Karlstehn Bridge
King Charles had four wives.
The first wife, Blanche (1316-1348) was the daughter of Charles, Count of Valois and half-sister to Philp VI of France. They had two daughters, Margaret (1335-1349) who married Louis I of Hungary and Katharine (1347-1395) who married Rudolf IV of Austria and later Otto V, Duke of Bavaria.
The second wife, Anne (1329-1353) was the daughter of Count Palatine, Rudolf II. They had one son, Wenceslas who died young.
The third wife, Anne of Swidnica (1339-1362) was the daughter of Henryk II of Schweidnitz and Katharine of Anjou. They had two children, Wenceslas (1361-1419) also called Wenceslas the Drunkard who succeeded Charles to the throne and Elisabeth (1358-1373) who married Albert of Austria.
The fourth wife was Elisabeth of Pomerania (1345-1393) who was the daughter of the Duke of Boleslaw V of Hind Pomerania and Elisabeth of Poland. They had six children: Anne of Bohemia (1366-1394) who ws married to Richard II of England, the son of Edward the Black Prince; Sigismund (1368-1437) who succeeded Wenceslas the Drunkard to the throne, but was the dominant of the two as the King of Hungary and the margave of Brandenburg. Apparently Sigismund did not have much filial affection for his half-brother and did not pull his nuts from the fire when Wenceslas unduly complicated his own life with greed and religious strife. The third was John, Duke of Golitz (1370-1396); Charles (1372-1372); Margaret (1373-1410) who married John III, the Burgrave of Nuremburg and Heinrich (1377-1378).
Future conflicts were definitely set as the daughters were wed to opposing armies of the Hundred Years War between the French and the English. Internal disputes for succession were already created and complicated by the religious wars that followed Charles IV death. With the papal court in Avignon, the English were alienated and sided with the return of the papacy to Rome. In addition, the European world was battling the invasion of Ottoman Empire with the recurrent call for Crusades. Hussites derived their antagonism against the corruption of the enriched papacy and its aristocratic and autocratic trappings from John Wycliffe. Perhaps Charles thought that by marrying his daughters on both sides of the conflict, no matter what, someone would come out a winner.
Charles died in 1378 coincidental to the return of papcy to Rome. However, the religious struggles had already started, and with Wenceslas the Drunkard on the Prague throne, they were extenuated. He alienated himself with the Archbishop of Prague by having the vicar-general, John of Nepomuk dropped off Charles Bridge for refusing to submit to his demands. At stake was the properties of the Benedictine Abbey at Kladrau which he wanted to ursurp in order to pocket its wealth through a persoanlly appointed friend. Instead John of Nepomuk complied with the orders of the Archbishop, warning the monks to appoint an abbot immediately after the old abbot, Rarek's death. Not wanting to cause a furor on the other side, he tried to protect Jan Hus from Catholic persecution. Hus gained diplomatic protection from Sigismund to go to Constance before a council to reconcile the widening schism in the church. Instead, Jan Hus was arrested and burned at stake, becoming an instant national martyr. In 1420, Karlstejn was assaulted by Hussites and angry inhabitants of Prague and later overwhelmed by Swedes. Wenceslas, alienated his half-brother by his policies, was left to the mercy of his enemies until the situation favored Sigismund. After the Swedes left, Karlstejn was abandoned.
Rudolf II had the castle renovated in the 16th century, but it was without defence and quickly surrendered to Ferdinand II in 1648. Again the Swedes occupied it. The castle was abandoned until the 18th century when the Austrian Emperopr Francis II and his son restored the most heavily damaged sections. In 1853, Karlstejn came under historical protection of the Cental Monuments Protection Commission in Vienna. Friederich Schmidt and Josef Mocker were appointed to direct its restoration during 1887-1889 to its present form. Josef Mocker was also in charge of the restoration of St Vitus Cathedral, clearing it of the undesirable Hapsburg clutter and returning it to its Gothic nature.
Tour tickets can be bought at the castle.
The Imperial Palace 200 Crowns for adults; 100 crowns for students and kids.
The Imperial Palace and the great Tower 300crowns for adults; 100 crowns for students and kids.
The castle is open Tuesday- Sunday. Mondays are closed. Schedule varies during the year in accordance to tourist flow, but 9-17 are regular spring and summer hours.
Information:
tel: 420 311 681 617 or 311 681 695
fax: 420 311 681 211
email: Karlstejn @stc.npu.cz
Other links
26 May 2006 Karlstejn
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976755326
23 May 2006 Karlstejn
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976754638
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Comments: 10
and I never understood what some peole were moaning about because I put up page after page of good articles and received no comments or recognition-- so I knew from the beginning what Gather was all about.
So the garbage goes to the top and the good gets trashed and Gather Inc seems to systematically make life miserable for those who contribute good things.
(Query: Do the photo essays have to include pictures the writer shoots? Is copying & pasting allowed? Thanks.)
and what has any of this to do with poor old Charlie? Aren't those kind of discussions better held in private or to a group owner rather than on somebody's page? I feel like an intruder on my own article.