ČESKÝ ČASOPIS HISTORICKÝTHE CZECH HISTORICAL REVIEW 2/2010
STUDIE / STUDIES
ŠIMŮNEK RobertHrad jako symbol v myšlení české středověké šlechty (The Castle as a Symbol in the Consciousness of Czech Medieval Aristocracy), S. 185-219. Attention is being given to the castle as a symbol of power, a representative symbol and an expressive means of symbolic communication in the medieval community; the chronological framework covers the period from the 12th (13th) century until the end of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th centuries; the aim is to reconstruct the spectrum of castle symbolism with the focus on the Czech environment in the comparative framework of Central Europe. Key words: castle, medieval aristocracy, symbolical communication, social hierarchy, visualization, Czech Lands, Central Europe.
PÁNEK JaroslavMajestát z roku 1609 jako téma novodobé české historiografie (The Letter of Majesty of 1609 in Modern Czech Historiography), S. 220-243. The Letter of Majesty on religious freedom from 9 July 1609 became the topic of modern historiographic research soon after 1850 as part of the concept of Czech early modern history. Three fundamental streams of interpretation emerged – the conservatively critical, the national-legitimistic and the liberally balanced concept. Each of these has re-appeared now and again, in variants of diverse strength and intensity until the present time. Whereas the interpretation of the Letter of Majesty in the inter-war period reflected democratic and anti-Hapsburg interpretation of Czech history, post-WW2 Marxist historiography overlooked the religious dimension of the Letter of Majesty and merely emphasized its social aspects. At the turn of the 20th century, the issue of the Letter of Majesty appeared in a new thematic context and became a focus for international research, which has led to a more complex view of this issue, thus preventing its over-politicization. Key words: Historiography, Czech Lands, Bohemia, religious liberty, Letter of Majesty (1609), Rudolf II.
POKORNÝ JiříNěmecký sekulární mecenát v dlouhém 19. století (German Secular Patronage in the „Long“ 19th Century), S. 244-257. This study focuses on the issues of German secular patronage in the never ending 19th century; it deals with the principal problems (a link to the formation of a civic society, the penetration of market principles into the relationship between artists and their public) and the activities of the most important German art patrons. Key words: patronage, Germany, 19th century.
PEŠEK JiříSebereflexe a sebestylizace konzervativního německého vzdělance druhé poloviny 20. století. Nad knihou Joachima Festa „Já ne! Bolestné zrání v době nacismu“ (The self-reflections and self-stylization of a conservative German intellectual from the second half of the 20th century. On Joachim Fest’s book „Not me! Memoirs of Childhood and Youth“ /„Ich nicht! Erinnerungen an eine Kindheit und Jugend“/), S. 258-277. This study is devoted to the German conservative intellectual Joachim Fest, an influential journalist and cultural publicist of the post-war period. Above all, he was best known internationally as the exceptionally successful author of popular books and films on Nazism and its protagonists, Adolf Hitler and Albert Speer. A Czech edition of his Memoirs, highly stylized and specifically manipulative of the past, provides the impetus for this critical contemplation of his life and work. The Memoirs are then analysed in the second part of this review, with an emphasis on making the retro-active self-stylization of the German nationalist and conservative elites clear to understand. Key words: Historiography, modern Germany, conservative elites, World War II.
DISKUSE / DISCUSSION
HORČÁKOVÁ Václava – REXOVÁ KristinaČeská historická bibliografie. Plány a perspektivy (Czech Historical Bibliography. Plans and Perspectives), S. 278-286. This work surveys the development of Czech historical bibliography in the Historical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the CR since the start of the 1990s, its current research and promotes debate on its perspectives. It deals with the questions of the meaning and importance of historical bibliography in an information society. Current financial problems in the Academy of Sciences have led to the discontinuation of the publication of annual printed bibliographical bulletins. As a result of the cessation of printed resources, the problem of archival storage and how to ensure their long-term existence has arisen. For these reasons, steps were taken to convert data from the bibliographical database into the standard international exchange format which will facilitate a wider co-operation with other scientific libraries and participation in projects which might enhance the existing database of the Bibliography of History of the Czech Lands. The Bibliographical Section of the Historical Institute has in recent years established wider international co-operation with its historical counterparts in a number of European countries. Within this framework, it contributes to international databases and it also has the possibility of acquiring hard-to-access data from them. Key words: historical bibliography, bibliographical databases, international co-operation, libraries, Bohemian studies, Czech Republic.
OBZORY LITERATURY / REVIEW ARTICLES AND REVIEWS
SOMMER PetrStát, světec a raný středověk (Opat Prokop očima recenzentů) (The State, the Saint and the Early Middle Ages - Abbot Prokop as Seen through the Eyes of Review Writers), S. 287-305 This text is a response to a review of Petr Sommer’s book Svatý Prokop. Z počátků českého státu a církve (Saint Prokop. From the Beginnings of the Bohemian State and Church), Prague 2007. The concept of this book, which strives to provide an interdisciplinary view of the Early Middle Age and Prokop’s personality was positively received. However, negative responses related to the concept of the organization of the early medieval Bohemian state, its church and the institution of private property. In response to these reproaches, the author explains why the argument based on Prokop’s ownership of private property as the justification for the existence of private and heritable property in the Early Bohemian Middle Ages is unacceptable to him; why he does not consider the model of the feudal organization of society as antiquated and where the principles of organization of the early Bohemian state and its society lie. Furthermore, he discusses the possibilities of using legendary texts, penitentials and books of homilies for the reconstruction of Prokop’s world and the degree of modelling permissible in the work of a historian who detaches himself from historical resources. Key words: the Middle Ages, Bohemia, state, church, saint, interdisciplinary approach.
SOMMER Petr – TŘEŠTÍK Dušan – ŽEMLIČKA Josef (eds.), Přemyslovci. Budování českého státu (Václav Bůžek) S. 306-311 - FLEISCHMANN Peter, Rat und Patriziat in Nürnberg. Die Herrschaft der Ratsgeschlechter vom 13. bis zum 18. Jahrhundert (Helena Zimmermann) S. 311-314 - EPKEHANS Michael – FÖRSTER Stig – HAGEMANN Karen (Hrsg.), Militärische Erinnerungskultur: Soldaten im Spiegel von Biographien, Memoiren und Selbstzeugnissen (Tomáš Jiránek) S. 314-318 - KLADIWA Pavel – POKLUDOVÁ Andrea – KAFKOVÁ Renata, Lesk a bída obecních samospráv Moravy a Slezska 1850-1914, II/1. Muži z radnice (Pavel Cibulka) S. 318-320 - Evropské menšiny v meziválečném Sovětském svazu: DÖNNINGHAUS Victor, Minderheiten in Bedrängnis. Sowjetische Politik gegenüber Deutschen, Polen und anderen Diaspora-Nationalitäten 1917-1938 (Jiří Pešek) S. 320-328 - Studená válka v nové literatuře: LEFFLER Melwyn P., For the Soul of Mankind. The United States, the Soviet Union, and the Cold War; ZUBOK Vladislav M., A Failed Empire. The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev; WETTIG Gerhard, Stalin and the Cold War in Europe. The Emergence and Development of East-West Conflict, 1939-1953 (Bohuslav Litera) S. 328-333.