Prague is known for quite a few things. Kafka, castles, communism...Maybe Mozart.
Possibly Prussians.
(I was reaching there)
For those of you familiar with the reformation, the counter-reformation, the 30 Years War, and European religious conflicts in general, Prague holds a central place in this part of history.(Hopefully, very few of you are aware of that.)
In that spirit, Prague is central to one of the most fun/morbid words in the English language.
I am referring, of course to "defenestration"
This word refers to the act of throwing somebody out of a window, usually as a sign of protest.
In 1483, in an act that precluded Luther's 95 Thesis, the Catholic Church burned Jan Hus, a Czech religious reformist at the stake for heresy. The citizens of Prague responded by throwing the town leader and priests out of the tallest window of the New Town Hall (Novomestka Radnice).
Let me pause to point out that Prague is old enough to have a "New Town" as well as a "New Town Hall" in 1483.
This act spawned the Hussite Wars, which more or less began the process of the reformation.
Below are the possible destinations of the defenestered.
If you think this is the end of the nerdery, you are sorely mistaken.
6 comments:
Good Lord! I hope this isn't an indication of your mental state!
Oh I see how its. I'm a choir nerd who deserves mocking, but your nerdery: totally acceptable. Hmm. YOU'LL GET YOURS BAKER.
When did I ever make fun of your choir? I think it's cool!
Plus, throwing people out of windows for political purposes is way cooler than F-minor chord progressions.
I think there were actually TWO defenestrations in Prague, proving that once is just not enough.
Actually, as I should have said earlier, it proves that the Czechs love "double defenestration."
Yeah, the second defenestration was at the castle.
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