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— #DLC: Legacy of the Forge

— #DLC: Mysteria Ecclesiae

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MYSTERIA ECCLESIAE — Pilgrimages to Jerusalem

In the Middle Ages, pilgrimages were journeys with a spiritual purpose, associated with inner transformation and often the forgiveness of sins. Pilgrimages were undertaken by individuals and groups, on foot or on horseback. A special type of pilgrimage was the Crusades to Jerusalem, a place associated with the foundations of Christian faith and culture. Participants in the Crusades received fame and recognition, and the Pope himself could grant them indulgences for participating in the campaigns or making the pilgrimage. Participants in the campaigns to Jerusalem often brought treasures and precious relics back to their homelands, such as bones from the remains of saints, splinters from Christ's cross, or thorns from his crown. Although their authenticity was often disputed, these objects had considerable spiritual value, and their presence in a church or monastery attracted the attention of pilgrims and donors.

TRIVIA

— The oldest surviving account of a Christian pilgrimage to the city of Jerusalem is the Itinerarium Burdigalense ("Bordeaux Itinerary"), written by an anonymous traveler who visited the Holy Land in 333–334. The pilgrimage tradition was established by Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great, whose journey to Jerusalem helped establish many of the holy sites later venerated by pilgrims.

After the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land in the 7th century, pilgrimage became more difficult. Travel often depended on the political climate of the time, but periods of relative peace allowed Christian pilgrims to continue visiting Jerusalem even under Muslim rule.

Pilgrimage also carried political influence. Rulers often made an effort to establish new pilgrimage routes and build grandiose churches where holy relics were held, hoping to attract visitors and reinforce religious fervor. It was also largely because pilgrimage routes brought fame, wealth and influence to the regions that hosted them, significantly boosting the local economy. By the 11th and 12th centuries, pilgrimage to Jerusalem had reached the height of its popularity, drawing thousands of travelers from across Europe. Undertaking the pilgrimage to the Holy Land was not only a religious obligation but also a status symbol for those who could afford it. The journey was expensive, and only the wealthy and influential members of society could afford to undertake it. However, for the less privileged, there were various ecclesiastical organizations, such as the Hospitallers and the Templars, who provided accommodations, protection, and medical aid to the pilgrims.

The pilgrimage to the Holy Land declined in the 13th and 14th centuries due to the rise of Islam and the increasing hostility between the East and the West. The fall of Acre in 1291, the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land, marked the end of the pilgrimage era.

MYSTERIA ECCLESIAE — Lay brothers

Lay brothers, sometimes referred to as "bearded brothers," were monks who had not yet begun their novitiate. Their life in the monastery was not governed by such strict rules as those of regular monks — for example, they were allowed not to shave and attended services only once a day. They spent the rest of their time doing manual labour and maintaining the monastery's farm. Lay brothers were often illiterate, and their physical strength and dexterity were valued more than traditional education. In Cistercian monasteries, their lives were governed by the Usus conversorum, written at the beginning of the 12th century.

TRIVIA

— Rather than having “not yet begun their novitiate”, most lay brothers (conversi) or lay sisters (conversae) were not even allowed to do so. In fact, the position of a lay brother was very distinct from that of a monk. Which of these one would join as, depended on various factors, one of them being social rank. For the lowest members of society – from peasants to former prostitutes – joining the order as a lay brother or sister would often be the easiest way to do so. In fact, by 1188 the Cistercians ruled that noblemen could only join the monastery as monks, not as lay brothers. Their different standing would also show in their diet (being often forbidden wine or non-vegetarian food), or their appearance. The clothes of lay brothers were usually ordered to be made of coarse wool or linen, and instead of the cowl and scapular they would wear cloaks and hoods, meant to cover their heads even during meals. They were not allowed a tonsure and often hadto keep their beard, earning them the nickname barbati. Lay brothers were also separated physically, sleeping either on the monastery's agricultural estates or in a specific part of the monastery, often close to the guest house. Even within the churches they would be separated – the Cistercian abbey of Maulbronn in southern Germany divided the monks from the lay brothers with a stone screen. Yet, their distinct position also granted them unique roles in the monastic life: Whatever the monks did not want or were not allowedto do – because their oath bound them to the monastery or to a life of silence – was done by the lay brothers. They served as smiths, cobblers, butter makers or beekeepers, were responsible for the greeting and hosting of guests and for riding out and serving as messengers. The monastery's wares would be sold on the markets by lay brothers, just as they would buy new supplies, and in court it was them who often represented the order.

