The work Historia persecutionum ecclesiae Bohemicae and the Early Modern discourse on Christian martyrdom : Contexts - strategies - objectives
Abstract
Until recently, Czech research has primarily assessed the work Historia persecutionum ecclesiae Bohemicae (editions: Latin 1647 and 1648; Czech 1655 and other editions) as being an excellent source of information, in particular with regard o the years around 1620. In addition, the work's persuasive objectives were highlighted with the Latin version, whereby the authors deliberately sought to direct the attention of the Protestant major powers in Europe towards the dismal situation of Bohemian religious migrants.
Whenever the Czech language edition was discussed, the focus centred principally on the work's aims to mould and support a sense of identity. This was understood as a call to all Czech, whether they be living in exile or still in their homeland, to inspire their loyalty to the Reformation movement and, at the same time to enshrine the collective Czech identity as a confessional, distinctly anti-Roman, or anti-papist, identity.
Historia persecutionum ecclesiae Bohemicae is a well thought out interpretation of what exactly Bohemian Church ist, and who its members and its genuine enemies are. Thus, the objective of this article is to analyse the work as an integral part of the Early Modern -Christian, and specifically Evangelical, discourse on martyrdom.
Particular attention has been paid to the hagiographic or, more specifically, martyrological focus, with which the authors depicted the history of the Bohemian Church as being effectively an uninterrupted experience of religious persecution. This persecution was presented as a specific form of martyrdom.
Despite the rejection of not only medieval, but also contemporary, forms of Catholic veneration of the saints, the endeavour to create their own saints - the martyrs - and thus to define their own concept of sainthood or, more explicitly, of martyrdom is clearly evident in the Historia persecutionum ecclesiae Bohemicae. This occurred primarily by means of making frequent use of the hagiographic or martyrological literary tradition.
In this article, particular attention is given to the specific textual strategies that enable the martyrological idealisation of 27 executed leaders of the Bohemian Revolt - in comparison to other contemporary martyrological texts by authors such as Jan Rosacius Hořovský, David Lippach and Viktorin Vrbenský. The Historia persecutionum ecclesiae Bohemicae is a very good source for researching the process of creating and performance a collective trauma.