Guided by Libussa's horse, the Bohemian envoys immediately set forth and
found the peasant Premysl ploughing his field. They immediately saluted
him as their ruler. Premysl mounted the horse and, followed by the
Bohemian envoys, proceeded to the Vysehrad, where he was immediately
betrothed to Libussa. The chroniclers tell us that when he arrived at
the Vysehrad he still wore the dress of the Bohemian peasant, and that
his rough shoes were preserved in the Vysehrad castle as late as the
twelfth century. Premysl became the founder of a line that ruled in
Bohemia up to 1306; and the present King of Bohemia, Francis Joseph, is
his successor in the female line.
To Libussa is ascribed the second foundation of a city on the site of
the present town of Prague. It is said to have taken place on the left
bank of the Vltava, on the Hradcany Hill. The spot then, and even far
later, was covered by a dense forest; the ancient Slavs, it may be
noted, generally chose secluded spots surrounded by forests as their
dwelling-places. The oldest account, and therefore the most valuable, is
that of the chronicler, Cosmas of Prague (about 1045 to 1125), whom I
shall again quote. He tells us that Libussa, 'standing on a high rock on
the Vysehrad in presence of her husband Premysl, and the elders of the
people incited by the spirit of prophecy uttered this prediction: I see
a town the glory of which will reach the stars. There is a spot in the
forest, thirty stades from this village, which the River Vltava
encircles, and which to the north the stream Brusnice secures by its
deep valley; and to the south a rocky hill, which from its rocks takes
the name of Petrin,[1] towers above it.... When you have reached this
spot you will find a man in the midst of the forest who is working at a
door-sill for a house.[2] And as even mighty lords bend before a low
door, so from this event you shall call the town which you will build
"Praha." ... They proceed immediately to the ancient forest, and having
found the sign which had been given them they build on this site a town,
Prague, the mistress of all Bohemia.'
This is the most ancient record of the foundation of Prague on which all
subsequent ones are based. The older castle on the Vysehrad, separated
from the newer foundation by the vast extent of land now occupied by
the Staré Mesto (old town) and the Nové Mesto (new town) continued to be
the frequent residence of the Bohemian princes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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