Velmi utěšená a kratochvílná historie o krásné panně Mageloně, dceři krále z Neapolis, a o jednom rytíři jménem Petrovi, znamenitého hraběte z Provincí synu (The Delightful and Entertaining Story of the Beautiful Young Maiden Maguelone, Daughter of the King of Naples, and of a certain Knight called Peter, the Son of the Distinguished Count of Provence) printed anonymously in Olomouc in 1780, is one of those works into which literary science has hitherto scarcely ever inquired. It is nevertheless a text with a very long and complex genesis. We can follow its development from a medieval French tale of love, via a German adaptation to an early modern Czech popular prose romance. In the story of Maguelone, close attention is paid, as the very title suggests, to the main heroine, which is also a theme which in research into older Czech literature has been hitherto rather neglected. In the present thesis, we focus therefore on the analysis of this character. In particular, we try to show how the way she is portrayed is significantly influenced by the medieval conception of courtly literature, despite the fact that courtly epic literature is not otherwise particularly well documented in literature written in Czech and left no particularly rich tradition behind it. Key words: courtly love, courtly literature,...

(in English): Intimacy and solitude in Chrétien de Troyes' works and in the Czech courtly romance The thesis studies some literary images of interiority, profound emotions and thougts, solitude and the need for privacy as these are depicted in the romances of Chrétien de Troyes and in the works of his continuators (namely those connected with the Tristan romances). They are interpreted as an expression of the medieval poets' effort to influence their public, to cultivate and to present some interesting subjects and important questions in the guise of a fictional story. There are striking descriptions of the unbalance between solitude and social duties, positive or negative evaluation of human solitude (always depending on the narrator's intention), or symbolical objects from the intimate sphere used as manifest means of political representation. Martin Šorm

The diploma thesis "Suites for solo flute in French prints 1702-1722" deals with a complete set of printed collections with suites, which represent the first solo music for a transverse flute with basso continuo. The first part is devoted to the influences that made the flute a solo instrument and also to the composers who worked in the royal orchestras at the court of Louis XIV. and composed these collections (Michel de la Barre, Jacques Martin Hotteterre, Anne Danican Philidor, Pierre Danican Philidor and François Danican Philidor). The second part focuses on specific subtopics. First, it is a detailed description of the prints, followed by instrumentation, ornamentation, articulation and formal construction. The work concludes with a detailed explanatory dictionary of non - musical names that appear in some collections.

The thesis is a contribution to the social history of the Middle Ages. It investigates a phenomenon called courtly love, fully expressed at the noble court through an analysis of Thomas Malory's and Chrètien de Troyes' Arthurian romances, letters of Christine de Pisan and auxiliary sources. Its origin and expressions in a period literature, mostly of southern France, its inspirational sources and a continuation of Celtic folklore tradition is discussed in the initial chapters. The next part deals with individual forms of the courtly love and their effects on a gender relationship in a knightly class. The actual activity of a medieval woman and her opportunity to participate in public, ascribed social roles and a development of a masculine view is discussed in following chapters. The final part is engaged in a falling of a knightly ideal as well as a significance of the knight and his dame.

From a Burgher House through the Imperial Court to Loket Castle The Careers of Kaspar and Mates Schlicks in Bohemia, Empire and Saxony (1390-1487) The presented thesis is devoted to the oldest history of the Schlick family. The rise of an originally burgher-class family was based on the court and chancellery career of Kaspar Schlick († 1449); the latter bolstered his successes in the services of Sigismund of Luxembourg and Albrecht and Fridrich Habsburgs by an array of false documents that significantly contributed to the change of his social and economic status (his false promotion to the estate of a count and gaining a fortune). In the second half of the 15th century, after Kaspar's death, his brother Mates and his sons struggled for the preservation of acquired status and health. The following topics were investigated: (1) The utilization of court services and careers for burghers' getting into aristocratic circles, as exemplified by the person of Kaspar Schlick († 1449); (2) The search of strategies the Schlicks - Mates Schlick in particular († 1487) - took to limit themselves from the aristocratic environment, part of which they became. A significant role played Schlicks' relation to the town of Cheb, from which their family came, and to the Loket region, which they acquired and tried to make...

