In the last two decades, Swahili chronicles have been thoroughly re-evaluated by historians of the East African coast, and their usefulness as historical sources subject to serious doubt and criticism. Typical of this new attitude were the words of Gill Shepherd: `Such chronicles are less objective histories than annotated pedigrees of a single ruling lineage`. Given such a perspective, the question may be asked whether the chronicles are a suitable guide to the search for historical identities of coastal societies.

In the last two decades, Swahili chronicles have been thoroughly re-evaluated by historians of the East African coast, and their usefulness as historical sources subject to serious doubt and criticism. Typical of this new attitude were the words of Gill Shepherd: `Such chronicles are less objective histories than annotated pedigrees of a single ruling lineage`. Given such a perspective, the question may be asked whether the chronicles are a suitable guide to the search for historical identities of coastal societies.

The aim of this thesis is to show evidence and map a continuous educational development in the town of Loděnice in the Beroun region, where it is situated. The primary resources the author works with are school chronicles kept in the State regional archive in Beroun and school funds in Loděnice. The thesis has got a historical character, the author therefore uses work with sources, historical-comparative method, analysis, synthesis and interview. The thesis shows a specific period of this school, i.e. its development in 1782-1945. The author using the archive resources documents the educational development in Loděnice town in respect to the specified criteria. Furthermore, she maps the region of Beroun, its agricultural and industrial development. She highlights what influence the development in these areas had on education. Keywords Historical development, primary documents (chronicals, school documentation, inspection reports), law standards, region of Beroun, Loděnice.