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The
Karlstejn chapter was founded as a part of the castle...
The Chapter Deanery
The
sculpture 'The Crucifixion of Christ' has its origin in the Monastery
of St. .lohn Below the Rock near Karlstejn. It dates approximately in
1420.
The northern tract with two rooms
adjoining the imperial palace most likely served the sovereign's personal
guards. In the 16th century this tract was used for the needs of the
Karlstejn chapter, which was founded as a part of the castle during
the reign of Charles IV.
Its foundation charter of 27
March, 1357 informs us that the chapter was to realize a clerical
service in the castle chapels and, at the same time, to protect the
jewels and relics deposited in them. The chapter was headed by a chaplain,
who in Charles's time held the post of court chaplain, and four canons.
The task of this group was to serve mass in the Church of Our Lady,
in St. Nicholas's Chapel and also in the branch church consecrated to
St. Palmatius at Budnany. According to preserved reports the canons
were rid of their worldly activity, a special house being built for
them at the foot of the hill called Knezi hora. In a later period, concretely
in the 16th century, they were given accommodation in the castle itself.
The rooms adjoining the former private room of Charles IV were placed
at their disposal. They were connected up at later date.
The Karlstejn chapter experienced
its greatest period of flourish from the time of its foundation up to
the first half of the 15th century, when it lost most of its revenues.
The most important period of the chapter definitely came to an end when
the coronation jewels and the archives of the Czech crown were transferred
to Prague in 1619 and the collection of relics to St. Vitus's Cathedral
in 1645.
Many outstanding personalities
played a role in the history of the Karlstejn deanery. There is documentary
evidence that the first deacon was Kunes, who held the function until
1359. Clearly the best-known dean was Vaclav Hajek of Libocany, who
won renown especially as a historian and the author of The Czech Chronicle.
He worked at Karlstejn from 1526 to 1533. From the latter half of the
16th century the deans did not reside permanently at Karlstejn, most
of the church services being carried out for them by the administrators.
In the first half of the 18th century
the dean Vaclav Vojta tried, even if not for long, to renew the former
renown of the chapter. In 1842 Archbishop A. J. Schrenk visited the
castle. He established a foundation with the aim that it should be used
to pay for the costs incurred by the solemn mass served every year on
the day of the anniversary of Charles IV's death, i.e., on 29 November.
After the large-scale adaptations and restoration of the castle in the
late 19th century the Church of Our Lady was newly consecrated by Archbishop
P. Huyn on 18 August, 1918.
The activity of the Karlstejn chapter continues to follow in
the tradition of its illustrious history. On the occasion of the 600th
anniversary of the foundation of the chapter in 1957 non-resident canons
were appointed. Nowadays the members of the chapter perform regular
church services at Karlstejn, i.e., three solemn masses every year -
on the day of the Assumption of Our Lady and the day of the anniversary
of the foundation of the chapter and on the day of the anniversary of
the death of Charles IV a mass for the dead. All masses are served in
the Church of Our Lady or at St. Nicholas's Chapel.
The most outstanding
item in this interior is a Renaissance cabinet richly decorated with
carving. The group of paintings on the walls portray humanistic scholars
and church dignitaries of the 15th and 16th centuries.
The two rooms of the former deanery bring the activity of the
Karlstejn chapter in the 16th and 17th centuries to mind.
The immediate interior is furnished with a suite of Renaissance furniture
dominated by a richly carved cabinet of the early 17th century.
The
group of portraits presents outstanding humanistic scholars and
philosophers. The body of crucified Christ originated about 1420 and
came from the nearby Monastery of St. John Below the Rock.
