Third Period (I620-1771).—ln the battle at the White Mountain in 1620, the Bohemians lost their political independence, and Ferdinand T. of Austria, seven years later, made Catholicism the State religion of Bohemia. The works of the Protestant writers that had made the 'Golden Age' so brilliant were now seized every where and destroyed. Nevertheless, it was dur ing the opening years of this period that Czech literature reached its highest stage, of purity and finish in the works of Karl Zerotin and Jan Komenk;V. Karl 2erotin (1564-1636), great as are his polemical and historical writings, ac quired a lasting fame through his enormous cor respondence. in which he stands in the very first rank with the few famous letter-writers of the world. Jan Amos Komensk (see CO31 EN ICS ) (1592-1670), who became one of the greatest authorities on questions of pedagogy, spent his life in exile, like Karl Zerotin. His Magna Didac tica; Jan rut Linguarum Reserata Aurea; and hi formato•ium, form his permanent contributions to the domain of pedagogy, philosophy, and religious controversy, and they advanced materially the stylistic standard of Czech literature. His purely literary work, Labyrinth of the Work/ and Para dise of the Heart, is more important as a product of pure literature. All the other writers of this period are of little importance. The sys tematic efforts of the Hapsburgs to crush the Czechs were successful. Higher society be came Germanized, the Czech language was heard only in out-of-the-way hamlets, and Czech books became a great rarity. The works of the Jesuit writers of the period, who employed the Czech language for religious propaganda among the masses—Sturm, BerliNa, Stayer, and Koniag are full of barbarisms, monstrous forms and words. In 1774 Maria. Theresa enforced by a decree the use of German in the intermediate schools as the language of instruction.
Fourth Period—Renaissance (1774 to the pres ent day).—The forcible suppression of the native tongue in the common schools of Bohemia pro duced results entirely opposite to those which were expected, and met a vigorous protest. ('omit Kinsky published in German a plea for the Czech language under the title Erinnernny aber einen hochwieh tigen Gegcnstand (1774), which was followed in 1775 by Balbin's Disscrtatio Apologetiea Lingmc Slovenicw, published by Pelzel. Pelzel himself (1734-1801) was one of a number of young scholars who devoted themselves to the study of their native tongue and the history of their country. Thus appeared Fr. Thomsa's Biihmisehe Sprachtchre (1752) and K. I. Thant's liarzge fasste bohmische Sprachlehrc (1785), which laid the foundations for the study of the language. Pelzel's own contributions were: Typos Declina tionum Lingua Bohcmiccv Novo Method° Dispo sitarum (1793) ; GrundsiiLze der bohmische• Grammatik (1795) ; and especially his historical works, of which the New Bohemian Chronicle was chief. These latter works awakened in terest in their own history among the Czechs. A chair of Czech language was established at Prague in 1793 (Pelzel). The greatest name of this period of Czech literature is that of Josef DobrovskS' (1753-1829) (q.v.), the 'patriarch of Slavic philology.' In his works on grammar and literary history he gathered enormous lexical materials, and the historical and comparative method brought him to the discovery of the rich ness of the ancient classical language, to which his main interests were devoted. It is true that he made a Collection of Czech Proverbs in 1804, but all his works were written in German. Such men as Prochazka, Puchmayer, Jan Nejedl, V. NejedlY-, and others wrote pamphlets for the instruction of the peo ple, compiled dictionaries and grammars, trans lated the classics of European literature, pub lished periodicals, composed plays for the theatre, and even poetry in the sentimental style of the idyls of Gessner. These attempts met with very serious obstacles, owing to the imperfect state of the language, which was practically the old language of the classical period, and which naturally lacked terms for new ideas and con cepts that had cone into vogue during the third period. The language was brought to its final
state of perfection in the works of (q.v.) (1773-1347), the most illustrious name of the early renascence. His translation of Para dise Lost (1811), an almost incredible tour de force. widened the horizon of poetical speech; his Czech Dictionary contained the vocabulary of the language; while his History of Czech Literature presented a complete survey of all the literary remains. He was particularly happy in coining new words, and whenever this ex pedient was fond insufficient he borrowed from other Slavic langmages, especially Russian and Polish. The four other names that are most closely linked with that. of Jimgmann as leaders of the renascence of Bohemia are Kollar. Palaclq-, and Hanka. Kollar (q.v.) (1793-1852), poet and scholar, is famous for his Dagghter of Slava (1824), one of the poetic masterpieces of the Czech language, and his numerous prose works, among which that On tlw Literary Reciprocity Be! wcen the Families and Dialects of the Slavic Nation (1831) advocated literary Panslavism (q.v.). Safafik (1795-1861) was one of the greatest philologists the Slavic countries have produced. Among his works, his Slavic An tiquities (1837) and editions of many literary monuments have all been of importance. Pa (179S-1876) is an historian, whose History of policinia (5 vols., 183(467) is an ideal com bination of critical judgment, profound erudi tion, and striking Ie. Along with them ni.,y be mentioned Hanka (1791-1861), who discov ered the manuscripts of Grtineherg and Kiinigin hot and published a number of other impor tant remains of Czech antiquities. The greatest poet of the period is Frantiek Ladislav Cela kovsky (1799-1852), whose Echoes of Russian and Czech songs, and the long poem The Rose of a Hundred Leaves, together with the poetic works of Kollar, were most responsible for the reawakening of the poetic spirit of the nation. Other names of importance are those of the lyric poets and the epic writers \Voce], \larek, Holly, and Erben, and dramatists like Kliepera and Tyl. Poetry seems to have absorbed all the best energies of the na tion at that time, and the novel, which holds the chief place of honor in the literature of all other nations, did not reach any high level of development. Most works of fiction dealt with themes from Bohemian history. The most noted novelists are Chocholongek, Tyl, and especially Boiena Nemeova (1820-62), whose themes are simple country life. The masterpiece of the latter, Babiaa (Grandmother), has been trans lated into English.
The reorganization of the Austrian Empire on a constitutional basis in 1860-61, which allowed the people of Bohemia scope in the development of political life, and the furtherance of national aspirations, marks the beginning of the modern period in Czech literature. The foundation of a new national theatre at Prague and the establish ment of a Czech university by the side of the old university (1882) gave a great to liter ary activity. Little by little the narrow 'nation al' eurrent gave way to cosmopolitanism, with MAcha as the leading representative of Byron ism. The recognized head of the young genera fion is Viteslav Halek (1835-74). The greatest living poet is Vrch (born 1853), whose .1 Year in the South; Pilgrimages to Eldorado: and the historical dramas Brothers and Draho mira, as well as translations from European classics, are specially noteworthy. Equal in popularity is the poet and novelist Svatopulk l'ech, whose best-known work is A rabesky. Zever, Heyduk. Arbes, Week, and the ladies Eligka Krfisnohorskil (born 1877) and Karo lina Svetlil (horn 1830) are the most popular novelists of the present day. Great activity has also been exhibited in the departments of philology, and literary history, the most impor tant names being those of JireC'ek, Sembera, Ge batter, and Patera.