.jpg){kind=link}
The story
Bronze Age and Iron Age
Archaeological finds show that the area around the Kaňk hill was populated by Celts during the Hallstatt and La Tène periods. At the Celtic settlement site between Libenice and Kaňk, numerous ceramic finds from the 5th–1st century BC were discovered in 1981. One of the most important finds is a smelting furnace with 10 kilograms (22 lb) of slag from the 2nd–1st century BC with traces of pyrrhotine, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and copper, which also testify to early underground mining in the Kaňk hill.
Establishment
The earliest traces of silver have been found dating back to the 10th century, when Bohemia already had been in the crossroads of long-distance trade for many centuries. Silver dinars from the period between 985–995 were discovered in the settlement of Malín, which is now a part of Kutná Hora.
In 1142, the Sedlec Abbey, the first Cistercian monastery in Bohemia, was founded in the area of Sedlec by the monks from the Waldsassen Abbey in Bavaria. The abbey's economic problems were solved by the discovery of silver near Sedlec, which attracted new settlers, especially from nearby German-speaking regions. Silver began to be mined in 1260. In the early days of mining, several nameless settlements emerged. The first mention of Kutná Hora (under its Latin name Mons Cuthna) is from 1289.
Middle Ages
In 1300, King Wenceslaus II issued the new royal mining code Ius regale montanorum. This was a legal document that specified all administrative as well as technical terms and conditions necessary for the operation of mines. Shortly after 1300, Kutná Hora became the seat of the central mint of the Czech lands, in which Prague groschen were minted. The town gradually became the second most important town of the Kingdom of Bohemia (after Prague) and its main financial centre.
In December 1402, the town was the target of King Sigismund during his conquest of Kutná Hora after the imprisonment of Wenceslaus IV. It was heavily defended by its residents. After several bloody skirmishes, Sigismund prevailed and forced the defenders to march to Kolín and kneel in subjugation. Although Sigismund was successful in his conquest, his hetman Markvart of Úlice died after being struck by an arrow during the siege of Suchdol castle on 27 December.
On 18 January 1409, King Wenceslaus IV signed the Decree of Kutná Hora in the town, by which the Czech university nation was given three votes in the elections to the faculty of Prague University as against one for the three other nations.
In 1420, Sigismund made the town the base for his unsuccessful attack on the Taborites during the Hussite Wars, leading to the Battle of Kutná Hora. The development of the town was interrupted in 1421, when the Hussites burned down the Sedlec Abbey and captured Kutná Hora. In 1422–1424, part of the German population was expelled and the town was hit by two large fires. Silver mining was restored in 1469. Religious peace of Kutná Hora was concluded in Kutná Hora in 1485.
16th–19th centuries
Due to the threat of flooding in the deepest mines and the decreasing potency of silver ore, mining in Kutná Hora was reduced in the 1530s. The most important mining zone was closed in 1543. The production of the Prague groschen terminated in 1547. Despite these events, the remaining activities of the town were sufficient to ensure Kutná Hora's prosperity.
Read the full text
As a result of the Battle of White Mountain, religious freedom began to be violated. In 1626, the Jesuits were invited to Kutná Hora, and they built here a college. The Thirty Years' War caused economic difficulties. Mining was stopped in 1625. Two major raids by the Swedish army in 1639 and 1643 caused extensive damage to the town and a reduction in population. The town's economic recovery occurred at the end of the 1650s with the development of crafts. The town also began to be a centre of education thanks to the Jesuits.
At the beginning of the 18th century, there were attempts to open new silver mines. However, the new silver veins were thin and therefore unprofitable. In 1727, the mint was closed and Kutná Hora definitely ceased to be a mining town. At the beginning of the 19th century, Kutná Hora was still among the larger towns in the Czech lands, but its importance was declining.
20th century
Until 1918, the town was the capital of the district of the same name in Austria-Hungary, one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Bohemia. Together with the rest of Bohemia, the town became part of the newly founded Czechoslovakia after World War I and the collapse of Austria-Hungary.
There was a Jewish community in Kutná Hora. In 1939–1945, during the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, the community was dissolved with mass deportations, many via Theresienstadt Ghetto, and never recovered.
From Wikipedia’s article on Kutná Hora, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4