František Palacký (; 14 June 1798 – 26 May 1876) was a
Czech historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...
and politician. He was the most influential person of the
Czech National Revival, called "Father of the Nation".
Life
František Palacký was born on 14 June 1798, at
Hodslavice house 108, a northeastern
Moravia
Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The medieval and early ...
n village now part of the
Moravian-Silesian Region
The Moravian-Silesian Region () is one of the 14 administrative regions of the Czech Republic. Before May 2001, it was called the Ostrava Region (). The region is located in the north-eastern part of its historical region of Moravia and in most ...
of the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
. His ancestors had been members of the community of the
Bohemian Brethren, and had clandestinely maintained their
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
belief throughout the period of religious persecution, eventually giving their adherence to the
Augsburg confession as approximate to their original faith. Palacký's father was a schoolmaster and a man of some learning. The son was sent in 1812 to the Evangelic
Lutheran
Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
Lyceum at the then-
Hungarian city of
Bratislava
Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...
, where he came in contact with the
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...
Pavel J. Šafařík and became a zealous student of
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto- ...
(he mastered 11 languages and became familiar with a few others).

After some years spent in private teaching, Palacký settled in 1823 at
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
. Here he found a warm friend in
Josef Dobrovský, whose good relations with the Austrian authorities shielded him from the hostility shown by the government to students of Slav subjects. Dobrovský introduced him to Count Sternberg and his brother Francis, both of whom took an enthusiastic interest in Bohemian history. Count Francis was the principal founder of the Society of the
Bohemian Museum, devoted to the collection of documents bearing on Bohemian history, with the object of reawakening national sentiment by the study of the national records.
Joining of Czech national movement
Public interest in the movement was stimulated in 1825 by the new ''Časopis Českého musea'' (Journal of the Bohemian Museum), of which Palacký was the first editor. The journal was at first published in Czech and German, and the Czech edition survived to become the most important literary organ of Bohemia. Palacký had received a modest appointment as archivist to Count Sternberg and in 1829 the Bohemian estates sought to confer on him the title of historiographer of Bohemia, with a small salary, but it was ten years before the consent of the Viennese authorities was obtained.

Meanwhile, the estates, with the tardy assent of Vienna, had undertaken to pay the expenses of publishing Palacký's capital work, ''Dějiny národu českého v Čechách a v Moravě'' (History of the Czech Nation in Bohemia and Moravia). This book, which covers the period up to 1526 and the extinction of Czech independence (Palacký admitted that in writing about the national history since 1526, he "would have to lie"), was founded on laborious research in the local archives of Bohemia and in the libraries of the chief cities of Europe, and remains the standard authority. The first volume was printed in German in 1836, and subsequently translated into Czech. The publication of the work was hindered by the police censorship, which was especially active in criticizing his account of the
Hussite
file:Hussitenkriege.tif, upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century
file:The Bohemian Realm during the Hussite Wars.png, upright=1.2, The Lands of the ...
movement.
Palacký, though entirely national and Protestant in his sympathies, was careful to avoid an uncritical approbation of the Reformers' methods, but his statements were held by the authorities to be dangerous to the
Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
faith. He was compelled to cut out parts of his narrative and to accept as integral parts of his work passages interpolated by the censors. After the abolition of the police censorship in 1848 he published a new edition, completed in 1876, restoring the original form of the work. The fairest and most considerable of Palacký's antagonists in the controversy aroused by his narrative of the early reformation in Bohemia was Baron Helfert, who received a brief from Vienna to write his ''Huss und Hieronymus'' (1853) to counteract the impression made by Palacký's ''History''.
Konstantin von Höfler, a German professor of history at Prague, edited the historical authorities for the period in a similar sense in his ''Geschichte der hussitischen Bewegung'' in Bohmen. Palacký replied in his ''Geschichte des Hussitenthumes und Professor Löffler'' (Prague, 1868) and ''Zur böhmischen Geschichtschreibung'' (Prague, 1871).
Political activism

