This study examines the taxation policy of Maria Theresa as evidenced by the situation in Bohemia. A fundamental measure that opened the way for subsequent developments was the passing of the ten-year compact (or "Rezess", as it was known), by the Bohemian parliament in 1748. This law guaranteed a fixed total tax contribution (5,488,155 gulders, 58 crowns) in return for a guarantee that the empress would not demand extra levies, even in the event of war. With the outbreak of the Seven Years’ War, however, the situation changed and in 1756 demands were made for exceptional taxes, military recruits, loans to the state budget, etc. Meanwhile the guarantee of a fixed total tax under the ten-year compact continued to apply. The Treaty of Hubertusburg (1763) brought no relief, as Maria Theresa asked parliament to approve not only an extension of the compact for the following military year, but new exceptional taxes and the reimposition of certain existing indirect taxes. These obligations, together with an increased tax burden in rural communities, remained in place until 1775, when a new ten-year compact was negotiated that lasted until 1789., Jan Lhoták., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The aim of this paper is to describe 18th century "language criticism" (Sprachkritik) in the Bohemian Lands and underline its role within the process of establishing of the literary criticism. In the Habsburg monarchy, the language criticism can be traced back to the late 1740s; its origins are linked to the southern German sense of cultural (and thus linguistic), political and economical backwardness and to the efforts to catch up with the mostly protestant countries of Central and Northern Germany. The authors of this article examine not only reflections of used language and style in particular works, but also the position, prestige and function of various languages (German, Latin, Czech) themselves. The trends in language criticism and - in the narrower sense - language cultivation are examined with the use of both expert contributions to learned discussions and publicistic articles in critical journals aiming at a larger audience. In the whole process, several moments that meant a significant impulse for language criticism can be observed. The first one would be the appointment of Karl Heinrich Seibt as university professor of Schöne Wissenschaften (belles lettres), rhetoric, historia litteraria and ethics in 1763, followed by the efforts to establish a learned society, Josephine reforms and foundation of a chair of Czech language and literature at Prague university in 1791. Finally, the tightening of censorship from the second half of 1790s on had a considerable influence on criticism; its subject started to change and it began to focus on a different group of intended readers: while it used to try to educate potential future authors, afterwards it concentrated more and more on educating of the "common reader" and engaging him into critical reflections on belles lettres., Václav Petrbok a Ondřej Podavka., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy