Was the Father of Chancellor Prokop of Rabštejn and the Humanist Jan of Rabštejn a Councillor in Žatec? A Paper on Research on the Settlement of the Nobility in Bohemian Towns in the Late Middle Ages
Abstract
Jan of Rabštejn (+ approx. 1450), the father of Chancellor Prokop (+ probably 1470), the humanist Jan (1437-1473) and three other Rabštejn brothers, is identified in the literature with Ješek Rabštejn, who owned a large house in Žatec and was a member of the local town council many times between 1402 and 1414. The aim of this paper is to provide a critical examination of this repeatedly stated yet never confirmed hypothesis.
The author places the examined matter in the broader context of research on the settlement of the nobility in Bohemian towns in the late Middle Ages, observes the genesis of the current interpretation and, based on an analysis of relevant sources, reaches the conclusion that the nobleman Jan of Rabštejn and the Žatec burgher Ješek Rabštejn were very probably two different people.