Czechia (Bohemia)

Hussite Wars

Hi, one of my neurodivergent interests is the medieval kingdom of Bohemia and that sorta led to just reading a lot of Czech stuff. This started because of the Jan Žižka campaign in Age of Empires 2. The Hussites, a proto-protestant group following the teachings of Jan Hus, revolted against the Catholic Church after they lured Hus out of Bohemia with a promise of safety and then executed him. This revolt started with throwing much of Prague's leadership out windows in an event known as the Defenestrations of Prague. Pro-Hussite nobility then seized power.

Jan Žižka was one of the Hussite generals and managed to use gunpowder, terrain, and unorthodox tactics to defeat the crusaders who invaded Bohemia in response to Hussite heresy. Despite the Holy Roman Empire being better funded, better trained, and outnumbering the Hussite, Jan Žižka never lost a battle. He continued to win even after being blinded in combat. Today, he seen as a Czech national hero.

A bohemian castle in age of empires 2, the design is inspired by Karlštejn

This is me playing Crusader Kings 3 as Bohemia. Bohemia as a region is in a basin surrounded by mountains that make it easy to defend. It also has Prague and an excellent silver mine. I intend to unite the Slavs under my kingdom and this is a shot of me preparing to invade Krakow.

Check out this awesome cubist paint I found by Czech painter Bohumil Kubišta! It's called Hypnotiser.The painting below is called Kiss of Death. He died young in the Spanish Flu pandemic so that sorta sucks but this art is badass.

Another thing I love about Czech culture and really all Eastern European cultures is the embroidery. These outfits in the Czech Republic are called Kroje. They have wonderful floral patterns on them and I love them. I found an apron for a kroj on Ebay. Look with your special eyes.

Kroje sells a lot of the materials to make these. Even the materials sold in a shop today are handmade and don't come cheap.

Here's some radical Czech stuff for you. Norbert Čapek was a Unitarian minister in Prague who stood up to the Nazis. He and his daughter, Zora, would listen to BBC Broadcasts, write down, and distribute them to friends. The Nazis arrested them both for listening to a foreign broadcast, which was a capital offense. Zora was sentenced to hard labor. Norbert was executed. To this day in the United States, Unitarian Universalists do flower communion ceremonies, a ceremony that Norbert invented. The English translation of a passage from his last letter before his death is recited at the end:

It is worthwhile to live and fight courageously for sacred ideals.

Oh blow ye evil winds into my body’s fire; my soul you’ll never unravel.

Even though disappointed a thousand times or fallen in the fight and everything would worthless seem,

I have lived amidst eternity.

Be grateful, my soul,

My life was worth living.

He who was pressed from all sides but remained victorious in spirit is welcomed into the choir of heroes.

He who overcame the fetters giving wing to the mind is entering into the golden age of the victorious.

In a time where authoritarianism, nationalism, and fascism are rising, these words have brought me much comfort. I've wept over them, being reminded that standing up to power is never pointless.

The Language

So, um, I started learning Czech. It's hard because a lot of the apps and such don't have a course for it. I'm avoiding Duolingo because they are AI shills now. I'm looking at a few courses but they're paid options. Right now, I'm just working hard on the alphabet and my pronunciation. A lot of the letters don't really have an English equivalent so I'm sorta working on those especially. I definitely have to learn to roll my Rs as well.

At the moment, ř has become my mortal enemy with ň, ť, and ď also giving me trouble.

Idk why my brain is like this. I'mma keep at it though. Been listening to a lot of Czech TV on YouTube to try and nail the pronunciation.

This is the Czech course from the Czech Center in NYC that I'm considering taking.

Other resources I've been turned onto are Czech Step by Step and Czech: An Essential Grammar

Langsources gives you Czech news articles and includes the difficult vocabulary words to help you listen.

Digital Dialects gives a great overview of the Czech language!

Videos I'm Using to Learn Czech

I'm playing Resident Evil 7 with Czech subtitles. I though this would be fun. What ended up happening was crying out "Klič Poklopu! Klič Poklopu! Klič Poklopu!" while my girlfriend laughed because I didn't know what the key went to and Jack Baker was trying to kill me.

The is the coat of arms of the Přemyslid dynasty! They were founded in 867 and ruled Bohemia until 1306. Many of Bohemia's most famous nobles come from this dynasty. Bohemia played a critical role in the Holy Roman Empire and their support was key to becoming the Emperor. Their forces often were used to punish people rebelling against the Empire.

These are my Czech books! The top one, Czech Folktales, is an English translation of several folktales. I'm excited for this one! I love fairy tales. The next one, Slavic Ancient Origins, basically covers the medieval history of several slavic states. The last one, Prague and the Czech Republic, is a travel guide for planning a trip there!