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The submitted dissertation's main object is an in-depth study of the portals created by the lodge of Benedikt Ried at Prague Castle and a group of portals that reflected the lodge's stimuli in Bohemian towns in the first half of the 16th century. The first all'antica portals in Moravia and Italianate works in Prague towns were also researched with the aim to analyse and better understand the contact of local "Gothic" tradition and incoming Italianate forms ca. 1500 in the area of interest on a wider theoretical background. The thesis consists of two parts. First, the key theoretical concepts of how to interpret the contact of the "Gothic" with the "Renaissance" relevant to the object of empirical study are introduced. As recent theoretical thought showed, the tendency to revise the interpretation of formal syncretism and pluralism in European architecture ca. 1500 stemmed, among others, from the need to correct several patterns common in former research methods, i.e. the presumption of stylistic unity, the effort to identify one principle through the "classical stylistic phase" supposed to be common to all artworks of a given time period, and the simultaneous use of the term "Renaissance" for both a set of stylistic features and a historical era connected with the idea of progress. All these were...

Analyzing Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and linking trends of the Byronic hero that have merged into a variety of genres reveal that the hero is a mode of subversive gender expression, which has evolved within the Gothic through feminine desire. Delving into Bram Stoker’s Dracula will provide unique insight into the audience’s desires/expressions of gender. Finding the transition point from the monster vampire of Dracula to Stephanie Meyer’s desirous, sparkling boy-next-door in Twilight will track the trajectory of gender and sexual norms through time. From the foundational adaptation of the Byronic hero in Wuthering Heights to the repressed vampiric desire of Dracula, to queer desire/domestication within Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire, ending with sparkling vampires of Twilight, we can invite the Byronic hero, which already supports rejection of societal expectations, into a genderless space, becoming a champion of desire absent from the constraints of gender and sexuality conformity.

There is almost nothing left for the oldest architecture of the Cistercian monastery in Zlatá Koruna - except for the shape. Apart from the modestly written sources on the architectural history we are fully depend on the results of the formal analysis, on the evaluation of a form which has left. This Master's thesis is going to deal with the medieval parts of inner monastery and their architectural history as well as the rigours which such view includes. The thesis is going to focus on the Chapel of Guardian Angels and spaces of the convent with the monastery church of an Assumption of Virgin Mary in their own context and in the context of wider local production. The mentioned updating is deputized by an investigation of the monastery lapidarium and (primarily) a precise study of Building records (1938-1942). Although their reports were known to older research, there is no sufficient investigation in this case yet. As a result, there are numerous hidden fragments which rediscovery could help to show something more about the architectural history and morphological richness of Zlatá Koruna monastery. Key words: Zlatá Koruna, Goldenkron, Cistercian order, early gothic architecture, Building records, morphology

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The work deals with the concept of beautiful style and its use in Czech literature of art history. Jaromír Pečírka introduced the term known from German professional literature to the Czech environment in the 1930s in relation to sculpture. It was applied to the history of Gothic painting by Antonín Matějček. After a short turnaround, associated with the name of Pavel Kropáček, the tradition of using the term was renewed by Jaroslav Pešina, who created a concept valid and recognized to this day. In relation to sculpture, Albert Kutal and his successor Jaromír Homolka had a similar role. The Czech specificity is the application of the term in relation to architecture, which was dealt with mainly by Dobroslav Líbal. Among the younger researchers, the work of Milena Bartlová, Jan Royt, Jan Klípa and Michaela Ottová is followed. The work follows individual concepts and their changes.

Deception seems to be a vital part for special forces operations and a new prioritized task in the future. Despite that, is deception a phenomenon that is not taking an independent starting point in special operations theories. The purpose of this study is to contribute to the debate about the role of deception in special forces operations. This has been done by examining the extent to which Barton Whaley’s theory can explain the outcome of special operations. By analysing Operation Neptune’s Spear and Operation Gothic Serpent with Whaley’s theoretical framework, the conclusion is that deception can, to some extent, explain the outcome. The operations are opposites, one successful and the other unsuccessful. The result shows that deception is more common in the successful one. Despite this, the result suggest that more research is needed to draw relevant conclusions. One can only say that the result gives an indication about the role of deception in these kinds of operations.

While the term sadomasochism might conjure cursory images of whips, chains, and leather-clad fetishists, this thesis delves deeper into sadomasochistic theory to analyze dynamics of power and powerlessness represented by a chosen sample of literary relationships. Using two contemporary works of vampire literature—Anne Rice's novel Interview with the Vampire and Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series—I examine how power is structured by and between male and female characters (and vampires and humans), and particularly emphasize the patriarchal messages these works' regressive sexual politics engender. Psychoanalysis and feminist theory are employed to support my overarching argument following the gendered dynamics of male sadism and female masochism (and vampire sadism and human masochism), as this dyad reflects men's and women's "normalized" roles of power and powerlessness, respectively, in today's society. Sadomasochistic relationships as depicted in this literature are created through mutual contracts or, what I refer to as, sociocultural sadomasochism to reflect the gendered power imbalances inherent in patriarchy. By concluding with readers' responses to these franchises, this thesis further attempts to determine why such unequal and oppressive relationships are desirable. Since vampires as Gothic figures embody what specific cultures dread yet desire, this literature possesses frightening implications—gender roles are conservative and masculinity is privileged in fiction and, by extension, in twenty-first-century American culture.

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