The abbesses of St. George's Convent in Prague and the coronations of the queens of Bohemia

This Bachelor thesis analyzes the coronations of the queens of Bohemia, putting emphasis on the presence of abbesses of St. George's Convent of Benedictine nuns in Prague Castle. It follows this phenomenon throughout its whole history, from the first Bohemian coronation in 1085 to the last in 1836, and thus covers a long period from the Middle Ages through the early modern period to the threshold of the modern era. The aim is to clarify the origins, development and changes of the task of the St. George's abbesses during the coronation ceremonies in Prague, which has no parallel anywhere else in Europe. It also endeavors to identify the particular abbesses who participated in each coronation, find details from their lives, and outline the general state of St. George's Convent at that time. It uses primarily the testimonies of original sources of various types, such us annals, chronicles, coronation ordines, descriptions of the coronations, charters, diaries, gravestones, and iconographic sources. The research shows that the role of the abbesses at the coronations changed throughout the centuries; while in the Middle Ages it occurred principally in the accompaniment of the queen, the abbess later participated together with the archbishop of Prague and the supreme burgrave of the Kingdom of Bohemia..