Despite its apparent popularity in fifteenth-century Ireland—as attested by its presence in eight manuscripts—Stair Fortibrais, the Irish adaptation of the twelfth-century chanson de geste Fierabras has received very little scholarly attention. This fact proves especially unfortunate since the text possesses particular relevance for two important trends in recent scholarship, one concerning Celtic Studies and the other more broadly Continental in scope. In the case of the former, researchers have begun to consider how translations can inform the interpretation of the greater corpus of medieval Irish literature. The latter relates to an interest in the person of Charlemagne himself as a pan-European figure. As an Irish translation of a poem from the geste du roi, Stair Fortibrais has much to contribute to both these academic discussions. Because the text remains relatively unknown, this thesis is by design intended largely as a scholarly introduction to the material. It seeks to present data about the text and serve as a guide to some of its most important themes. The Introduction will provide basic information about Stair Fortibrais and its Hiberno-Latin source Gesta Karoli Magni and their unique place amongst Irish translation literature. The body of the thesis is composed of four chapters. The first examines all manuscripts containing the Irish adaptation as well as the single codex featuring its Latin source. More specifically, it considers how its placement within the manuscripts provides guidance for interpreting the text. All three remaining chapters compare the Irish adaptation—and, where appropriate, its fragmentary Latin source—with Fierabras. The second chapter discusses additions, reordering, reduction/omission and substitution in Stair Fortibrais in an attempt to determine the adaptor’s translation technique, with a particular emphasis on patterns in his approach. The penultimate chapter analyses the adaptation’s treatment of some of the chanson de geste’s important themes. It is divided into three sections: Character Studies, Religion and the Supernatural and Religion and Historiography. The final chapter studies topics both political—rank and feudal duties— and cultural—family, unity, and moderate behaviour— which appear to have particularly interested the adaptor but which do not feature prominently in the French poem. The conclusion of the thesis will postulate that, through a series of subtle but carefully-considered alterations, the adaptors not only translated but also re-appropriated their source material for its Irish audience. It will also briefly consider some of the numerous avenues for additional exploration of the tradition of Charlemagne in Ireland.

This thesis deals with the work Liber de coronatione Karoli IV. imperatoris (Book on the coronation of Emperor Charles IV) from the middle of the 14th century. Its author Iohannes Porta de Annoniaco was a personal secretary and confidant of Cardinal Peter of Colombier who was commissioned by Pope Innocent VI to perform the imperial coronation of Charles IV in Rome in 1355. As an eyewitness, Iohannes Porta describes the cardinal's and Charles's journey to Rome, focuses in more detail on the events in Rome, and above all, the very act of coronation. The author also deals with the following events of the return journey of both the cardinal and the emperor. In addition, he included in his work copies of documents and correspondence related to the coronation. The text offers a valuable source of direct testimony about the course of Charles's Italian journey. The thesis aims to present a Czech translation of selected parts of Iohannes Porta's text, supplemented by explanatory notes, the purpose of which is to clarify certain factual or linguistic particularities of the text. The translation is accompanied by an introductory study. Its first part explains the historical context of Charles's imperial coronation, the next part focuses on the author and the overall characteristics of the work.

The work introduces three exponents of Indian spirituality of the 20th Century. The first chapter deals with the life and teaching of Bhagawan Nityananda who shows various features of the Kashmir shaivism philosophy that is briefly described in the apendix of this chapter. There are examined the main elements of the Nityananda teaching {--} purity of mind and emotions, faith, meditation, siddha yoga and shaktipat. The second chapter introduces the personage and teaching of Neem Karoli Baba. Significant features of his teaching are the emphasis on the love to God and to fellow humans, detachment, service to others, meditation. Part of the chapter is dedicated to his relation to Christ. The third chapter deals with the legendary Indian saint Sai Baba of Shirdi. Although he died in 1918, his populariry in India has steadily grown and he is adored by both, hindus and muslims. His teaching shows many elements of sufism, bhakti yoga and jnana yoga. One of the leading ideas of this work is to show that the personages and teachings of these masters are universal. They prove in their lives not only the existence of the supersensory, spiritual world, but also the unity of people in the relation to this world.