Many ecclesiastical texts those attribute to them a great humility and piety. However, monks such as the 13th century Cistercian Caesarius of Heisterbach would also sharply criticise those diverging from these virtues, and accuse them of their weakness making them the victims of possession. Such was the fate of a lay brother who had fallen asleep during mass. As Caesarius writes, the Devil had punished him promptly, striking him with gluttony and dreams of succulent meat, until the lay brother started gnawing on the very wood he was prostrating on. Only the cellarer praying nearby and hearing the noise could prevent worse.

MYSTERIA ECCLESIAE — The Teutonic Order

A knightly order originating in the Holy Land during the Crusades. Its full name is the Order of the Brothers of the German House of the Virgin Mary in Jerusalem. Originally a hospitaller brotherhood, it gradually transformed into a military knightly order bringing together German-speaking knights. With the decline of the Crusader states, the order first moved to Venice and then to Transylvania in the region known as Burzenland, and later, after conflicts with the Hungarian king, to the Baltic region. Here, as part of Christianization, it fought against the pagan Prussians and gradually gained territory on which it established a rich, well-organized, and powerful knightly state. The order established castles as the pillars of its power, the largest of which was Marienburg, as well as towns that became important economic centers. The Order had possessions and influence even outside its own state, especially in the Holy Roman Empire. The knightly state reached its greatest fame and power around the middle of the 14th century, but it had to face pressure from the Polish kingdom and also from the Lithuanians, who had converted to Christianity. The Order's power was finally broken in 1410 in the great Battle of Grünwald. Subsequently, the Order gradually lost its eastern territories and focused more on the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg dynasty.

TRIVIA

— The Teutonic Order began not as a purely military institution, but as a German hospital fraternity formed during the Third Crusade around the siege of Acre in 1190. Founded by merchants from Bremen and Lübeck, it originally took over a hospital in the city to care for the sick and wounded. Later, it evolved into a military order recognized by Pope Clement III, and the Order, alongside it's charitable goals, started to play an important role in Outremer (the general name for the Crusader states), controlling the port tolls of Acre.

Even after the loss of its medieval territories and general decline following the Battle of Grunwald (1410), the Order did not disappear. It continued to exist in a reduced, primarily charitable form through the early modern period. It was briefly formally outlawed in 1938 under Nazi Germany, only to be re-established after 1945. Today it survives primarily as a religious and charitable institution in Central Europe.

One of the most recognizable symbols of the Order was its white surcoat marked with a black cross (cross pattée.). Other recognizable traits of the Order were its motto, "Helfen, Wehren, Heilen" ("Help, Defend, Heal"), alongside its famous Rules of the Teutonic Order. These rules were set into place for all Teutonic knights to follow, and among the numerous manuscripts of the statutes, the oldest extant is a Middle German manuscript, dated from 1264. An excerpt from it says:

The brethren of this order are allowed to wear and use linen for undershirts, for drawers and hose, for sheets and for bed covers, and for other things, when suitable. Outer garments shall be of sober hue. The brother knights shall wear white mantles as a sign of knighthood. (...) We decree that each brother wear a black cross on mantle, cappen and armor surcoats to show outwardly that he is a special member of this Order. Furs shall be of no material other than sheep or goat skins, yet goat shall be given to no one, unless he asks for it. The brethren shall have shoes without laces, or buckles, or rings. But should it happen, which God forbid, that a brother outrageously insists on arms or clothing or such things finer or better than those given him, then he deserves to be given worse. For this proves how much he is lacking in the clothing of the heart and in inner virtue, who bothers so much about the outer needs of the body. Since clerics living in the world should show their religion by their clothing, so it is all the more seemly that those in the Order use special clothing.

MYSTERIA ECCLESIAE — The Plague

Plagues in the Middle Ages were one of the greatest threats to European civilization. The most famous and destructive of these was the Black Death in 1347-1352, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. It reached Europe from Asia via trade routes, first arriving by ship at Mediterranean ports, from where it spread rapidly inland. It was transmitted mainly by fleas from rats, but also through the air, which explains its extraordinary contagiousness. According to contemporary chronicles, 30-50% of Europe's population died within a few years. The consequences were far-reaching: a sharp decline in the labour force led to wage increases and a weakening of feudal structures. The epidemic also provoked religious reactions - from penitential processions to the persecution of minorities, especially Jews, who were accused of poisoning wells. The plague then returned to Europe in waves until the 17th century, for example in Prague in 1680. These repeated crises led to the development of the first quarantine measures, the establishment of hospitals, and more systematic hygiene, which can be understood as the foundations of modern public health.

