Faith and Society in the Bohemian Lands of the Late Middle Ages. A Contribution to the History of Social Change and Religious Conflict in the 14th–16th Centuries

The collective monograph Faith and Society in the Bohemian Lands of the Late Middle Ages, prepared in honour of Blanka Zilynská, offers a multi-layered perspective on the transformations of Bohemian society between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The volume, comprising studies by her colleagues, students, and associates, builds upon the research areas to which the honouree has devoted more than four decades of her academic career and develops them across a broad thematic and methodological spectrum.

The individual contributions are united by a central theme: the interconnection between faith, religious structures, and conflicts, on the one hand, and the everyday life of medieval society, on the other. The authors examine tensions between royal and ecclesiastical authority, questions of political legitimacy, and politico-religious conflicts within the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, particularly through the example of Wrocław and the relationships between Bohemian kings and the Silesian milieu. Attention is also devoted to noble families, their property and memorial strategies, the careers of individuals in diplomatic service, as well as to urban environments, including social groups that have thus far received limited scholarly attention.

A significant role is also played by the study of the development of ecclesiastical organisation, the parish network, and the functioning of pastoral care, alongside the intellectual horizons of the late Middle Ages—university learning, theological and legal thought, manuscript and print culture, and modes of preserving memory. The final section addresses religious plurality and conflict, including polemics between Catholics and Utraquists, representations of heretics, radical religious movements, and the experiences of Jewish communities during the Hussite wars.