testaments in premyslid bohemia ception (Kojata), sealed by the ruler, or the ruler issued his own document about it. An unconfirmed will was also only partially respected by the king. If the nobleman had sons, there was apparently no royal confirmation required (as for Bavor of Strakonice and Vok of Rosenberg), although in one case (Boček of Penegg) the testator requested such a confirmation. Clergymen represented another group of inhabitants who were eligible to make testaments.44 Not only high church dignitaries, such as the Bishops of Olomouc, Robert (r. 1201–1204) and Bruno of Schauenburg (r. 1245–1281),45 but also lower-rank clergymen wrote last wills. Unique proof has remained from the second quarter of the 12th century. Although the document of the priest and canon of the Únětice Church of the Virgin Mary (village northwest of Prague) Zbyhněv46 is not marked as a testament, its issuer provides a detailed description of his property, including the persons who worked on it, and ordered how the property and the servants should be dealt with. The provisions also included instructions for Zbyhněv’s burial. Last wills made by the clergy became more common from the last quarter of the 13th century onwards. Jindřich Šebánek, professor of auxiliary historical sciences in Brno, in the 1960s created a list and conducted an analysis of these last wills.47 His work shows that the testators were primarily high-ranking and wealthy clergymen from the most significant churches in Bohemia and Moravia, and the canons of the Episcopal churches in Prague and Olomouc, as well as the Collegiate Vyšehrad Chapter, 312 44 Cf. Šebánek 1965, pp. 287–301. 45 Friedrich 1942, no. 128, p. 159; Emler 1882, no. 571, p. 219. Cf. Šebánek 1965, p. 298, no. 8. – They are not wills in the proper sense (actuated in case of death) but concern the arrangement of the diocese. Cf. Bárta 2009. 46 Friedrich 1904–1907, no. 124, pp. 129–131. Cf. Smetánka 2004, passim. In scholarly literature, Zbyhněv is often mistakenly referred to as a canon of Prague. Cf. Žemlička 1997, p.242. 47 Cf. Šebánek 1965, pp. 287–301. Testaments of the clergy
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjYyNDk=