Literary Reaction to Conversion
Literary Reaction to Conversion

The Case of Jiří Sovka of Chrudim

Summary/Abstract: The religious conversions were nothing extraordinary in the Bohemia of the Jagellonian era, but conversions of priests could cause a serious religious disturbance. An important but little–known case from the beginning of the 16th century is that of Jiří Sovka of Chrudim. His case was a sensitive matter for Utraquists, so the descriptions of his conversion are plentiful but biased. In the article, I am trying to survey the construction of the image of Sovka’s conversion and its use in various kinds of texts. The conversion narratives presented here can tell us more about community standards of belief than about the individual conversion experience. Sovka was perceived as a part of the line of the great converts from Utraquism and was used as a warning example for Utraquists. The chronicles used Sovka as an example of the convert, the Song about Sovka tried to destroy Sovka’s credibility amongst the common people and Písecký tried to repudiate personal doubts about faith caused by Sovka with Socratic dialogue. The image of Sovka’s conversion was quite conventional. His motives were downplayed as a mere desire for money and glory and his character was subjected to polemical attacks, most of them part of the topical image of conversion. However, Sovka’s image differed in two important aspects – to a certain level, all texts acknowledge Sovka’s learning and/or his skills as a preacher, probably due to his close connection to Prague university.

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