Introductory material

Completeness of the overthrow of Bohemian independence in 1620—Execution of leaders of insurrection—Persecution of Protestant preachers—Triumph of the Jesuits—Their absolute power—Destruction of memorials of Protestant leaders—Loc̆ika’s protest and death—Resistance and overthrow of Kuttenberg—Z̆erotin and Ferdinand—Resistance of Z̆erotin and Sabovsky—Penal laws against Protestants—Their expulsion in 1627—Overthrow of constitutional and municipal liberty and national independence—Crushing out of the language—Career of Comenius—His life before leaving Bohemia—His allegory—He settles at Lissa—“Janua aurea”—The “Didactica”—Invitation to Sweden—Comenius and Hartlib—Success and failure in England—Milton’s letter to Hartlib—Comenius in Sweden—At Elbing—Comenius and De Geer—Disappointment at peace of Westphalia—Election as Bishop of Brotherhood—Effect of his addresses—His later labours—Results of his work—General stagnation in Bohemia—Accession of Maria Theresa and its results—Suppression of the Jesuits—Joseph’s Edict of Toleration—Shortcomings of his religious policy—Of his educational policy—His opposition to Constitutional liberty—His abolition of serfdom—Leopold II.—Revival of Bohemian Literature—Frantis̆ek Pelc̆el—Caspar von Sternberg—Josef Dobrovsky—Leopold II. and Dobrovsky—The National Museum—The Königinhof MS.—S̆afarik and Palacký—The Grünberg MS.—The controversy about these MSS.—Palacký’s History—The discovery of ancient peasant art—Later controversies.