Zlatokorunsky monastery

Zlatokorunsky monastery became the second after Plasko Cistercian monastery in the Czech Republic. According to legend, King Przemysl Otakar II, before the battle of Kresenbrunn in 1260, vowed to establish a monastery in the south of his kingdom in case of victory. In 1263, by the will of the king, the Cistercian monks , led by former abbot Heinrich of the Austrian monastery Heiligenkreutz, founded a community here, which the king granted extensive land holdings. The name of the monastery is associated with the sacred relic bestowed upon him by King Przemysl Otakar II - an element of the crown of thorns of Jesus Christ . In the XIV century, in documents in Latin, the monastery appeared under the name Sancta Corona - “The Holy Crown”.

It is believed that the king pursued, among other things, the political foundation of the monastery in the Krumlov region, to contain the rapidly expanding influence of the Witkowicz clan in Southern Bohemia and create a “peace zone” in the region. Apparently, this was hostile to the Vitkoviches and in 1276 they destroyed the monastery. The restoration of the monastery took place only in 1291 , when the monks of the Plaska monastery came here and began the reconstruction of the destroyed buildings. Among the noblemen who donated their funds and estates for the restoration of the monastery, most of all in 1315 was granted by the Zvik burggraph III of Strakonitsy (d. 1318). After his death, Pan Bavor was buried in the monastery (unfortunately, the original Gothic tombstone of Bavor III was not preserved). Great help in rebuilding the monastery was also given by the pans from Michalovits ^[1] .

In the XIV century, the monastery significantly expanded its possessions and reached its greatest prosperity due to the generous donations of the South Bohemian gentlemen. In 1354, the monastery completely burned out. During the restoration of the monastery, all the main buildings of the monastery complex were built, including the impressive size of the church. Among others, the mason Michael Parler, brother of the architect Peter Parler, took part in the restoration work. In 1370, a chapel of the Guardian Angels was erected - the oldest surviving monastery building.

By the end of the century, the estate of the monastery was located in 160 settlements ^[2] , which made the Zlatokorunsky monastery the largest Cistercian monastery in the Czech Republic and Moravia.

With the beginning of the Hussite wars, the development of the monastery was abruptly interrupted. Anticipating difficult times, the monks transferred all the valuables to the Austrian Premonstrant Monastery Schlegl , and the monastery archive was transferred to Krumlov . In 1420, the monastery was devastated and burned twice by Hussite troops (moreover, once under the leadership of Jan ижižka ), the monks left the monastery for the next 17 years. The monastery estates were seized by Pan Oldrich II of Rožmberk , initially as a pledge from King Sikmund , and became part of the rymberg panship. The once richest monastic community was so impoverished that it did not have the means to restore the monastery buildings: the monastery church and the convention building remained dilapidated until the 17th century .

In 1493, the Pans of Rožmberka obtained the patronage of the Zlatokorunsky Monastery from King Vladislav II of the Jagiellonian Law. In the mid- sixteenth century, on the pretext that the monastic fraternity had substantially decreased and was in distress, Rozmberki raised the question of liquidating the monastery. However, the monastery was preserved and soon the situation began to change for the better. In the 2nd half of the 16th century, knowledge of the small convention with the refectory was erected and the abbot's house was restored.

In 1601, Peter Wok from Rožmberk sold the monastic possessions as a part of his Krumlov panship to King Rudolf II , and in 1622, King Ferdinand II of Habsburg granted Krumlov panship to Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg .

After the Thirty Years War (1618–1648), during which the monastery was again destroyed and plundered, a period of recovery and a new upsurge begins. By the second half of the XVII century, the monastery was completely restored and became one of the exemplary Cistercian monasteries of the Czech Republic and Moravia. By 1665, the buildings of the monastery complex acquired a baroque appearance. The main merit in this was attributed to the Abbots Bernard Pachmann (1661–1668), who began a large-scale restoration of the monastery church, and Matei Ungar (1668-1701), who completed the restoration of the church, repaired the convention and established strict discipline in the monastery. The success of Abbot Matei was largely facilitated by the pilgrimage route he established to Kaiow .

In 1719, the monastic possessions passed into the ownership of the princes Schwarzenberk .

The next heyday of the Zlatokorunsky monastery dates back to the time of Abbot Bogumir Bilansky (1755-1785). The interior of the monastery was transformed in the rococo style , the walls were painted with modern frescoes, and the main altar is decorated with various details. The monastery garden was substantially modified: aviaries, cages with pheasants, greenhouses with exotic plants and small fountains were installed here. On the slope beyond the Vltava River , opposite the monastery, Bogumir set up a small observatory . The territory of the monastery was planted with a variety of trees, and advanced methods of production and new agricultural crops — potatoes and mulberries — were introduced into the agriculture on the monastery lands. A monastery for peasant children was founded at the monastery.

However, the rapid development of the Zlatokorunsky monastery was unexpectedly interrupted as a result of the reforms of King Joseph II . According to the royal decree of 1785 , the monastery was abolished, members of the convention were ordered to leave it until April 1786 . The last abbot of the monastery, Bohumir Bilansky, was assigned a pension. He spent his last years in the Khinov estate near Tabor , granted to him by Prince Schwarzenberk , where he died in 1788 at the age of 64.

In 1787, the monastery complex was bought by the Krumlov Schwarzenberks , who leased it out for industrial production. In the 2nd half of the 19th century , the foundry and engineering plant of Peter Steffens ^[3] was located in the monastery buildings, which caused significant damage to the monastery architecture.

In 1909, industrial production on the territory of the monastery was curtailed and restoration of the monastery buildings began, which lasted until 1938 . During the Protectorate, the monastery was confiscated from the Schwarzenberk in 1940 , and in 1948 became the property of Czechoslovakia . Since 1945, the monastery has been open to the public and tourists. Here is an exhibition about the life of the monks of the monastery and their activities in Southern Bohemia. In 1979 - 2000, the monastery complex was run by the State Scientific Library in Ceske Budejovice . Currently, the monastery is managed by a branch of the National Institute of Monuments of the Czech Republic in Ceske Budejovice.

• The history of the monastery on the official website
• Zlatá Koruna: Výstava přibližující zločiny Oldřicha II. z Rožmberka - další příspěvek k čtyřsetletému výročí vymření Rožmberků
• Klášter Zlatá Koruna. Dějiny - památky - lidé, České Budějovice 2007 Martin Gaži (ed.), Kolektiv autorů
• Střípky z historie (Czech) . Hrad Strakonice . Město Strakonice (2010). Date of treatment May 21, 2015.