalrous conceit. I can quite
imagine John as a man subconsciously religious and intermittently
pious, so, for instance, he would probably invoke all the saints he
could think of, to aid him in some warlike enterprise, then dash into
the fray forgetting all about the saints; one does. He might perchance
remember one or other of those he had invoked, after the fun was over,
and stand them a candle or so, if he could borrow the money for this
gift from his loyal subjects. I know of one case at least where John
bestowed largess upon a deserving institution. This happened in 1342,
six years before Bohemia's adventurous King had died in the King of
England's tent on the battlefield of Crecy. The object of the monarch's
generosity was the monastery of Emaus. John, though always jealous of
his son's popularity, had handed a considerable share of the government
of Bohemia and Moravia to the latter and probably let Charles carry on
as long as he, John, was not bothered with domestic details, and always
could touch a bit for any tempting military expedition that offered.
Emaus seems to have been a favourite enterprise of Charles. You remember
that I have pointed out the place to you; I can just see it from the
terrace with its twin towers of raw sienna tone. I also told you about
the heathen burial ground, Na Morani, about the Church of St. Cosmas and
Damian, and how St. Wenceslaus worshipped at their shrine. King Charles
seems to have acquired the same general regard for those two saints, and
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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