Medieval Challenges Modern

This small book (in fact, an MA Thesis) is dedicated to a particular aspect of one historiographical debate going in the Czech lands from the end of the 18th century onwards - the discussion over authenticity of the so-called Legenda Christiani. This Legenda contains Lives of St. Wenceslas and St. Ludmila in the broader historical context and claims to be written at the end of the tenth century; however, it was often hold the text is a fake and has been written in the 12th or even in the 14th century. This work deals with one aspect of this debate, namely: how Christianus monachus, the presupposed author of the legend, was represented in Czech historiography. The choice of this rather narrow topic explains why one will not find in this book a broader picture of historiographical and cultural currents existent in Czech lands during these two centuries. Its aim is to show how personal attitudes of historians towards their subject prevailed in this case over other considerations. Even if one may disagree with its main idea, the work brings information over some aspects of Czech historiography which might be useful for a Western reader.