This thesis discusses the personal composition of the Court of King Ladislav Pohrobek from the year 1452 until Ladislav's death in November 1457. The period of ruling of the last member of albert's line of the Habsburg dynasty has been treated mainly as a stage of political history of the 15. century, and emphasis was placed on the acts of the provincial administrator Jiří z Poděbrad. Preferably on the basis of the diplomatic work of the material, trying to assemble portraits of courtiers of the Czech Crown lands and both Austria and put them into a broader historical framework. The Royal Court and its components, in the case of the young King did not exceed in the late medieval manners. In addition to court officials a large group of people were members of the Royal Council. An important institution and instrument of the King's Government was the Royal Council, which was indispensable and whose staff traveled with the monarch. Low age of Ladislav allowed several of the King's counselors to get a strong influence on the King's personality, from which they could benefit in its favor at the expense of the monarch. These create a power factions, which were competing for the Ladislav's trust. The situation was complicated not only by the King's inexperience, but also by national and estates problems....

Purpose of my thesis is create a precise register of inversion in chante-fable from XIIIth century: Aucassin et Nicolette. Main point of view is connected with a converse of woman and man part. This noticeable destabilization brings an inversion of further rules defined by literary discourse of medieval literature, above all by courtly culture. The first part included a basic definitions of misogyny, courtly love, chivarly and carnival principle. Following analysis of Aucassin et Nicolette indicates medieval need to show aberrations from social order and tries to find way to cure that "illness" of age.

The aim of the dissertation is a comparative analysis of the English royal court in the first half of the 17th century. The analytical part of the dissertation focuses on researching processes that influenced the structure and roles in the royal court in regards to the political, religious, economic, social and cultural development of the world. The benchmarks represent the personality of the ruler, institutional structure and personnel composition of the court, its financing and its culture. The comparison is a defined period of time between the beginning of James I (1603) and the end of the personal rule of Charles I (1640). The dissertation is based on critical analysis of the sources and studies of secondary literature. One of the features of the Royal Court during the rule of James I was the rivalry of various factions. In the interest of retaining a balance in power, the monarch revealed selected offices only to members of his Scottish clubs. Targeted strengthening of the influences of selected institutions of court, especially Bedchamber, ended up contributing to a significant weakening of the unitary system of the government, where the Privy Council played a key role up until then. In addition, between 1603 and 1625, there became a strong concentration of power in the hands of the royal...

In Czech historiography Queen Kunhuta has been quite neglected. Her figure has not been investigated in monographs or specific studies. She can be somehow included within the group of defamed queens, which is especially rich in the Middle Ages. This negative image of the queen finds its origin in medieval chronicles, which blamed Kunhuta for her love affair with Záviš of Falkenštejn, who was accused of being one of the promoters of the defeat of Otakar II. Kunhuta's negative portrayal has been very stable and despite its rehabilitation in the most recent studies, it probably influenced scholars' disinterest in the part she performed as a political agent. The documentary material preserved shows that her active role in Bohemian society of the thirteenth century deserves more attention. She was involved in various administrative and political tasks. The first chapter of the thesis should provide an approach to the study of the queen, which mediates between a partial point of view and Kunhuta's multi-faceted image. It should introduce a figure to whom is linked a letter collection, which represents the main theme of the present dissertation (i.e. the letter collection of master Bohuslav, probably a chaplain and notary of the queen). The analysis and the critical edition of the source can be found in...

Markéta Hrdličková, Ennoblement and it's process in Czech lands during the reign of emperor Leopold I., based on acts of Bohemian Court Chancellery Abstract This thesis is based on the research of files of Bohemian Court Chancellery during the reign of emperor Leopold I. (1657-1705). It resolves about the emperor Leopold and the events and affairs of his time, and those which preceded it and had a significant influence on the reasonings mentioned in the files and acts of ennoblement. It also contains chapters about nobility of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, the process of ennoblements and its files. Addendum contains a list of ennoblement acts in alphabetical order regarding both persons and families.