Acknowledgements
The author would particularly like to thank Dr Alena Pazderová of the
Czech National Archive, and Sona Cernocka of the Lobkowicz Library
and Archives, for their help in locating the original documents concern-
ing the trials of the leading Bohemian rebels which are referred to in
Chapter 7. Thanks also go to Professor Ceri Davies, Emeritus Professor
of Classics at Swansea University, for his assistance in translating the
Latin text.
Conventions
Dates given in this book are ‘new style’ according to the Gregorian
calendar.
Germanic name forms are used throughout for Germanic people.
Where recognised Germanic forms for Czech names exist these are
also used. Standard anglicisations are employed where relevant for the
names of other people.
The German aristocratic titles of Markgraf (margrave), Landgraf
(landgrave), andPfalzgraf (palgrave) were higher than simply Graf
(count), and as they were almost equivalent to duke this is sometimes
used for convenience, particularly collectively. All ranks above count
were also entitled to be calledFürst(prince).
‘Estates’ can refer either to assemblies, or to the individuals, classes
of individuals, or corporate bodies (i.e. cities) entitled to sit in or to be
represented in them. To limit the potential confusion a capital ‘E’ is used
for the former and lower case for the latter.
All translations are the author’s own.
Notes and References
There are no notes, but source references are given throughout the text
in the form of author names and page numbers. Details are given in the
bibliography, where works by the same author are distinguished by the
abbreviations shown.
ix