Questions about Bohemia
Short answers, pulled from the story.
What is Bohemia and where is it located?
Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic, covering an area of 52,065 square kilometers. It is bordered by Austria to the south, Bavaria to the west, Saxony and Lusatia to the north, Silesia to the northeast, and Moravia to the east, with its borders largely defined by mountain ranges including the Bohemian Forest, the Ore Mountains, and the Giant Mountains.
Where does the name Bohemia come from?
The name Bohemia derives from the Celtic tribe known as the Boii and the Proto-Germanic word haimaz, meaning home. Roman writers combined these into Boiohaemum, the earliest recorded form of the name. The first known written use appears in Tacitus' Germania 28, composed at the end of the first century AD.
Who was Jan Hus and why was he executed?
Jan Hus was the rector of Charles University in Prague and a prominent religious reformer. He was condemned as a heretic at the Council of Constance and burned at the stake on the 6th of July 1415, despite having been promised safe conduct by Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg before making the journey to the council.
What was the Sudetenland and what happened to it?
The Sudetenland was the border region of Bohemia historically inhabited predominantly by ethnic Germans. After the Munich Agreement in 1938, it was annexed by Nazi Germany. Following World War II, the Potsdam Agreement provided the basis for expelling the vast majority of the German-speaking population, and their confiscated property was estimated at roughly a third of the entire Czechoslovak national income.
What connection does the word dollar have to Bohemia?
The word dollar traces back to Bohemia. In the mining town of Sankt Joachimsthal, now called Jachymov, large silver coins called Joachimsthalers were struck during the period of substantial German settlement that began in the mid-thirteenth century. The name Joachimsthaler was shortened to thaler, which eventually became dollar.
What was the Velvet Revolution and how did it affect Bohemia?
The Velvet Revolution of 1989 ended communist rule in Czechoslovakia, which had been installed after a coup by Klement Gottwald in February 1948. After the subsequent Velvet Divorce in 1993, Bohemia's territory remained within the newly independent Czech Republic, though a 1997 constitutional act confirmed that it would not be restored as a self-governing administrative unit.