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The paper focuses on the territory of Moravia between 1708–1728, when the Habsburg state produced a series of legislative measures that had a lasting impact on the status of the Jewish population. The author sees this process as the formation of a monarchical anti-Judaism that gradually abandoned the older models of the Estates State and adopted the principles of absolute monarchies. In addition to formal shifts, the paper focuses primarily on the themes of these measures, the targets of which – the Jewish home, the synagogue, the ghetto, the family – tended to change frequently as the state sought the most an effective method for regulating the Jewish minority. Last but not least, the paper focuses on the actors who initiated the individual measures or were involved in their practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study deals with several aspects of the development of Enlightenment patriotism in Moravia in the second half of the 18th century. First, it attempts to define „patriotism“ within the context of the Enlightenment, noting the specifics of the development of Moravia and the Moravian educated elite at this time. It also discusses the emergence of a „Moravian spirit“ in relation to Bohemia and Vienna and the Austrian monarchy. This phenmenon is also manifested in a number of works, for the most part published after 1770, that map the history and contemporay situation of Moravia. In conclusion, the article examines the language issue of the Moravian Enlightenment. Although for a significant part of the elite, „Moravian spirit“ was associated with German culture, the study also presents defences of the Czech language by some intellectuals that represent the first seeds of the Czech national renaissance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Count Maximilian von Lamberg: a Cosmopolitan between Europe and Moravia. This paper deals with the personality and the work of the noble, writer and intellectual Maximilian count Lamberg (1729–1792) which was already examined by several Czech historians (Polišenský, Kroupa, Cerman). Firstly, the paper evaluates the current state of research to show that despite of the attention of researchers focused on this personality, there are still lot of contexts and details which remain unknown. Secondly, the paper analyses the question of the relevance and the historical value of Lamberg’s conserved works which are situated between memories, essays and autobiographical fiction. In the main part of the paper, the thesis of Jiří Kroupa, which assumes the appurtenance of Maxmilian Lamberg both to the Moravian milieu and to the European Republic of letters, is examined. Lamberg’s accessible works, not only the most famous Mémorial d’un mondain but also the other books, are used as a base of the research.

This paper deals with the personality and the work of the noble, writer and intellectual Maximilian count Lamberg (1729–1792) which was already examined by several Czech historians (Polišenský, Kroupa, Cerman). Firstly, the paper evaluates the current state of research to show that despite of the attention of researchers focused on this personality, there are still lot of contexts and details which remain unknown. Secondly, the paper analyses the question of the relevance and the historical value of Lamberg’s conserved works which are situated between memories, essays and autobiographical fiction. In the main part of the paper, the thesis of Jiří Kroupa, which assumes the appurtenance of Maxmilian Lamberg both to the Moravian milieu and to the European Republic of letters, is examined. Lamberg’s accessible works, not only the most famous Mémorial d’un mondain but also the other books, are used as a base of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers forms of cultural transfer in decorative design in Central Europe in the second half of the 18th century, focussing on works that combine aspects of both free creative art and artisan craftsmanship. Based on a detailed analysis of a number of works (or parts thereof), the authors show that trends in decoration that had hitherto been broadly interpreted as a somewhat uninventive adoption of fashionable French graphic pattern-books and picture albums in the “goût grec” style (Jean- François de Neufforge, Jean-Charles Delafosse et al.) in fact represented an innovative quest for an original modern synthesis taking its inspiration from classical Roman art (Giovanni Battista Piranesi, Giocondo Albertolli, Carlo Antonini) and developing ideas emerging from the recently introduced teaching of artistic design at the Vienna Academy and from circles close to the imperial court (Johann Baptist Hagenauer, Ignaz Josef Würth et al.). The whole phenomenon in considered within the wider context of official cultural policy at the time of Maria Teresa’s and Joseph II’s economic and administrative reforms and is interpreted as one of a number of processes and strategies which, for various reasons, led to a reduction in transcultural transfer. Decorative design in Central Europe in the latter half of the 18th century thus paid more than lip-service to the ideal of universal culture in the sense of transculturality, interpreting it in a specifically local, middle-European and to some extent “nationalized” way - and, from a historical perspective, with extraordinary success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under Maria Theresa, the provincial courts in Moravia continued to operate along the lines set out in the judicial reforms of 1620-1650. Although the reform efforts of the Theresian system had little direct effect on them, the character of these courts did gradually change. By the early 1740s they were inundated with a backlog of unresolved cases that rendered them slow and unwieldy. Following the cancellation of inactive disputes, however, the number of open cases started to drop rapidly, and by the 1760s the provincial court was accepting an absolute minimum of new lawsuits. This