During the medieval and early modern eras, most of the European urban authorities intended to rule their cities for the «common good», together with respecting the social hierarchy and privileged status. In the 18th century, however, many voices raised for improving the urban policing and reforming old regulations. Most of police officers claimed for equality of every inhabitant with regards to local police ordinances and petty police courts. But even if the urban rules agreed with their arguments for a more efficient policing, they could not prescribe an equality that would overthrow the Ancien Régime’s social order. Brussels in the 18th century is a good example of this contradiction. It was there impossible to reform the policing for the foreigners nor to create a professional night-watch, because of the strong reluctance of the city aldermen to abandon social privileges which were seen as fundamental freedoms of the country., Catherine Denys ; translated by Laura Bennett., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
In this study we consider the comedies of Ignaz Cornova. Locating his plays within the landscape of late 18th century genres, we examine the specific use the writer makes of contemporary dramatic conventions and the way in which he engineers the social reconciliation that characterizes his comedies. First we take a closer look at the dramatic construction of his plays and compare them with the comedic output of his contemporaries active in Bohemia. We then focus on Cornova’s particular use of the language of comedy, of which we find echoes in his many and varied writings on culture and politics. Finally, we address the issue of relations between the social estates or classes. Our conclusion shows that the storylines Cornova rehearses in his comedies are later exploited in his historical writings and may thus be considered as the author’s recipe for pacifying the social conflicts of the period.
This work deals with the changes of rhetorical education and emotional orders in the second half of the 18th century. The aim of the research is to assess the relations among language education, funtions of medias, anthropological models and expression of emotions on the Threshold of enlightenment. The background of the research shapes the transformation of rhetorical tradition. The research of the broad field of pedagogical, rhetorical and moral discurs is focused on the collegium of Karl Heinrich Seibt., Václav Smyčka., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The aim of the following study is to analyze Voltaire’s biography about Charles XII as an early part of Voltaire’s historiographical work and also to analyze the ideas of the Enlightenment the author used. The study also tries to answer the question which lesson a reader should get and which interpretations should be on the other hand avoided., Martin Liška., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The contribution explores the Prague origines of the first Prague and Austrian female author of the Enlightenment, Maria Anna Sager, born Rosskoschny (1719-1805). The reconstruction of the carreer of her father Anton Ferdinand Rosskoschny (1679-1734) at the Böhmische Statthalterei - he ended as "Registrator" and "Expeditor" - proves his social ambitions. On the other hand egodocuments of him conserved in the National Archives at Prague reveal the sorrows and the "stress" of the wellestablished fonctioner, not only his fear in front of the people, but also for his reputation, his family and his soul., Helga Meise., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The study focuses on the history of the regional, royal and dowry town of Hradec Králové in the latter years of the Enlightenment, at the end of the first stage of the formation of the modern Czech nation. Within the small territory of this fortress town, the seat of both regional authorities and a bishopric, there was a tertiary, secondary and primary school, a printing house and a theatre. At the episcopal seminary, grammar school (Gymnasium) and main school (Hauptschule), the teaching staff were connected with a petite bourgeoisie that had potential to participate in the future national movement. Graduates of the episcopal seminary and the Hradec Králové grammar school became an educated social elite who later used their cultural and social capital in various areas of religious and cultural life, in state or ecclesiastical administration. Although taught in Latin and German, and despite the growing importance of the German language as a means of communication among state and private employees, these men went on to play an active part in the formation of the modern Czech nation. At the same time, the Hauptschule provided essential skills in literacy and numeracy for multitudes of young people, teaching them the fundamentals of Czech and biblical history, natural science, and even the basics of Latin. The development of amateur theatre (the first documented amateur theatre performance in Hradec Králové, in which townspeople and officers participated, dates back to 1790; the theatre company acquired its own building six years later), and the establishment of a publishing house (formerly a printers), as well as the creation of a readers’ community, were important for the acceleration of social communication – a prerequisite for the formation of a civic society.