September 16: Celebrating the Discovery of the Hradec Králové Manuscript

So-called Manuscripts include four items, and it’s still uncertain whether they are fake or significant works from the early days of Czech literature. The most well-known is the The manuscript of Kralove Dvory, which was found on 16 September 1817 by Václav Hanka in the cellar of a church tower in Dvůr Králové nad Labem. There’s also the Zelenohorský manuscript, which was discovered at the Zelená hora castle close to Nepomuk. Other manuscripts were found too: in 1816, Josef Linda found what is known as the Vyšehrad Song, and in 1819, the Love Song of King Wenceslas was uncovered by a person named Zimmermann at the University Library in Prague, which is very similar to the tales of his namesake, Jára Cimrman.

Year 1817: Manuscript of Zelenohora

The Zelená Hora Castle near Nepomuk has been important in Czech history several times. It’s the location of the Jednota Zelenohorská and is mentioned in Švandrlík’s novel The Black Barons. In 1817, a manor official named Josef Kovář discovered two dusty sheets of parchment in an old cupboard. At first glance, they seemed like a relic from medieval times. The castle’s lord, Jerome Colloredo-Mannsfeld, wasn’t supportive of the Czech revivalist movement, so Kovář took no action at first. But later in 1818, he learned about a new Museum of the Kingdom of Bohemia, known today as the National Museum, and realized he could send contributions to it. Without hesitating, he mailed the parchments from Prague after addressing them to the High Chamberlain, Count František Antonín Kolowrat, stating that it was a donation for the new museum. However, the concealment was uncovered later, resulting in the lord of the castle kicking Kovář out and furiously burning other papers stored with the manuscript, although he wasn’t able to destroy the manuscript itself.

Year 1817: Manuscript from Hanover

The manuscript of Hanover was supposedly discovered by a 26-year-old lawyer named Václav Hanka in the Dean’s Church of St. John the Baptist in Dvůr Králové nad Labem during a visit. Unlike the discovery in Nepomuk, we know some specifics about this event: it happened on 16 September 1817, and Hanka was actually looking for old arrows from the Hussite period, although we aren’t sure why. This event had five witnesses.

Nor is The manuscript of Hanover an extensive text; it consists of seven parchment sheets, featuring fourteen songs filled with Czech patriotic spirit on both sides. A few years later, when Hank became a librarian at the National Museum, he donated this manuscript to its collection.

Year 1816: the Song of Vyšehrad

The origin of a single parchment sheet with nineteen lines is a bit more mysterious. It is also preserved in the National Museum, noted as “19 lines on a parchment sheet discovered by Linda”. This refers to Josef Linda (around 1789-1834), who was a writer, playwright, and journalist. He reportedly found this parchment in his Prague apartment on Konviktská Street, where it had been used as a footrest on a tenant’s book. Indeed, we share the same opinion about his discovery and about him concerning situations to escape boredom.

1819: Love Song of King Wenceslas

The story behind the last of the disputed parchments, Love The Song of King Wenceslas, is quite complicated. It was supposedly found by an employee from the University Library, Jan Václav Zimmermann, in an old book’s binding. He sent it to the museum, claiming it was a fragment of the oldest Czech poem from the 12th century. Zimmermann reported that there were more pieces, but while he was soaking them to extract them from the binding, they blew away while drying on a windowsill. He was left with just this single piece: the Love Song of King Wenceslas.

Manuscripts: a mystery of Czech literature and a symbol of national revival

The manuscripts appeared genuine; they were written in an ancient script and language, and they looked aged and dusty. Enthusiasts in the Czech revival believed these were real medieval artifacts. However, doubts emerged quickly from linguistic experts and scholars. They pointed out various issues, including vocabulary choice and overall structure. Indeed, to this day, scholars continue to debate whether these are real medieval texts or 19th-century forgeries. Many prominent figures, such as Jan Neruda, Božena Němcová, and František Palacký, supported the authenticity of the manuscripts, while others like Josef Jungmann, Jan Gebauer, and Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk argued they were not genuine.

While they are not the oldest Czech written literary texts, they certainly hold historical value as they were created over 200 years ago.

Manuscripts as inspiration in art

Regardless of who actually created them, the Manuscripts significantly influenced the Czech National Revival and were among the most translated Czech works of the 19th century. They inspired many artists including composers like Bedřich Smetana and his opera Libuše, as well as painters like Mikoláš Alš, who created the painting The Sassy Slaughter at Hruba Skala, inspired by a scene from an epic poem from the manuscript of the King’s Court. However, the historical authenticity of Hrubá Skála suggests that the manuscripts did not originate in the Middle Ages. The battle depicted between Margrave Siegfried von Meissen and the Czech lord Benes (the son of Heřman) was said to have taken place during the reign of Přemysl Otakar I in the early 13th century at Hrubá Skála. Nevertheless, the castle itself was constructed about 150 years later, which the manuscript author wouldn’t have known.

Václav Hanka, a linguist with a reputation as a falsifier

The key figure in the Manuscripts debate is the writer, poet, and librarian Václav Hanka (1791-1861), who was born in Hořiněves in the Hradec Králové region. His renown is somewhat bittersweet due to his involvement with the manuscripts. A knowledgeable linguist, he was part of the Royal Czech Society of Sciences and several universities abroad. He unsuccessfully attempted multiple times to secure a professorship at Prague University and, from 1848 onward, taught Old Slavonic and Slavic languages as a private associate professor. He was quite familiar with these languages, both in speech and in writing.

Hanka’s influence can be traced throughout the history surrounding the manuscripts. Josef Linda was part of the same student club supporting patriotism; they were friends and even shared a flat on Konviktská Street — indeed, where Linda used that tenant’s book as a footrest. At Zelená hora castle, when the Zelenohorski manuscript was found, his close friend, artist and restorer František Horčička, who was known as a crafty forger, was working in the castle’s art gallery. His involvement in the whole affair warrants more intensive investigation. Additionally, some passages in the manuscripts mention places related to Hanka’s home region, like the old “Old Bohemian” bard referring to Hrubá Skála and the surrounding forests of Miletín.

In 1859, the debate over the manuscripts’ authenticity intensified, leading Hanka, who was called a fraud, to file a lawsuit. He ultimately emerged victorious, with all witnesses from the discovery of the King’s Dvor manuscript testifying in his favor, and no one questioning the circumstances of its discovery. Although he left the trial with a win, the ordeal took a toll on his mental health. Hanka fell into depression and died just two years post-trial.

Are the Manuscripts forgeries or originals?

History is often unfair: Hanka, a linguist with a wide range of scientific and literary achievements, is honored among the greats on the facade of the National Museum in Prague, yet he is also remembered as a forger. Additionally, even after over 200 years, the true nature of the Manuscripts remains ambiguous. There is no definitive proof they’re forged, but we have no concrete evidence supporting their authenticity either.

In the 1960s and 1970s, guided by a suggestion from author Miroslav Ivanov, the Manuscripts underwent examinations at the Institute of Criminalistics, with chemical analysis revealing that the parchment dated back to the Middle Ages, but it appeared to have had different text which someone had erased.

However, research conducted in 2017 and 2018 questioned those earlier findings: X-ray examinations showed no evidence of any prior writing.

Today, we still lack clarity regarding the true age of the Manuscripts. Some evidence suggests the poems might have been penned by a scribe named David Crinitus Nepomucký of Hlavačov, who lived between 1531 and 1587.