The dissertation deals with the theme of the Jewish communities that were able to originate in Moravia and Silesia as a result of the civil emancipation of Jews in the middle of the 19th century. The individual chapters focus on the different aspects of the emancipatory Jewish commu- nities from their external institutional manifestations to their internal social structures, which reflec- ted the plurality of transforming religious, national and political identities within Jewish society. Attention is first devoted to the legal and demographic prerequisites for the establishment and development of Jewish settlement in the places where the Jews were not allowed to live before the emancipation. The emancipatory Jewish communities did not emerge as mere clusters of mem- bers of the Jewish minority, but rather as organized religious communities. Therefore, the work devotes great space to the genesis of small pre-emancipatory prayer fellowships, to their tranfor- mation to religious associations and religious communities, then focuses on attempts to transform the religious communities into democratic or national ones and on their degradation and destruction by the Nazi occupiers. The thesis examines the various factors influencing the "organization of Jewry" (attitude of the state authorities to the...

Vít MIŠAGA, Christian IV, Mansfeld and the Invasion of Silesia and Moravia. Several Aspects of the Danish Phase of the Thirty Years' War, PhD dissertation, Charles University in Prague 2014 Summary In Czech and European historiography of the early modern period, the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) is one of the most discussed topics. Among Czech historians, there has always been an understandable emphasis on the revolt of the Bohemian estates, also known as the Bohemian phase of the war (1618- 1621). The Danish phase (1625-1629) is considerably less popular. The winners had already been or - to be more precise - seemed to be almost determined, and the further developments of the war did nothing to change the fate of the Czech lands. Analysis of the second half of the 1620s is therefore dominated by other topics - the recatholisation process, exile waves or the character of Albrecht von Wallenstein. Foreign historiographers also seem to downplay Denmark's influence. It is as if King Christian's unsuccessful attempt to fight the Emperor was only biding everyone's time until the "Lion of the North", Gustav II Adolf of Sweden, makes his great entrance. Or at least that is the perspective of an "all-knowing" historian who already knows the result. This thesis is trying to bring a different perspective. It is based...

CASTLE LIBRARY OF OTTO JR. OF NOSTITZ IN JAWOR The library of Otto Jr. of Nostitz was founded in the beginning of the 1650's in the Lower Silesian castle Jawor. It consists approximately of 5 000 volumes and its structure as well as its history makes it unique and elevates the Jawor library among the most interesting book collections of early modern Europe. Shortly after death of its founder, the library was bought by Otto's brother Johann Hartwig of Nostitz and moved to the newly built palace in Malá Strana in Prague where it laid the foundations of the new family library of the house of Nostitz. The library is placed in two rooms on the second floor till today. The thesis tries to introduce the personality of the founder of the Jawor library Otto Jr. of Nostitz, his tastes in the book purchase as well as the topical structure of his book collection and its future fates. Notwithstanding, the main point of the doctor thesis is to present the issues of the thorough provenance research of the oldest part of the library. The terminus ante quem for the year of edition of the books relevant for the provenance research marks out the death of Otto Jr. in the year 1665. The most recent and complete catalogue of the Nostitz library in the present use dates back to the 19th century and shows remarkable leaks and...