Abstract
THE decree of Charles IV, king of Bohemia, founding the Universitas Carolina, now the University of Prague, was dated April 7, 1348. Its sexcentenary was to have been celebrated by an international gathering ; but events in Czechoslovakia have led to the withdrawal of acceptances of invitations by universities of Britain,, on the ground that the University no longer enjoys its acadeniic freedom. Charles' decree appointed the archbishop, Arnošt of Pardubice, as chancellor and stipulated that it should "serve the cultural needs of the Bohemian people, that they should no longer beg at foreign tables but have a worthy feast brought to their own table". At first, instruction was in Latin, and being one of the few educational centres it attracted many German and other students. During the rectorship of John Hus at the beginning of the fifteenth century, the Czechs were outvoted in administrative appointments. This led to the famous Kutná Hora decree of King Wenceslas, in 1409, giving the Czech 'nation' three votes and the others (German, Polish and Silesian) one each, an action that led to the departure of the Germans and hastened the founding of the University of Leipzig in 1411.
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Sexcentenary of the University of Prague. Nature 161, 511 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161511a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161511a0