The course is focused on the period of the history of the Czech lands, which is defined by the Thirty Years' War to the breakthrough related to the events of the general development of Europe at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. In the course of the lecture series, the students' attention will be gradually directed to the spectrum of profound political, social, economic and cultural transformations of the Czech lands, which are closely related to the crisis moments of the first half of the 17th century (the failed Estates, the Thirty Years' War, population and economic regression, etc.). The focus here will not only be on the overall development, but will also touch in a partial way on the changes in the meaning and position of the individual social strata of contemporary Estates society (nobility, urban state and serf society). The process of consolidation of the monarchical power in the Bohemian lands and the Habsburg monarchy during the 17th and early 18th centuries will be further traced, and the assertion of absolutist principles will be characterised in the context of (and in comparison with) political conditions in other European states. This section will also include aspects of the religious and cultural development of the Czech lands in the early modern period (from recatholization to limited tolerance). Characteristics of the 18th century will then point to the gradual change in the centralist tendencies of the Habsburg rulers, focusing on their efforts at correct political, economic or social reforms (Enlightenment reforms). The economic development of the Bohemian lands will also be examined as a separate topic, and the principles of the promotion of modern forms of production and trade, as well as their connection with the absolutist state in Central Europe, will be presented. The last strand will then focus the attention of the students on the transformation brought about by the end of the 18th century itself. In a broader context, a wide range of preconditions for a national movement will be characterized, in the context of stimuli closely related to the transformation of European thought and culture (especially the Enlightenment), as well as Europe-wide events that fundamentally transformed European society as a whole (the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Wars, and the Congress of Vienna).
The graduate of the course demonstrates knowledge of the complex historical development of the early modern period in the Czech lands. The student is able to characterize the main development tendencies in a clear manner, to illuminate the most important processes and phenomena of the period in the context of the level of knowledge of contemporary historiography. At a specific level, it reliably defines the key concepts of the period under study and is able to illuminate and justify them in terms of spatial and chronological contexts. The graduate can also place the development of the Czech lands in the overall context of the development of the Habsburg Monarchy and other countries of Central Europe. For the graduate of the course, the competence in the area of working with the source base is important. The graduate will be able to identify and define the basic historical source types relevant to the Czech early modern period. He/she understands their basic structure and within this framework is able to propose a basic research procedure or a spectrum of methods suitable for the research use of a particular source type (examples).
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