Cetoraz - Village Origins

by Pavel Jareš
The very first written and provable remark relating Cetoraz was made in 1307, although the village was there before then.

According to the Village Chronicle it was market village at first.  It isn’t exactly known how the unusual name of our village originated. If it’s from Latin word Cyetoras it would be something like feudal-bushy-landscape.   . Cetoraz was founded in the 13th century. At that time the Czech Kingdom was being formed and a great number of villages and service yards were established by the Czech aristocracy.  The aristocracy were very wealthy people.  They owned large farms, a lot of fields and woods. They lived in "luxury" in castles in Český Krumlov, Karlštejn and many other places.  Later some lived in big houses called chateaux or palaces. They had servants and ordinary people had to work in their fields. They often worked only for food. The aristocracy controlled everything, gave orders and made all decisions.

Most of the peasants in the middle ages were serf farmers. 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 land. In return they gained land rights. 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 and full of physical labor, very different from our society today.

From 1621, Austria and the Habsburg family dominated the Czechs, German titles were used.  At that time Cetoraz was in possession of the dynasty of Rosenberg, which controlled all of South Bohemia.  At the beginning of 15th century our village was sold to the noble family Malovec from Pacov. This ownership was ended in 1848, when a separate council arose.

Baron Veiss (Weiß) from Austria owned the yard in Cetoraz till 1918. He lived in a palace in Pacov.   He had cows, sheep, pigs, grains, potatoes and vegetables in Cetoraz. People from Cetoraz worked on the yard, usually just for food. It was a difficult time.

Bohemia remained part of the Austrian Empire until 1918. The independent Czechoslovakia was formed in 1918 after World War I when Austria was defeated. A lot of fields and woods were taken from the foreign nobility and their titles were banned. This law is still valid today although it is very tolerant.

In 1920 there was population of 600 inhabitants, in 1965 still 450 people and in these day just 280. The people have mostly moved to larger towns.  After moving, some maintain a house in Cetoraz as a weekend or vacation home.  Some people work in Pacov where there is a leather production and an engineering company. People still living here work as farmers or in support of the farms.  In 1953 were all farmers associated into a collective farm and is still so today.  All people are employed which is great.  

Cetoraz is known locally by the longevity of its inhabitants. Three people have lived to a hundred only in my life. One man had experienced even three centuries here; he was born in 1559 and died 1702. The oldest man will be 103 years old this year.