TRIVIA

— In the 1340s, the situation in Caffa (now Feodosija, Ukraine), a Genoese controlled merchant city on Mongol territory, was tense. Disagreements had sparked multiple conflicts over the past decades, and when in 1343 a street brawl in nearby Tana led to the murder of a Muslim Mongol by a Christian Italian, fighting erupted anew. The Mongol troops first besieged Tana, then, as the population fled to Caffa, they besieged that town too. With Italian relief forces providing arms and supplies, the siege lasted until 1346. Only then was it put to a quick end: A disease had spread within the Mongol ranks, striking down one by one. As a last attempt, the besiegers resorted to one of the first instances of large-scale biological warfare: they placed the dead on catapults. As Italian notary Gabriele de’ Mussi describes in his chronicle Istoria de Morbo sive Mortalitate, History of the Disease, or the Great Dying:

“What seemed like mountains of dead were hurled into the city, and the Christians could not hide or flee or escape from them, although they dumped as many of the bodies as they could in the sea.”

In the hopes to save themselves, people started to flee Caffa by boat – to Genoa, Venice, Sicily or Marseilles, taking the plague with them and spreading it through Europe. Alleged cures for the disease were plenty and desperate, ranging from rubbing the infected skin with chopped snakes or plucked live chickens, hiding one's face behind flowers when walking the streets, drinking potions of crushed emerald or consuming theriac, a kind of universal antidote known since Antiquity – expensive, difficult to make and composed sometimes of up to eighty ingredients, including cinnamon and saffron, viper's flesh, crabs from a pebbly stream, but most importantly opium.

In his Florentine Chronicle, Marchione di Coppo Stefani describes vividly how physicians charged enormous sums for their services, as did grave diggers and priests. In fact, the demand for priests was so high that Florence soon prohibited to employ more than six of them for one's own household. The costs for food and mourning clothes sky-rocketed, and wax became a rarity, leading to a ban of more than two candles carried at one funeral. Most were not granted a funeral anyway. As Marchione further writes, corpses were simply hurled into deep trenches along the churchyards “down to the waterline”, and priests were forbidden to ring bells or call out announcements for burials as officials hoped to prevent more discouragement and fear among the people.

MYSTERIA ECCLESIAE — Relics

Relics are material remains of the lives of saints, blessed persons, or Christ himself. They were attributed with protective and even miraculous powers and were therefore objects of deep reverence. They were often placed in richly decorated boxes - reliquaries - or even in entire altars. This served both to protect them and to make them accessible for display, as the places where relics were kept were often the destination of pilgrimages. Relics are primarily skeletal or other bodily remains, and secondarily objects significantly associated with the work or life of a saint. Because they were highly valued, there was also the criticized practice of fraud and the sale of fake relics. During the Reformation, opposition to the veneration of relics arose, and Protestant churches do not practice their veneration. Outside the Catholic and Orthodox churches, cults of relics are also present in other world religions.

TRIVIA

— Besides serving as objects of worship, relics played a great role in the medieval trend of pilgrimages. Churches and monasteries that possessed renowned relics could attract large numbers of visitors, whose offerings helped support not only the establishment itself but also the economy of nearby towns. Famous destinations such as Santiago de Compostela drew pilgrims from across Europe, while smaller churches promoted local saints in the hope of attracting visitors closer to home.

The growing demand for relics also helped to spawn a very profitable market. By the Late Middle Ages, relic collecting had spread from the church to royalty, and then to the nobility and merchant classes. On occasion guards had to watch over mortally ill holy men and women to prevent the unauthorized dismemberment of their corpses as soon as they died. The trade was also plagued by fraud, with many churches claiming to possess the same sacred objects.

Matthew Brown likens a ninth-century Italian deacon named Deusdona, with access to the Roman catacombs, as crossing the Alps to visit monastic fairs of northern Europe much like a contemporary art dealer. Pieces of the True Cross were one of the most highly sought-after of such relics; many churches claimed to possess a piece of it, so many that John Calvin famously remarked that there were enough pieces of the True Cross to build a ship from. In 1543, he said that the saints have two or three or more bodies with arms and legs, and even a few extra limbs and heads, according to the state of the relics market.

