Bohdan Małysz
Peregrinus Cracoviensis, Numer 26 (1), 2015, s. 35 - 62
https://doi.org/10.4467/20833105PC.15.003.8874The religious aspect in Bohemian-Spanish relations in the Middle Ages
In a geographical and cultural sense, relations between Bohemia and Spain in the Middle Ages were relations between the eastern periphery of the West and the western periphery of the East. About half of the contacts in the whole of Bohemian- -Spanish relations were based on religious motives. The aim of the article is to present the religious aspect in Bohemian-Spanish relations in the Middle Ages. The main motive for Spaniards travelling to Bohemia was the fight against the Hussites. The participation of Spaniards in this struggle was to a lesser extent armed, and rather more ideological.
Documented, direct and strictly religious Bohemian-Spanish contacts, date back to the late Middle Ages. The dominant motive of journeys from Bohemia to Spain was the cult of St. James the Greater of Compostela. Allegations regarding possible pilgrimages of the Bohemians to the apostle’s grave have been known since the 12th century, but unquestionable evidence comes only from the second half of the 14th century. The highest number of pilgrimages is recorded in the sources from the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century, especially in the safe conducts of the chancellery of Aragon. In addition to the isolated case of Prokop the Great – the then representative
of the patrician family from Prague, Silesian dukes from the Přemyslid and Piast dynasties, and several other representatives of Bohemian and Moravian nobles, went down in the history of Spain.