Christian of Prachatice

The era of the Bohemian Middle Ages was significantly enriched by a remarkable scholar who worked in Prague shortly after the founding of Charles University, Christian of Prachatice (around 1360–1439). His theoretical and practical involvement in the fields of medicine, botany, astronomy, mathematics and theology bore considerable fruit in the history of the natural sciences. 

Christian of Prachatice was born sometime after 1360 in Prachatice and in 1390 became a master of the liberal arts at Charles University. He then went on to study medicine and theology and between 1403 and 1437 was repeatedly appointed the dean and rector of Charles University, where he taught mathematics and astronomy at the Faculty of Arts. During his time spent working in Prague he became close friends with Sigismund Albicus of Uničov and Jan Hus, who was also from Pošumaví (Christian of Prachatice not only helped to fund Jan Hus’s studies, but remained a dear friend of his until the end of Hus’s life).

Besides writing medical books, on topics such as blood-letting and plague, Christian of Prachatice also made his names as the author of the first Latin herbarium written by a Czech. The herbarium was translated into Czech while he was still alive. It is considered more of a medical work than a botanical one. It contained around 350 entries, which also allegedly included the Czech names of plants. In around 1400 this interdisciplinary scholar wrote his work on mathematics, followed by, probably in 1407, his two famous Latin treatises O stavbě astrolábu [On the Construction of the Astrolabe] and O užití astrolábu [On the Use of the Astrolabe], which were intended for university use.

The fields of astronomy and astrology were reflected not only in his medical publications, but were also part of Christian of Prachatice’s work in the service of Wenceslas IV. As a theologian he worked in two churches in Prague, in the newly-built St. Stephen's Church in the New Town, and also in the Old Town, and hence particularly lavish, St. Michael’s Church, which under Christian became a centre for the promotion of the moderate Hussite reform efforts. Christian of Prachatice also worked as a general practitioner, as is apparent from his (sadly no longer existent) medical rules for the house near St. Michael’s Church in which he lived, which, it seems, were intended for the enlightenment of his patients. He died of the plague in 1439. 

Čížek, K.: Křišťan z Prachatic a jeho dílo z hlediska botaniky. Sborník Západočeského muzea v Plzni. Příroda. Plzeň 1994.

Hadravová, A., Hadrava, P.: Křišťan z Prachatic: Stavba a užití astrolábu. Praha 2001, s. 13–43.

Stehlíková, D.: Od anděliky po zimostráz. Latinský Herbář Křišťana z Prachatic a počátky staročeských herbářů. Brno 2017, s. 11–75.