MYSTERIA ECCLESIAE — The Decameron

The Decameron is a collection of one hundred novels written by Italian Renaissance writer Giovanni Boccaccio between 1348 and 1353. The individual stories are written in the form of narratives by ten people, three men and seven women, who fled Florence to the countryside to escape the plague and pass the time by telling stories for ten days. The individual stories are often humorous, satirical, or romantic to the point of being erotic. The work is critical of medieval asceticism and mocks the church. It places greater emphasis on the individual. Despite its popularity, the book was later banned by the church for its anti-church stance and was one of the first books to be included in the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, a list of banned literature. In some cases, it was burned along with other books. It is one of the most important works of the Italian Renaissance, which influenced and inspired a number of other authors, including Geoffrey Chaucer with his book The Canterbury Tales.

TRIVIA

— Giovanni Boccaccio did not only chose the Black Death as a literary element for his book, he lived through the plague himself and drew his descriptions directly from what he saw in 1348 Florence. Because of these detailed descriptions, the Decameron serves as a valuable source for historians and natural scientists alike. Especially those of the symptoms and the progression of the disease – swellings in the groin and armpits, the dark patches of a sepsis on the skin, killing the infected within three days, the spread of the bacteria through clothes tossed onto the streets – have been used both to determine the course of Boccaccio's and of future pandemics. Just as his psychological insights into the behaviour of people within a plague: from turning to God to downplaying its severity to a complete denial, asking for the election of new officials, blaming marginalised groups, the nobility self-isolating, while the care of the sick rests mainly in the hands of the poor. Being born into a merchant family himself, in a time where the nobility was gradually replaced by a wealthy bourgeoisie, Boccaccio also weaved much of that power struggle and his criticism into the work. The stories told by the noble protagonists, whose flight from the city he portrays as a privilege of the rich and as cowardice, tell stories of people of all social strata, favouring the new mercantile values (practicality and wit) over old noble virtues. To address a broader middle class audience, Boccaccio also wrote in the Italian vernacular (Tuscan) instead of Latin, becoming the first (known) author to write an Italian text in prose, a genre previously reserved for Latin and Greek alone. Even when banned, the 100 novellas have therefore been widely received, and one of them, the ring parable, even set the foundation of Gotthold Lessing's play “Nathan the Wise” in 1779.

MYSTERIA ECCLESIAE — The order of Cistercians

The Cistercian Order was founded in 1098 by Saint Robert of Molesme. Robert was originally a member and even abbot of the Benedictine Order, but due to dissatisfaction with conditions in the order, he left with 21 other monks and together they founded a new monastery called Cîteaux in an abandoned valley in a place called Cistercium. In the new monastery, the monks wanted to return to a more ascetic life according to St. Benedict's motto "Ora et labora!" - Pray and work!, which the Benedictines had gradually abandoned. In 1100, Robert had to return to the monastery in Molesme, and Alberich, one of the first monks who accompanied Robert, became the new abbot. During his tenure, the monks from that monastery became independent and adopted a name derived from the place where the monastery was founded - Cistercians. Abbot Alberich wrote the rules of the order. The order was not allowed to accept church fees. In addition to the lay brothers, the monks themselves also had to work. A new black and white habit was also introduced. The third abbot, Stephen Harding of England, also contributed to the establishment of the order. Cistercian monasteries were often founded in remote areas so that the monks would not come into contact with other people. At the same time, there was uncultivated land around the new monasteries, which the monks themselves gradually cultivated. In this way, they colonized the previously uninhabited areas of Western and Central Europe. Cistercian monasteries quickly grew rich thanks to numerous donations from the nobility and lay people. As a result, the Cistercians began to stray from their original ideals of poverty and simplicity. In the 14th century, their influence declined as mendicant orders took over.

TRIVIA

— Besides their role in founding monasteries across Europe, the Cistercians also developed a distinct identity that set them apart from other monastic orders — primarily Benedictines. Their early constitution, the Carta Caritatis (Charter of Charity) emphasized simplicity, manual labour, and prayer. The monks abandoned the traditional black Benedictine habit in favour of white or grey robes, a symbol of their reformist ideals.

One of the most important figures in the order's history was Bernard of Clairvaux, who entered the monastery of Cîteaux in 1113 together with 35 relatives and friends. His influence helped transform the Cistercians into one of the most successful religious movements of the Middle Ages. Bernard also strongly opposed elaborate decoration in churches and manuscripts, arguing that fantastical beasts, carvings and paintings distracted monks from prayer. Under his influence, decoration was gradually restricted and eventually banned altogether within the order for a period of time.

Despite their reputation for simplicity, the Cistercians were often innovators in industry. In Burgundy they helped develop new methods of viticulture and created the earliest recorded system of dividing vineyards according to the qualities of individual plots. They also invented their own numeral system in the early 13th century, capable of representing any number from 1 to 9,999 with a single symbol.

