Exhibit of the Month - December 2023

December 13, 2023 - January 10, 2024 Ante-room to the General reading Room (gate A), open Monday to Saturday 9 am - 7 pm (see opening hours of the NL)
Admission 20 CZK (free for the NL readers)

Chronicae de rebus bohemicis gestis
15th century, supplements 17th century
NL Prague I.D.10, fol. 1r

The manuscript from the 15th century containing chronicles from the period of Charles IV. Apart from the work by John of Marignolli, the introductory page of which we see exhibited, the codex also includes the chronicle by Přibík Pulkava of Radenín and The Biography of Charles IV. The earlier medieval period is represented by The Hussite Chronicle and The Song about the Victory at Domažlice written by Lawrence of Březová, but we can even find there a part from the Modern Period in the form of a text fragment from the Renaissance chronicle by Wenceslaus Hájek of Libočany and memories of the Prague Towns dated of the 17th century. The fact that the medieval codex was supplemented by current texts shows that the chronicles of the High Middle Ages were still a living tradition in the 17th century, i.e., after three hundred years. We do not know much about the provenance of the codex; it can only be stated that it was owned by Jiří Škréta Šotnovský ze Závořic, whose name is to be seen on the exhibited first folio at the bottom. We also know that an uncle of painter Karel Škréta of the same name studied in Montpellier at the end of the 16th century.

The initial K decorated by vegetative ornament and the border introduce The World Chronicle by John of Marignolli in the codex of the 15th century.