The
Revolution of 1848 forced the historian into practical politics. In his famous ''Psaní do Frankfurtu'' (A Letter to Frankfurt) he refused to take part in the
preliminary parliament consisting of 500 former deputies to the all-German Diet, which met at
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, on the grounds that as a Czech he had no interest in German affairs.
In early June he oversaw the
Slavic Congress at Prague as its president. Later that year he was deputed to the Reichstag which sat at the town of
Kroměříž
Kroměříž (; ) is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. It is known for Kroměříž Castle with its castle gardens, which are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The historic town centre with the castle ...
(Kremsier) between October 1848 and March 1849. He was at this time in favour of a strong Austrian empire, which should consist of a federation of the southern German and the Slavonic states, allowing the retention of their individual rights. This movement was called
Austroslavism. Its views met with some degree of consideration at Vienna, and Palacký was even offered a portfolio in the
Pillersdorf cabinet. The collapse of the federal idea and the definite triumph of the party of reaction in 1852 led to his retirement from politics.
After the liberal concessions of 1860 and 1861, however, he became a life member of the Austrian senate. His views met with small support from the assembly, and with the exception of a short period after the decree of September 1871, by which the emperor raised hopes for Bohemian self-government, he ceased to appear in the senate from 1861 onwards. In the
Bohemian Diet (''zemský sněm'') he became the acknowledged leader of the nationalist-federal party (''staročeši''). He sought the establishment of a Czech kingdom that should include
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
,
Moravia
Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The medieval and early ...
and
Silesia
Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...
, and in his zeal for Czech autonomy he even entered into an alliance with the Conservative nobility and with the extreme Catholics. He attended the Panslavist congress in Moscow in 1867. He died in Prague on 26 May 1876.
Legacy

Palacký is considered as one of the three
Fathers of the nation – the first being the King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV, the second is František Palacký and the third is President of Czechoslovakia
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech name, Czech and Slovak name, Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas (name), Thomas. Tomáš is also a surname (feminine: Tomášová). Notable people with the name include:
Given name Sport
*Tomáš Berdych (born 198 ...
. Various individuals like to emphasize one over the other. As to historians, none have surpassed his history of Bohemia except when they have focused on a narrower time period. Even these have been directly or indirectly influenced by his work. He has also been the subject of Czechoslovak philosophical analysis by the likes of
Milan Machovec (in his 1961 monograph).
Honours
*
Knight of the Order of the Iron Crown, Second Class, ''27 October 1862''
Works
Poetry
* ''Na horu Radhošť'' – poem
*''Má modlitba dne 26. července 1818'' – hymnus
*''Ideál říše'' – ode from year 1920
Other works
*''Würdigung der alten böhmischen Geschichtschreiber'' (Prague, 1830), dealing with authors of many of whose works were then inaccessible to Czech students
*''Dějiny národu českého v Čechách a v Moravě'' I–V (History of the Czech Nation in Bohemia and Moravia), 1836–1867
*''Archiv český'' (6 vols., Prague, 1840–1872)
*''Urkundliche Beiträge zur Geschichte des Hussitenkriegs'' (2 vols., Prague, 1872–1874)
*''Documenta magistri Johannis Hus vitam, doctrinam, causant ... illustrantia'' (Prague, 1869)
* with Šafařík he wrote ''Anfänge der böhmischen Dichtkunst'' (Pressburg, 1818) and ''Die ältesten Denkmäler der böhmischen Sprache'' (Prague, 1840)
* Three volumes of his Czech articles and essays were published as ''Radhost'' (3 vols., Prague, 1871–1873)
See also
*
František Ladislav Rieger
*
Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Tomáš () is a Czech name, Czech and Slovak name, Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas (name), Thomas. Tomáš is also a surname (feminine: Tomášová). Notable people with the name include:
Given name Sport
*Tomáš Berdych (born 198 ...
*
Palacký University, Olomouc
Notes
References
*
Further reading
* Baar, Monika. ''Historians and Nationalism: East-Central Europe in the Nineteenth Century'' (2010
excerpt pp 29–34 and passim
External links
Frantisek Palacky – 29-03-2000 – Radio Prague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palacky, Frantisek
1798 births
1876 deaths
People from Nový Jičín District
People from the Margraviate of Moravia
Czech Protestants
Old Czech Party politicians
Members of the Imperial Diet (Austria)
Members of the Bohemian Diet
Czech male writers
19th-century Czech historians
19th-century Czech philosophers
Slavists
Czech monarchists
People of the Revolutions of 1848
Participants of the Slavic Congress in Prague 1848
Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences
Historians from the Austrian Empire
Historians from Austria-Hungary