The order spread rapidly across Europe. One of its most remarkable foundations was Rein Abbey in Styria, established in 1129. It remains the oldest surviving Cistercian monastery in the world.

LEGACY OF THE FORGE — Papermaking

Throughout the Middle Ages, everyday written records - especially inventories and merchants' accounts - were made on slate tablets, in wax-covered boards, or on sheets of prepared birch bark. More important texts, particularly those of the Church, were written on costly parchment made from fine lambskin. The oldest known example of paper use in the Kingdom of Bohemia is the municipal book of Prague's Old Town, brought from Italy in 1310. The knowledge of handmade paper production had reached Italy two centuries earlier, introduced by Arab traders from Samarkand in Central Asia. For a long time, Italian paper was exported north to the German-speaking regions only as an exotic foreign commodity, since parchment was more durable. However, as medieval European cities grew, so did the demand for a cheaper material suitable for record keeping. The oldest documented paper mill north of the Alps was founded in Nuremberg in 1390 by the merchant Ulman Stromer, with the help of hired Italian masters Marco and Francisco di Marchia and their young apprentice Bartolomeo. There may have been a paper mill in Cheb twenty years earlier, reportedly established by Emperor Charles IV, but this claim is uncertain - unlike the confirmed foundation of a mill in Zbraslav near Prague in 1499. The process of making paper, adopted from the Arabs, remained unchanged throughout the Middle Ages. Old rags were boiled into pulp, which was then scooped by hand using a wire mesh frame, forming sheets of paper. These sheets were pressed to remove excess water, dried, and then soaked in a sizing bath to make them more resistant to moisture. Finally, the finished sheets were rolled to create a smoother surface, allowing the pen to glide more easily across the page.

TRIVIA

— At least by the 13th century, papermakers would apply watermarks to their work. By fastening wire figures to the mould in which the pulp was collected, fewer fibres could gather on these protruding areas, making the paper thinner here and creating a translucent effect when held to the light. The form and purpose of these logos or trademark signs changed over time: While the very first watermarks would usually show the papermaker's full or abbreviated name, this method quickly became insufficient with the rising number of paper mills – in 1325, over 50 different watermarks were used only in Fabriano, an Italian city famous for its paper production. From the 14th century onwards, the rise of paper export would make names insignificant, and the use and composition of the watermarks would often be regulated by the now establishing papermaking guilds, after papermakers had been included in the wool trade before. Some paper mill owners would incorporate the coat of arms of the guild or the city into their watermark, or a religious or profane symbol based on their own family name. The account books of merchant Lodovico di Ambrogio, written between 1363 and 1366, show that different kinds of paper would be traded and marked differently – grapes for fine paper, ox heads for rougher sheets – or the symbol would indicate the destination of the products – paper for Florence was marked with an axe, the one for Perugia with a dragon, oversea products would often use a siren or an anchor. Sometimes the motif was even chosen for marketing reasons, like Venetian papermakers using the tre lune, three crescent moons, when trading with the Ottoman Empire, hoping that paper marked in this way would find a broader market in Muslim lands. For historians today watermarks are a great means to determine the origin of a document, the rough time of its production, or recreate trade routes of paper across Europe, Asia and Africa.

LEGACY OF THE FORGE — Guild life

Starting in the 11th century, religious brotherhoods began to form around churches. These groups celebrated feast days together, and their members often practiced the same trade. Over time, the need for mutual protection gave rise to urban guilds - organizations that defended craftsmen's interests but also bound them with strict rules and obligations. Guilds controlled the prices of raw materials and finished goods within the city, effectively shielding themselves from rural competition. They set limits on how many apprentices and journeymen a master could have, defined the requirements for becoming a master, and restricted the number of workshops allowed in town. Members could rely on the guild for financial support in times of injury or illness, and for aid to widows and orphans. Life under the guild system was tightly regulated. Once an apprentice completed his training, he became a journeyman, free to open his own workshop - in theory. In practice, the number of trades in a city was capped, and unless a workshop was inherited, an aspiring master often had to marry into the right family or wed the widow of a deceased colleague. Others took their chances outside the city walls, moving to the countryside or entering the service of the nobility. Many remained journeymen for life, forming their own circles and traditions within the guild. Medieval town life was inseparable from social status. Even the smallest changes required official approval - for a fee paid to the town treasury or the guild. Building a house, adding extra floors, opening a new workshop, adopting new tools or methods, or taking on another apprentice all needed authorization. Prestige, good reputation, and, above all, personal connections often determined the outcome. In such a tightly bound system, change came slowly, and by the 19th century the rigidity of the guilds led to their decline and eventual abolition.

TRIVIA

— Privileges such as the mile law, which guaranteed a one mile radius around a guild's town to be free of any foreign trade, made guilds quickly rise in financial and political power, but they also came at a price. General guild fees had to be paid, journeymen had to acquire town rights for their mastership, some guilds had to pay rents for their facilities, such as the Prague New Town butchers who owed 56 groschen to the local abbey for each of their shops. Guilds were also bound to public service. They had to patrol their town, take care of its defence during an attack, and were often obliged to own buckets, hooks and later pumps to provide firefighting service. Next to external obligations, a guild's own rules would control its members' everyday life. Apprentices, journeymen and masters would often live, eat and work together under the same roof, some guilds, like the London Stellyard Merchants Guild, chartered in 1232, even asked their members to stay unmarried. High working standards and honesty were promoted, the journeymen of the Old Town cobblers of Prague punished every member who “lied, ate, drank or gambled with indecent persons” with a fine. For larger disputes guilds could call in their own courts – as when potters in the Český Krumlov region complained that too many masters in their area led to such an overproduction that they needed to sell at remote markets, resulting in their ware getting broken during transport. As a last result, journeymen would also organise strikes, though often with little to no success, achieving – instead of the better working conditions they demanded – only fines, public apologies to their masters, as well as lower wages and food ratios.

LEGACY OF THE FORGE — Astronomical clock

In the High Middle Ages, commoners measured time by listening to the regular tolling of church bells and observing the sun's position in the sky. Though these methods were sufficient for maintaining the daily rhythm of human society, they became unsatisfactory for burghers and nobles eager for new technologies and greater precision. Significant advances in clockmaking can be traced to the late 13th and early 14th centuries in larger European cities such as Westminster, Nuremberg, Paris, Florence and Bruges. This period saw the emergence of the first tabletop clocks and more complex timekeeping mechanisms, which swiftly captivated courtly circles. Particular attention was soon drawn to the so-called orloj (astronomical clock) (from Latin horologium). By means of rotating celestial spheres, they showed not only the time but also the motion of the Sun, Moon and stars. Various types of astronomical clocks existed, distinguished by different arrangements of mechanical components. Among the best-known was the Italian type, consisting of a system of three concentric wheels with a small sphere in the centre representing Earth. This invention was constructed in 1364 by Master Giovanni de Dondi for the Palazzo del Capitano in Padua and was the main inspiration for KCD2. Beyond their practical function in city life, clocks were admired for their craftsmanship, ornamentation, sound and impressive size. They were usually installed on key municipal buildings, often town halls, to be visible to citizens, although few could actually read them. Although there is no astronomical clock in Kuttenberg today, records in the oldest surviving municipal ledger from 1375 point to one, located on the tower of the old town hall and mentioned in relation to repairs.

TRIVIA

— Although the astronomical clock in Kuttenberg has not survived, one of the oldest astronomical clocks in the world can still be found in Prague, where it was first recorded in 1410. It has been preserved for over 600 years, subject of many reconstructions and reparations; because according to a local legend, if the clock is neglected and remains non-operational, misfortune will befall Prague. Another legend features a man, Jan Růže, mistakenly believed to have constructed the Orloj in 1490. It is recounted that he was blinded on the order of Prague Councillors so that he could not repeat his work; in turn, he disabled the clock and no one was able to repair it for the next hundred years. However, the clock stopped working many times in the centuries after 1552, and was repaired many times. Along with repairs and reconstructions, the Orloj features ornaments added in later centuries, such as the four wooden figures flanking the clock on each side. They represent traits viewed negatively in medieval society: vanity, shown by a man admiring himself in a mirror; greed, represented by a miser holding a bag of gold; lust and worldly pleasures, depicted as a Turkish figure; and Death, portrayed as a skeleton. On the hour, the skeleton rings the bell and immediately all other figures shake their heads side to side, signifying their unreadiness "to go". As for Giovanni de Dondi, besides his technological marvels of engineering, there is another wonder (mistakenly) attributed to him. Later sources frequently credited Giovanni Dondi dell’Orologio with bringing the Padovana chicken breed from Poland to Italy. However, the ennobled "Marquis Dondi" was in fact Francesco Dondi from the 17th century, and Giovanni Dondi has no documented link to Poland.

LOCATIONS — 263*/262 — Zimburg

Settlement in the area dates back to the late Stone Age (about 3000 BC). Today, however, only traces of an early medieval fortified settlement remain in the form of remnants of moats and visible ramparts. Some historians (as well as folk legends) claim that Zimburg (Cimburk) Castle, owned by the Lords of Zimburg, once stood here and was even perhaps their ancestral home. Later, the descendants of the family built two more castles with the same name: Cimburk in Trnávka and Nový Cimburk in Koryčany. Unfortunately nothing remains from the original castle. Hence why some historians claim that such a castle never stood here and the settlement rather got its name from the nearby mine that belonged to the Zimburg family. Nevertheless, we decided to depict it in the game.

TRIVIA

— The first settlement of Cimburk reaches back to Eneolithic times, perhaps as far as 3600 BC. A ditch with a gap for a gate shows that the fort was equipped with a 30 metres long rampart, as well as pits, storage rooms and kilns outside the fortification. In the 7th and 6th centuries BC, a new ditch with a moat and a palisade was built, and the same ditch was still used to protect a Slavic hillfort in the 9th and 10th centuries AD. Another remnant from this Slavic time is an ice cellar used to store food and keep it cool for summer. It wasn't until the construction of a shooting range for the local infantry regiment in the 19th century that the settlement was discovered – unfortunately only after the construction caused irreparable damage to the site. For how long the fort has carried the name Cimburk is hard to say, but it certainly lent the name to a mill down by the Vrchlice River, the Cimburk Mill, in old sources also referred to as "mlýn pod hradištěm", the mill under the hillfort. Records about the mill go back until 1682, although it might have existed since the late Middle Ages or early Renaissance. A little bit upstream, about halfway between Malešov and Kutná Hora, lies Velký rybník, the Great Pond (originally known as Lower King's Pond), used for the nearby mines since the Middle Ages and to power the mills in the Vrchlice valley. It was thus the responsibility of the Kutná Hora Millers' Society to restore the pond and fund a dam, and in the 1930s, to pay for said dam's repair. At this time, the Cimburk Mill was owned privately by a woman called Terezie, or Réza, Petránková, and it hadn't been used for grinding in a long time. Still, Réza Petránková was meant to pay her share. She sold her field, the last means for her livelihood, to afford it. Shortly after, the mill burned down. Réza Petránková died in a burgher poorhouse in Kutná Hora. Today the mill presents as a romantic ruin, overgrown by trees and ivy.

LOCATIONS — 262/262 — Wysoka

It is the hill where in 1142, a memorable battle took place between King Vladislav II and Prince Conrad of Znojmo, supported by rebellious nobility. The king suffered a great loss due to the treachery of his own people. In the 13th century, an early Gothic church dedicated to the Visitation of the Virgin Mary was built on the hill, which has survived almost unchanged to the present day. Today, at the summit, at an elevation of 471m above sea level, stands a lookout tower with a beautiful view of the surrounding area.

TRIVIA

— Vysoká was originally an old Slavic settlement and may have had a church here as early as the 10th century. In the 14th century it belonged to the Kutná Hora patrician family of the Píseks, after which the property was divided between different estates, including Suchdol. One part was later sold in 1535, and after 1580 this portion was annexed to the Malešov estate. The remaining part was later incorporated as well, and from 1776 the whole village belonged to Malešov, remaining under its administration until 1848.

The village is centered around the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary, one of the best preserved early Gothic churches in the region. According to research, most of the building dates to the last third of the 13th century and survived nearly unchanged. The church tower still houses a bell cast in 1472. On the Vysoká hill there are ruins of the Belvedér summer house (later a monastery) with the chapel of St. John the Baptist. North of the hill, a battle took place in 1142 between Prince Vladislav II and forces led by Conrad of Znojmo, ending in Vladislav’s defeat.

LOCATIONS — 261/262 — Villages of the Trosky region

Troskowitz The first mention is found in 1388 in connection with the nearby castle, but the village probably existed long before that. The village got its name from the rock on which the castle was later built, as the rock resembled the ruins of a castle from a distance. Tachov A small village 1.5 km north of Troskowitz, first mentioned in sources in 1388. A nameless stream flows through it, emptying into the Krčák pond, forming cascades along the way and a waterfall about 10 metres high. Today, the village is part of a protected area and the ‘Golden Trail of the Bohemian Paradise’ passes through it. Zhelejov There are only a few mentions of Zhelejov. Notably, in 1558, the three sons of Lord Semine sold the fortress and the village to the ‘Skalské panství’. The fortress was abandoned during the wars with the Swedes.

