Duels in Bohemia in Early Modern Period

The thesis focuses on the problems of Early Modern Period duels concentrating on aristocratic milieu in Bohemia. The thesis is divided into three chapters. Chapter 1 outlines the problems based on up to now findings especially foreign historical science. A necessary part is the evaluation of the existing literature on up-to-date subject, brief introduction of the methodological approach and an outline of the possible thematic areas. In association with the thematic areas, it is possible to pay attention to the problems of duels. In this Chapter is also a detailed introduction to the chosen methodological solution {--} historical-anthropological draft of honour in the Early Modern Period. The Early Modern Period is based on many categories as e.g. inward and outward honour, honour of a male and a female or individual and collective honour. Chapter 2 puts the Early Modern Period in a spatiotemporal context and tries to introduce not only the predecessor in the way of medieval court duels, aristocratic hate perhaps even knightly tournaments but also his successors in the way of strictly ritualistic duels of the long 19th century. A special attention is paid to an analysis of duel books of references of the 19th century, which is supposed to serve as a solution for the third chapter. Chapter 3 is a personal analysis of the Early Modern Period considering all possible aspects which are possible to be discovered in the context. Attention is paid to all possible reasons of the beginning of the Early Modern Period duels, direct and indirect participants, circumstances which accompanied the Early Modern Period as well as potential results for all parties concerned. The Early Modern duel should be roughly outlined as an original development in the history of duels in terms of untold references in the source of personal nature and personal research. The same emphasis is put in the involvement of a duel as a indivisible part of the intellectual world of the Early Modern period of a human being with a special consideration to the milieu of the noble people. The aim of the thesis is to prove the peculiarity of the Early Modern Period duel and to refer to the characteristic place in the inward world of the then noble rank as well as other ranks of the society