Czech nobility

Czech nobility consists of the noble families from historical Czech lands, especially in their narrow sense, i.e. nobility of Bohemia proper, Moravia and Austrian Silesia – whether these families originated from those countries or moved into them through the centuries. These are connected with the history of Great Moravia, Duchy of Bohemia, later Kingdom of Bohemia, Margraviate of Moravia, the Duchies of Silesia and the Crown of Bohemia, the constitutional predecessor state of the modern-day Czech Republic.

Aristocracy was abolished by law (No. 61/1918 Sb. z. a n.)^[1] in December 1918, shortly after the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak Republic.

List of important noble families[]

Gallery[]

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  Saint Adalbert (c. 956–997), the second bishop of Prague and later a missionary among the Prussians is for his life and deeds honoured as a patron saint of three countries

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  Jan Žižka of Trocnov and Kalich (c. 1360–1424), a small yeoman, later main commander of Hussite troops who thanks to his innovative tactics, although blind, didn't lose a single battle

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  George of Kunštát and Poděbrady (1420–1471), the only Bohemian lord who managed to gain the royal rank (via election), remembered especially for his proposal to create peaceful all-European union of Christian states

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  Hagecius (1525–1600), astronomer, naturalist and personal physician of Emperor Rudolph II, who invited Brahe and Kepler at Prague to scientific collaboration

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  Petr Vok of Rosenberg (1539–1611), the last descendant of powerful and wealth "viceroyal" Rožmberk family, benefactor of the oldest Protestant church Unity of the Brethren

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  (1594–1618), the wealthiest lord of its era, possible candidate to the Bohemian throne and one of main heads of the anti-Habsburg Bohemian Revolt

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  Kryštof Harant of Polžice and Bezdružice (1564–1621), renowned traveler, humanist and composer was executed because of his involvement in finally unsuccessful Bohemian Revolt

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  Albrecht Václav von Wallenstein (1583–1634), famous military leader and politician during the Thirty Years War, the first holder of title generalissimo in history

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  Polyxena of Lobkowicz (1566–1642), née Pernštejn, most powerful and influential noblewoman of Early Modern Age in Czech history, her political engagement and intrigues have greatly helped forcible re-Catholization of Bohemia after 1620

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  Václav Antonín of Kaunitz-Rietberg (1711–1794), statesman and diplomat, state chancellor of the Habsburg Monarchy, initiator of the Diplomatic Revolution

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  Kašpar Maria of Sternberg (1761–1838), botanist, geologist, paleobotanist and founder of the Bohemian National Museum in Prague (1818)

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  Josef Václav Radetzky von Radetz (1766–1858), Austrian field marshal and viceroy of Lombardy–Venetia, called the "Saviour of the House of Habsburg" during the revolution year of 1848 in Italy

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  Emil Škoda (1839–1900), knighted entrepreneur and engineer, founder of famous Škoda Works – one of the largest European industrial conglomerates and arms producer of the 20th c.

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  Bertha von Suttner (1843–1914), née Kinsky, peace activist and writer, the first woman awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (1905) and probably the most known noblewoman of Bohemian origin

Notes[]

Further reading[]

• von Dobrá Voda, Adalbert Král (1904). Der Adel von Böhmen, Mähren und Schlesien [Aristocracy of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia] (PDF) (in German). Prag: I. Taussig. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
• von Meraviglia-Crivelli, Rudolf Johann (1886). Der böhmische Adel [Bohemian Aristocracy] (PDF) (in German). Nürnberg: Bauer und Raspe. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
• von Kadich, Heinrich Edlen; Blažek, Conrad (1899). Der mährische Adel [Moravian Aristocracy] (PDF) (in German). Nürnberg: Bauer und Raspe. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
• Blažek, Conrad (1887–1894). Der abgestorbene Adel der Provinz Schlesien und der O. Lausitz [Extinct Aristocracy of the Province of Silesia and Upper Lusatia] (in German). Vol. I–III. Nürnberg: Bauer und Raspe.
• Pilnáček, Josef (2010). Rody starého Slezska [Families of Ancient Silesia] (in Czech) (3rd ed.). Brno: Ivo Sperát. ISBN 978-80-904312-3-2.