was due less to any restrictions imposed by the state than to a lack of interest among the nobility in pursuing claims in the court. The provincial court continued to sit twice a year, but the reduction in the number of cases meant that the number of sessions in each judicial period also fell considerably. The nearly fifty cases heard by the provincial court in the reign of Maria Theresa were, however, similar in scope to those we are familiar with from the preceding period - property-related lawsuits among the nobility, disputes between monasteries and towns, criminal cases and claims by subject communities against their own landlords. Significant changes can also be discerned in the makeup of the courts, with judges being appointed on the basis of their legal training rather than their social standing or other “merits” and, generally, a far closer correspondence to other types of Theresian court, particularly the royal tribunal. There thus ceased to be a meaningful distinction between the royal and provincial judicial systems in the Theresian period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the development of the postal network in the territory of Moravia during the period of its most significant expansion, based on hitherto largely unused archival material, chiefly from the Postal Museum in Prague and the Moravian Archive in Brno. Using these key sources, chronological lists were reconstructed of postmasters in each post office, allowing us to determine the exact period in which each official served. This data on periods of service made it possible to compile a list of the postal routes set up by individual offices in the period under consideration and trace changes that occurred due to military conflict or for logistical reasons. Attention was also given to the hitherto neglected network of letter collection points in Moravia, which grew rapidly towards the end of the 18th century. The study represents a paradigm shift in research into the Moravian postal network. Besides already known postal routes, we also reconstructed routes whose existence had only been deduced from the records of one or two stations, and others that had escaped the attention of researchers altogether. With regard to letter collection points, the study considers the issue of which “mother” stations they were attached to. More generally, the study deepens our knowledge of the structure of the communications network in Moravia in the second half of the 18th century and provides a more precise picture of how it was connected with centres beyond the country's borders. These results will provide potential future researchers into the Moravian postal service with a solid factual platform in which to anchor and contextualize their findings on specific post offices, stations or entire routes. The study can thus be seen as a contribution to economic and social history, as well as to that of communications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the reign of the empress Maria Theresa and in particular of her successor Joseph II, the Habsburg monarchy went through substantial changes. The state took control of parts of public life which had until then been independent. Besides arts, which started to be controlled through the state academy, architecture became the centre of attention. Architecture regulated by state was supposed to observe the so called architectura civilis (Bürgerliche Baukunst) the principles of which had been formulated by German and Austrian theoreticians and mathematicians in the second half of the 18th century. The main features typical for the architectura civilis were simplicity, practicality and economy, which suited the enlightened state. Architects and engineers with profound theoretical knowledge who were able to respond to a wide spectrum of assignments became important for the intentions of the state. Designers who did not make part of the guild structure and who had such wide competences that they could design architecture normally designed by engineers - fortifications, roads, and bridges were considered as ideal. This study focuses on the professional bibliography of two significant engineers working in the service of the estates and the state in Moravia at the last years of 18th century-Johann Anton Krzoupal von Grünnenberg, and first Director of the Provincial Building Directorates in Brno Karl Jacobi von Eckholm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers the writings of the sculptor Andreas Schweigl (1735-1812) and the painters Ignaz Chambrez (1758-1842) and Josef Heřman Agapit Gallaš (1756-1840). Around the year 1800, these three Moravian artists recorded their thoughts and insights in a number of texts that variously combined the traditional literary genre of artist's biography with artistic topography, art criticism and a historical interpretation of early Moravian art and culture. Since all three were in some way connected with the new system of art education, the aim of this study is to examine whether and in what way standardized education affected not only their professional careers, but also their thinking. For all three, that thinking was rooted in a historical interpretation of the early art and culture of Moravia. All three discuss the function of art, artistic ideals, and to some extent the concept of the creative genius, as well as reflecting, directly or indirectly, on the theme of decadence as one stage in the cyclical view of history, in line with the paradigm of the age. The author sets out to compare their texts and in general terms show 1) how artists themselves viewed the importance of art education at the end of the 18th century; 2) how they responded to the changing role of the artist in society; and 3) how they defined artistic ideals and the artist's social purpose. It is the wider implications of these changes in the artist's social status, and in the function of art in Moravia and Central Europe generally, that form the primary focus of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]