Overview of the Church's Property Law in the Czech Lands during the Middle Ages

• Author: Pavel Krafl
• Position: Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra
• Pages: 31-56

BRATISLAVA

LAW

REVIEW

PUBLISHED BY

THE FACULTY OF LAW,

COMENIUS UNIVERSITY

BRATISLAVA

ISSN (print): 2585-7088

ISSN (electronic): 2644-6359

OVERVIEW OF THE CHURCH’S PROPERTY LAW IN THE

CZECH LANDS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES / Pavel Krafl

Prof. Dr. Pavel Krafl

Constantine the Philosopher

University in Nitra

Faculty of Arts

Hodžova 1,

949 74 Nitra,

Slovak Republic

paotk@proton.me

ORCID: 0000-0003-0595-7904

Abstract:

Aim of the study is to provide an overview of the issue

of Church property law in Bohemia and Moravia during the Middle

Ages. Specifically, we consider the territory of the Prague and

Olomouc dioceses. The main founder of churches and

ecclesiastical institutions in the early Middle Ages was the duke,

while from the 12th century magnates also became involved in

founding these institutions. In the early period of founders, the

property donated to the Church was treated in the spirit of

respecting the rights of the proprietary churches. The law of

patronage, which was progressively implemented during the 13th

century and first half of the 14th century, brought change. In order

to exclude the assets of ecclesiastical institutions, including the

serfs who lived there, from the general legal system, immunities

were important. Bishoprics and individual monasteries received

immunity documents from the mid-12th century, and to a greater

extent from the early 13th century.

Submitted:

13 June 2023

Accepted:

06 September 2023

Published:

29 December 2023

Key words: Medieval Canon Law; Church’s Property Law;

Immunity of Ecclesiastical Estates; Bohemia and Moravia.

Suggested citation:

Krafl, P. (2023). Overview of the Church’s Property Law in the

Czech Lands during the Middle Ages. Bratislava Law Review, 7(2),

31-56. https://doi.org/10.46282/blr.2023.7.2.460

1. INTRODUCTION

In the Middle Ages, church property, that is to say the assets of the Church ,

comprised property which belonged to public church entities. One mark of church

property was the purpose for which it was designed, i.e., the holding of church services,

the support of clergy and other persons active within the Church, and for pastoral and

charity activities. According to institutional theory, the property belonged to individual

church entities (Hrdina, 2002, pp. 311–313). Church institutio ns acquired property

through pious legacies to the church such as immovable property, and also through

revenue arising from these. Church institutions were also able to acquire a small amount

of income through easements. Some Church officials and authorities may also have

received income through fees and fines. We also come across fief law in regard to Church

property. Property was alienated through the sale, pledge, and confiscation of property

by secular authorities. Our aim is to provide an overview of the issue of Church property

law in the Czech lands during the Middle Ages. Specifically, we consider the territory of

the Prague and Olomouc dioceses, which were part of the Mainz ecclesiastical province.

In 1344, the bishopric of Pra gue was elevated to an archbishopric, with the Archdiocese

of Prague, the Diocese of Olomouc, and the newly-established Diocese of Litomyšl

comprising the Prague ecclesiastical province.

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P. KRAFL

BRATISLAVA LAW REVIEW

Vol. 7 No 2 (2023)

The basic edition of documents from Bohemia and Moravia is the Codex

diplomaticus et epistolaris regni Bohemiae (CDB), which now goes back to 1283. The

Moravian Codex diplomaticus (CDM), which ends in 1411, can also be used. Also

important is the regesta of documents on Bohemian and Moravian history, Regesta

diplomatica nec non epistolaria Bohemiae et Moraviae (RBM), which curren tly covers the

period to 1369. This edition is followed by the regesta catalogue for the period of

Wenceslas IV, i.e., for the years 1378–1419 (RBMV). The Vatican’s Monumenta (MVB;

Eršil, 1980), which includes documents from 1305–1431, holds an important place in the

history of ecclesiastical law in the Czech Lands. The edition of the Moravian Land Tables,

set up by the noble provincial court for registering the ownership of allodial properties,

was edited by Josef Chytil (Chytil, 1856a, 1856b). Josef Emler undertook a reconstruction

of the Bohemian Land Tables, which are not extant (Emler, 1870–1872). Statutes

published by bishops are significant in regard to property law – in particular, in terms of

the law of patronage and affairs related to the alienation of property. Legatine statutes,

provincial statutes, diocesan statutes, and synodal protocols of the Prague (arch)bishops

up to the Hussite Revolution were compiled in editions by Rostislav Zelený, Jaroslav

Kadlec, Jaroslav V. Polc, and Zdeňka Hledíková (Polc and Hledíková, 2002). Pavel Krafl

edited the diocesan statutes of the Bishops of Olomouc (Krafl, 2014). Of the official

editions of the books of the Archbishopric of Prague, one should note the confirmation

books of 1354–1419, published by František Antonín Tingl and Josef Emler (Tingl and

Emler, 1867–1886), and the erection books of 1358–1407, published by Kliment Borový

and Antonín Podlaha (Borový, Podlaha, Pelikán and Pátková, 1875–2002). The papers of

the Vicars General of the Prague Archbishopric from the period after 1379 contain

numerous records on disputes over benefices and patronage law. These books were

edited by Ferdinand Tadra (Tadra, 1893–1901). The Bishopric of Olomouc books of fiefs

are available in Karel Lechner’s publication (Lechner, 1902). The urbaria of Church

institutions were the subject of a work put together by Josef Emler (Emler, 1881). The

urbarium of the monastery of Canons Regular of St Augustine in Třeboň was edited by

Adolf Ludvík Krejčík (Krejčík, 1949). The urbaria of the C istercian monastery in Žďár nad

Sázavou from the 15th century were published by Metoděj Zemek and Josef Pohanka

(Zemek and Pohanka, 1961). Miroslav Černý prepared the edition of a tract which was

produced by the ecclesiastical lawyer Kuneš of Třebovle on the orders of the Archbishop

of Prague, Jan of Jenštejn. The tract looks at the escheat of rural farms in the estates of

the Archbishopric of Prague (Černý, 1988; 1999, pp. 136–153).

2. ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY

Bořivoj I, Duke of Bohemia, had the first church in Bohemia built in Levý Hradec,

and the Church of the Virgin Mary built at Prague Castle. Some of the first churches built

by his successors included, for example, St Peter’s rotunda in Budeč, St George’s Basilica

and St Vitus’s rotunda at Prague Castle, and St Peter’s rotunda in Starý Plzenec. The

Benedictine monasteries of St George at Prague Castle, Břevnov, and Ostrov were

founded (Merhautová, 2006, pp. 154–157). The churches which were set up at the dukes’

castle seats around the country had parish rights. A group of priests worked there,

headed by an archpriest, who were appointed by the duke or castle governor (Bláhová,

Frolík and Profantová, 1999, p. 363). In the second half of the 11th century, magnates

began setting up churches on their estates, with larger numbers of village churches

established in the 12th century. These remained chapels without parish rights for the

meantime. During the second half of the 12th century, these rural churches gradually

gained independence (Kadlec, 1991, pp. 90–91; Bláhová, Frolík and Profantová, 1999, pp.