Robots of Cetoraz
Young Jan Vacek had dreams. He wanted a decent pair of shoes. He wanted a warm coat for the winter. He would like some meat in his meals. He would like to get married; start a family. BUT, he couldn't see how to get there from here. The production from his father's small plot of farm land in Cetoraz was not enough. Half of the production went to her Grace Anna and the rest had to provide for his parents and their growing family. Jan heard that the malting operation in Želiv was short-handed. They needed a maltster and would pay well. Želiv was only 26 kilometers away. He could walk there easily in less than 2hours. He would do it.
And in 1628, his dreams came crashing down when the Baliff from Pacov appeared at the Malthouse to arrest him. He was imprisioned while waiting for a hearing with her Grace Anna, the Lady of the Estate.
Her grace, Anna Markéta Štéglovská from Vrtba, was a member of the Czech nobility. I don't know if she was a Countess or Baroness, but I do know she was addressed as "Your Grace." She was from Vrtba which was a beautiful palace in Prague's lesser town. Its gardens are still a showplace to this day. She lived in the beautiful Chateau Pacov which was the Manor house and the administrative center of the Estate.
In the 13th century much of southern Bohemia land was undeveloped. It was wild forest inhabited by nomads, hunters, gatherers. Nobles received grants for the monarch to form new cities. Manor cities, such as Pacov, became the administrative headquarters of estates. Market towns provided a venue for sale and barter of produce and craft goods. Service towns were farm villages and were homes for the peasant farmers. The service towns were populated by colonists who built cottages and put the land under cultivation, kind of like homesteaders. Then the Estate required taxes; once or twice a year. That turned into sort of a share cropping arrangement where a percentage of the production was paid to the estate. And finally, when the Estate realized they needed cheap labor to tend Estate and Church lands they bound the peasants to the land. The land and the peasant were one and under the control of the Estate. Remember that Bohemians were slavs. Slavs also include Poles Slovaks, Russians, and several others.
The chateau, formerly the monastery church of St. Wenceslas in Pacov, a filigree work of the Baroque era from the middle of the 18th century.
Originally "Slav" was used in a secondary sense because of the many Slavs sold into slavery by conquering peoples. (This sense arose in the consequence of the wars waged by Otto the Great and his successors against the Slavs, a great number of whom they took captive and sold into slavery.) So the jump from slave to serf was not a big one. As a matter of a fact, Russian agricultural slaves were formally converted into serfs in 1679 although, the line between slave and serf is narrow and often vague.
Most of the peasants in the service towns were serf farmers, bound to their land by the feudal courts in what was termed the "robota". Yes, this is the origin of the English word "robot." They were not considered free and were bound to their plot of land. They worked almost seven days a week and were required to give a certain number of days each week to work on their lord's (or lady's) land. Essentially, they owned the land they farmed. No one could take it away from them while they were alive unless there was extenuating circumstances such as a crime that was committed. A farmer's life was generally hard, full of physical labor and at all legal matters were at the whim of the Lady of the Manor. The Lord or Lady of the Manor decided who, or if, a robot could marry; or if he could travel outside of his own village. She had the final word on punishment, including capital punishment, for all disputes, misdemeanors, and felonies.
The first written account of Cetoraz was in July 26, 1307 when it was in possession of Jindřich from Rožmberk. Cetoraz remained in the family Rožmberk´s possession up to 1401 when it was bought by the Pacov Manor. Manors controlled most villages and traded them and the serfs to other landowners like Monopoly properties. The Pacov Estate and the village of Cetoraz passed though many hands. In 1616 Anastasie Vítová from Kralovice bought the Pacov Estate and after her death her son, Ladislav Víta of Rzavý, took over the estate. In 1618 Ladislav participated in the Estates Rebellion, but the rebellian was short lived. On 8 November 1620, the decisive battle for the uprising took place at White Mountain (Bílá Hora) near Prague. The battle lasted only two hours and the poorly paid and demoralized estates’ army lost the battle.
The ruler, Ferdinand II applied the principle that all rights were forfeited as a result of the deplorable rebellion and the decision as to who would be admitted back into the fold depended solely on his merciful discretion. On 21 June 1621, 27 leaders of the uprising were executed on the Old Town Square in Prague – 3 lords, 7 knights and 17 burghers.
The Pacov Estate was confiscated and sold off. In 1623 the Pacov Estate was bought by Anna Markéta Štéglovská from Vrba. This included Cetoraz and the Vacek family.
Then on November 24, 1628, Jan Vacek appeared before Her Grace Anna. The proceedings of that day are recorded in a document titled "Robě z Cetoraze" (Robot from Cetoraz). Jan humbly pleaded forgiveness for running away from Cetoraz to Želiv without her permision. Countess Anna decreed that the Jan Vacek would return to his agricultural duties, and that any future attempt at escaping could be met with sizeable fines against his parents and other villagers.
