Bohuslav Balbín

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Bohuslav Balbín

Bohuslav Balbín (3 December 1621 – 29 November 1688) was a

Jesuit, called the "Czech Pliny".[1]
He became well known also as an advocate of the Czech language in the time of incoming germanization of the Czech lands.

Life

Balbín was born in

University of Olomouc, he taught in Jesuit colleges in Prague, Třeboň, Brno, Jičín, Jindřichův Hradec and Český Krumlov
.

After writing of several textbooks and didactic theatre plays, he also became acquainted with historical sources of archives and libraries. His entire life was devoted to collecting and editing materials about Czech history, and his researches have often been utilized by the

Bollandists. Balbín died, aged 66, in Prague
.

Work

He wrote over thirty works, the most important from which is Miscellanea Historica regni Bohemiae ("Varieties from the History of the Czech Kingdom" ", 6 vols., Prague, 1679–87), in which he described the geography, natural history, and chief historical events of his native land. The work includes brief vitae of prominent Czechs. The sections of the work:

  • Miscellanea historica regni Bohemiae - History of the kingdom of Bohemia
  • Liber naturalis - The Nature of Bohemia
  • Liber popularis - The population
  • Liber chorographicus - Topography
  • Liber hagiographicus – Czech Saints
  • Liber parochialis – The Parishes
  • Liber episcopalis - The Archdiocese of Prague
  • Liber regalis - Rulers
  • Liber epistolaris - Series of letters
  • Bohemia Docta - Czech literature and teaching
  • Liber de seu curialis magistratibus et officiis curialibus regem Bohemiae - Paper on Courts and Offices of the Czech Crown

Bohuslav Balbín (Balbinus) is known in Czech Lands mostly for his "Apology for the Slavic and especially Czech language", written in Latin. He was the first to edit the ancient

stylistics (1666) and two works devoted to rhetoric (1677, 1688) [4]

Bibliography

  • Legatio Apollinis coelestis ad universitatem Pragensem etc.
  • Vita venerabilis Arnesti (biography of Arnošt of Pardubice, the first Archbishop of Prague), 1664
  • Verisimilia humaniorum disciplinarunm seu judicium privatum de omni letterarum, quasi humaniores appellent, artificio. 1666.
  • Dissertatio apologetica pro lingua Slavonica, praecipue Bohemica. 1775. (In Czech: Obrana jazyka slovanského, zvláště českého. 1869)
  • Vita S. Joannis Nepomuceni sigilli sacramentalis protomartyris
  • Epitome rerum Bohemicarum seu historia Boleslaviensis, 1677 (The book about history of
    Stará Boleslav
    )
  • Quaesita oratoria seu eloquentiae praecepta. 1677
  • De archiepiscopis Bohemiae
  • Brevis tractatio de amplificatione oratoria. 1688
  • Miscellanea historica regni Bohemiae, 1679–88[5]
  • Vita et passio sancti Wenceslai et sanctae Ludmilae aviae eius

See also

References

  1. S2CID 249440080
    .
  2. ^ Introduction to the edition of 1902, Dr. Pekár
  3. Bollandists
    ' Acta sanctorum III, May, pp 668-80.
  4. ^ Bohuslav Balbín (Department of the Czech language - in Czech) Archived January 4, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Bohuslav Balbín - in Czech)

External links