The early Czech Reformation and its connection to the European Reformation represents a scientifically attractive topic, however, its source base still remains largely unedited. The proposed projects aims at editing and publishing a treatise by Nicholas of Dresden, entitled Apologia, composed as a reaction to the prohibition of the lay chalice, one of the most striking symbol of the Czech Reformation. Integral parts of the critical edition with textual-critical apparatus will be a study on the relations of the existing manuscripts as well as an analysis of the structure of the work with an examination of its models. All these will facilitate the contextualization of the published treatise. Building on the basic manuscript investigation, the project also intends to contribute to the research on medieval communication through several case studies. These will examine question concerning the intended public of the Apologia and the means its author employed for his purposes. Due attention will be paid to the indexing tools preserved in the case of the Apologia, which are closely connected to the general shift in visual perception of texts that happened towards the end of the Middle Ages.

Publications