An original of the letter is in a memory book of Pacov from 1473 to 1712, what has been restored and deposited in the archive in Pelhřimov.
Young Jan Vacek had dreams. He wanted a decent pair of shoes. He wanted a warm coat for the winter. He would like some meat in his meals. He would like to get married; start a family. BUT, he couldn't see how to get there from here. The production from his father's small plot of farm land in Cetoraz was not enough. Half of the production went to her Grace Anna and the rest had to provide for his parents and their growing family. Jan heard that the malting operation in Želiv was short-handed. They needed a maltster and would pay well. Želiv was only 26 kilometers away. He could walk there easily in less than 2hours. He would do it.
And in 1628, his dreams came crashing down when the Baliff from Pacov appeared at the Malthouse to arrest him. He was imprisioned while waiting for a hearing with her Grace Anna, the Lady of the Estate.
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| The chateau, formerly the monastery church of St. Wenceslas in Pacov, a filigree work of the Baroque era from the middle of the 18th century. |
In the 13th century much of southern Bohemia land was undeveloped. It was wild forest inhabited by nomads, hunters, gatherers. Nobles received grants for the monarch to form new cities. Manor cities, such as Pacov, became the administrative headquarters of estates. Market towns provided a venue for sale and barter of produce and craft goods. Service towns were farm villages and were homes for the peasant farmers. The service towns were populated by colonists who built cottages and put the land under cultivation, kind of like homesteaders. Then the Estate required taxes; once or twice a year. That turned into sort of a share cropping arrangement where a percentage of the production was paid to the estate. And finally, when the Estate realized they needed cheap labor to tend Estate and Church lands they bound the peasants to the land. The land and the peasant were one and under the control of the Estate. Remember that Bohemians were slavs. Slavs also include Poles Slovaks, Russians, and several others.
The chateau, formerly the monastery church of St. Wenceslas in Pacov, a filigree work of the Baroque era from the middle of the 18th century.
Originally "Slav" was used in a secondary sense because of the many Slavs sold into slavery by conquering peoples. (This sense arose in the consequence of the wars waged by Otto the Great and his successors against the Slavs, a great number of whom they took captive and sold into slavery.) So the jump from slave to serf was not a big one. As a matter of a fact, Russian agricultural slaves were formally converted into serfs in 1679 although, the line between slave and serf is narrow and often vague.
Most of the peasants in the service towns were serf farmers, bound to their land by the feudal courts in what was termed the "robota". Yes, this is the origin of the English word "robot." They were not considered free and were bound to their plot of land. They worked almost seven days a week and were required to give a certain number of days each week to work on their lord's (or lady's) land. Essentially, they owned the land they farmed. No one could take it away from them while they were alive unless there was extenuating circumstances such as a crime that was committed. A farmer's life was generally hard, full of physical labor and at all legal matters were at the whim of the Lady of the Manor. The Lord or Lady of the Manor decided who, or if, a robot could marry; or if he could travel outside of his own village. She had the final word on punishment, including capital punishment, for all disputes, misdemeanors, and felonies.
The first written account of Cetoraz was in July 26, 1307 when it was in possession of Jindřich from Rožmberk. Cetoraz remained in the family Rožmberk´s possession up to 1401 when it was bought by the Pacov Manor. Manors controlled most villages and traded them and the serfs to other landowners like Monopoly properties. The Pacov Estate and the village of Cetoraz passed though many hands. In 1616 Anastasie Vítová from Kralovice bought the Pacov Estate and after her death her son, Ladislav Víta of Rzavý, took over the estate. In 1618 Ladislav participated in the Estates Rebellion, but the rebellian was short lived. On 8 November 1620, the decisive battle for the uprising took place at White Mountain (Bílá Hora) near Prague. The battle lasted only two hours and the poorly paid and demoralized estates’ army lost the battle.
The ruler, Ferdinand II applied the principle that all rights were forfeited as a result of the deplorable rebellion and the decision as to who would be admitted back into the fold depended solely on his merciful discretion. On 21 June 1621, 27 leaders of the uprising were executed on the Old Town Square in Prague – 3 lords, 7 knights and 17 burghers.
The Pacov Estate was confiscated and sold off. In 1623 the Pacov Estate was bought by Anna Markéta Štéglovská from Vrba. This included Cetoraz and the Vacek family.
Then on November 24, 1628, Jan Vacek appeared before Her Grace Anna. The proceedings of that day are recorded in a document titled "Robě z Cetoraze" (Robot from Cetoraz). Jan humbly pleaded forgiveness for running away from Cetoraz to Želiv without her permision. Countess Anna decreed that the Jan Vacek would return to his agricultural duties, and that any future attempt at escaping could be met with sizeable fines against his parents and other villagers.
An original of the letter is in a memory book of Pacov from 1473 to 1712, what has been restored and deposited in the archive in Pelhřimov.
