„ČAS BOJE, ČAS POKOJE“. KALENDÁŘ A VÁLEČNÁ TAŽENÍ V RANĚ PŘEMYSLOVSKÝCH ČECHÁCH
„A TIME FOR WAR, A TIME FOR PEACE.“ CALENDAR AND MILITARY CAMPAIGNS IN THE EARLY PŘEMYSLID BOHEMIA

Summary/Abstract: In the study, the author treats the question which seasons of the year were used for military actions in the Bohemian Lands in the High Middle Ages; that is “when regiments usually set out for battle” or “when the kings go to war”, as the medieval chroniclers put it. In this context, it is necessary to differentiate the military actions by the extent to which they had been prepared or planned in advance or compelled by external circumstances. The source analyses showed that regular military actions that the rulers of Bohemia undertook (invasions into neighbouring lands and securing borders or conquered territories) took place, in the 11th and 12th centuries, usually in spring or at the beginning of summer. Before the harvest time, the army set back to Bohemia. In the main harvest time, the military actions took place only when compelled by serious circumstances. Only campaigns against Hungarians were on several occasions organised in winter. A different scenario came to play with Imperial military campaigns which the Bohemian army took part in. These were regularly started during summer holidays of Virgin Mary, that is mostly in mid-August, less frequently on September 8. A hypothesis suggests itself that the Bohemian “time for war” might have been coordinated with the Imperial schedule. While in spring or beginning of summer, the Bohemians organised the military campaigns on their own, and came back home before summer harvest, after harvest time, in mid-August, alternatively in September, they set out for fight to help the Emperor. The military actions beyond the above mentioned times, or even in the season that was prohibited by the Church for war campaigns, such as Lent, were usually a surprise and extremely disadvantageous for the attacked party.

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