place on the left bank of the Vltava, on the Hradcany Hill. The spot then, and even far later, was covered by a dense forest; the ancient Slavs, it may be noted, generally chose secluded spots surrounded by forests as their dwelling-places. The oldest account, and therefore the most valuable, is that of the chronicler, Cosmas of Prague (about 1045 to 1125), whom I shall again quote. He tells us that Libussa, ‘standing on a high rock on the Vysehrad in presence of her husband Premysl, and the elders of the people incited by the spirit of prophecy uttered this prediction: I see a town the glory of which will reach the stars. There is a spot in the forest, thirty stades from this village, which the River Vltava encircles, and which to the north the stream Brusnice secures by its deep valley; and to the south a rocky hill, which from its rocks takes the name of Petrin,[1] towers above it.... When you have reached this spot you will find a man in the midst of the forest who is working at a door-sill for a house.[2] And as even mighty lords bend before a low door, so from this event you shall call the town which you will build “Praha.”... They proceed immediately to the ancient forest, and having found the sign which had been given them they build on this site a town, Prague, the mistress of all Bohemia.’

This is the most ancient record of the foundation of Prague on which all subsequent ones are based. The older castle on the Vysehrad, separated from the newer foundation by the vast extent of land now occupied by the Staré Mesto (old town) and the Nové Mesto (new town) continued to be the frequent residence of the Bohemian princes.

The date of the foundation of Prague by Libussa is as uncertain as everything concerning that semi-mythical princess. Hajek of Libocan, a chronicler of the sixteenth century, gives the year 752 as the date of the foundation of the castle on the Hradcany Hill. It was at first of a very simple character, consisting probably but of wooden buildings. During the reign of Libussa’s successors—of whom little but their names is known[3]—we have scant information as regards the growth of Prague. After the introduction of Christianity one of the earliest Christian churches is stated to have been erected on the Hradcany at Prague. The new settlement rapidly extended itself, and from an early date we read of the ‘suburbium Pragense,’ which extended on both banks of the river and included the present Malá Strana (small quarter) at the foot of the Hradcany Hill, as well as that part of the Staré Mesto that is nearest to the Vltava. Though there is but little trustworthy information concerning this early period, it is certain that the city gradually spread out on both banks of the river. They were from the earliest historical period united by a bridge that stood near the site of the present far-famed bridge.

Buildings not connected with either the Vysehrad or the Hradcany settlements sprang up at a very early period. According to Professor Tomek, as early as the year 993 some houses stood on the site of the present Poric Street (close to the State Railway Station).

Immediately after the introduction of Christianity, but particularly during the reign of the pious Wenceslas (920-935), many churches were erected at Prague, though the earliest building devoted to Christian worship was at Levy Hradec.[4] According to some accounts a church on the Hradcany was dedicated to the Virgin by Borivoj, the first Christian ruler of Bohemia. It was in this church that St. Wenceslas received the tonsure. The earliest church on the Vysehrad probably dates from nearly the same time. Prince Wenceslas—afterwards sainted—built several churches, and also laid the foundations of the first buildings on the spot where St. Vitus’s Cathedral now stands. Wenceslas was induced to build this church by the gift of an arm of St. Vitus, a precious relic that he received from the German King, Henry I. The first church of St. Vitus, like all the earliest religious buildings in Bohemia, was in the Romanesque style. In 939 the remains of St. Wenceslas were conveyed here from Stará Boleslav, where he had (in 935) been murdered by his treacherous younger brother, Boleslav.[5]

The successor of St. Wenceslas, Boleslav I., whom Palacky calls ‘one of the most powerful monarchs that ever occupied the Bohemian throne,’ greatly extended the frontiers of his country, a fact that necessarily largely increased the importance of his capital; but of yet greater importance for the development of Prague was—in accordance with the ideas of the time—the foundation of the bishopric in 973. It took place during the reign of Boleslav II., the son and successor of Boleslav I. Bohemia had formerly belonged to the diocese of Regensburg or Ratisbon. At the time of the foundation the Bohemian princes ruled not only over Bohemia and its sister lands (Moravia and Silesia), but also over Southern Poland, Galicia and a large part of Northern Hungary. All these countries formed parts of the new bishopric of Prague. Palacky justly regrets that an archbishopric was not founded for so vast an extent of land. It is only several centuries later that Prague became an archbishopric. The first bishop, Thietmar, was, after a short time, succeeded by Vojtech or Adalbert, a Bohemian who was afterwards sainted and is still one of the patrons of the country. After the death of Boleslav II., in 999, civil war broke out in Bohemia, and the development of Prague was necessarily retarded.

TOMB OF OTTOKAR I.

The population of Prague—originally entirely Slavic—was at an early period increased by German immigrants. They first arrived at Prague as permanent residents during the reign of King Vratislav (1061-1092). They settled on the right bank of the Vltava, and, favoured by the Bohemian Sovereigns, increased rapidly. They were granted special privileges by Sobeslav, and these privileges were afterwards extended by King Wenceslas I. Thus the old town in distinction from the new town, afterwards founded by Charles IV., long had a somewhat German character, and indeed only entirely lost it during the Hussite Wars. The old document stating that ‘no German or Jew shall be burgomaster of the old town of Prague,’ which is still shown in the town hall, only dates from this period.

The old town, however, always contained a strong Bohemian-Slavic element, and the fusion of the two nationalities undoubtedly became closer when, during the reign of King Wenceslas I., the old town