Kladruby Monastery is a Benedictine monastery in western Bohemia, founded in 1115 by Prince Vladislaus I according to most sources.
Kladruby Monastery is a Benedictine monastery in Kladruby in western Bohemia. According to the interpretation of the National Heritage Institute, it was founded in 1115 by Prince Vladislaus I.[1]
Foundation and location
At the beginning of the 12th century the western borderland of princely Bohemia was a territory almost untouched by colonisation. Under Vladislaus I the westernmost parts of the country began to attract settlers from the interior and from abroad and came under the direct influence of the Přemyslids. According to most sources, Vladislaus I founded a Benedictine monastery in 1115, which took part in founding villages and building roads.[1] Kladruby was also chosen for a strategic reason, since it lay near the Nuremberg trade route running from the area around Nuremberg through Prague to the Baltic.[1] The late Romanesque three-nave basilica was completed in 1233 and consecrated in the presence of King Wenceslaus I.[1]
The end of the 14th century
The political situation at the end of the 14th century was also reflected in the history of the monastery. King Wenceslaus IV wished to abolish the monastery and use its property to found a new bishopric for western Bohemia, which would have weakened the influence of Archbishop John of Jenštejn. The archbishop, however, recognised the election of a new abbot from among the Kladruby Benedictines and prevented the monastery's end.[1] He could no longer save the vicar general John of Pomuk, whose death deepened the rift between the king and the archbishop. John of Pomuk was canonised in 1729 as John of Nepomuk and proclaimed patron of Bohemia, second patron of Bavaria and co-patron of Munich.[1]
Baroque reconstruction
The monastery reached its greatest artistic flowering under Abbot Maurus Fintzguth, elected in 1701. He had the monastery church rebuilt. He approached two architects, Christoph Dientzenhofer and Jan Blažej Santini Aichel, and chose Santini's design. The church was rebuilt between 1711 and 1726 in the form of Baroque Gothic, which emphasised its age and architectural significance.[1] Santini made use of the original construction of the Romanesque three naves in the perimeter masonry and in the transept, and partly preserved the Romanesque piers of the nave arcades in the choir section.[1]