TRIVIA

— While archaeological finds around Trosky prove that settlements in this region date back at least to the Bronze Age, the medieval villages in the region are not mentioned before the construction of the castle, when they started to be linked to its noble politics. Yet, there is a persistent belief that written proof of Trosky's significance reaches back until 1203. In a time when King Ottokar I has left the country to engage in a war, the Saxons use this absence for an attack. They march through the Bohemian lands until they reache Trosky, leaving destruction in their wake, but here they are finally stopped by the noble hero Beneš Hermanov and his mob of peasants, who are able to defeat the Germans. The legend goes back to a poem in the Rukopis královédvorský, the Králové manuscripts, found within a sheaf of old arrows in a church tower in the town Dvůr Králové nad Labem by philologist, poet and librarian Václav Hanka in 1817. After examining them more closely, he determines that the manuscripts about this glorious Czech victory over the German invaders must have been written in the 13th century. Within the same year, Hanka even presents another manuscript to the public that has been given to him in an anonymous parcel, the Rukopis zelenohorský, with texts dating back to the 8th to 10th centuries.

This discovery comes just at the right time. Since 1620 and the Thirty Years' War Czech the protestant faith and the Czech language had been driven out of the country by a new ruling German aristocracy, and only since the late 18th century had a Czech National Revival slowly been taking shape. The manuscripts quickly gain a huge popularity, earning a similar status as Beowulf for the English or the Song of the Nibelungs for the Germans, drawing its circles also internationally to Goethe or the Brothers Grimm, and Bohemian histories are written based on the manuscripts. In 1858, a Czech newspaper publishes an anonymous commentary doubting the authenticity of the manuscripts. Hanka is outraged and sues the publisher. The scandal earns him so much new fame that his funeral in 1861 becomes a national event. Only in the 1880s, and with more probability in the 1990s, could thorough investigations confirm the (highly likely) forgery. Yet, many nationalists still cling to their validity, and Czech localities – such as the village of Troskovice – base their foundation myths on these texts. As they have been since their discovery, the manuscripts are still kept in the National Museum of Prague – now, however, in the section for manuscripts from the 19th century.

LOCATIONS — 260/262 — Trosky region

An area, also known as Bohemian Paradise, about 90 km north-east of Prague with a great number of natural and cultural monuments. The main landmarks of the region are Kozákov Mountain and Trosky Castle, while other important sites include, for example, the Prachov and Klokoči rock formations, the castles Kost, Waldstein and Sychrov, and a number of ponds. Its picturesque landscape is mainly underscored by the ubiquitous sandstone rocks, characterised by their steep and rugged reliefs and towers. It is an important protected landscape area and a popular destination for climbers. Nowadays the area is crisscrossed with a dense network of tourist trails, making it a haven for nature lovers and enthusiasts of historical landmarks. In the medieval period the region was quite bustling, particularly due to the numerous castles, fortresses and fortifications, which are located almost literally on every hilltop.

TRIVIA

— Besides Trosky Castle, the Bohemian Paradise region contains a number of places whose origins are tied to the unusual geology of the area. The sandstone formations that dominate the landscape created natural defenses, which were later used for castles. Among the most notable examples is Kost Castle, one of the best preserved medieval castles in Bohemia. Unlike most castles, it was built on a sandstone rock between two streams rather than on a hilltop. A popular legend attributes the castle's name to Jan Žižka, who supposedly declared it "hard as a bone" after failing to capture it, although the name actually derives from its founder, Beneš of Costi.

The interesting geology of the region is reflected also in Kozákov, the highest point of Bohemian Paradise. Formed by ancient volcanic activity, the hill was a source of gemstones that were collected from prehistoric times, medieval ages, and onward. Agates, jaspers and amethysts found there supporteed the economy of places such as Turnov - the same place where Valdenštejn castle was built - often considered the oldest castle in the region.

Among the most recognizable natural monuments of the region are the Prachov Rocks, a labyrinth of sandstone towers, gorges and passages. It is Apollonia's 'cousin', though with more developed features. Many individual formations acquired names inspired by local folklore, including the famous Devil's Kitchen.

The name Bohemian Paradise originally referred to the area of ​​Litoměřice (today Zahrada Čech), populated by a German-speaking population. The current definition was created in the second half of the 19th century. Spa guests who visited the Sedmihorky spa are often cited as its authors, but the first documented use comes from the editor Václav Durych in 1886.