What's in a Prague street name

Originally posted on Twitter on 12 May 2022.

Rokycanova was built before 1875.

Jan Rokycana, or John of Rokycany (c. 1390 to 1471), was a priest, archbishop and chief organiser in the Hussite church.

He entered the Augustinian monastery in his hometown in his youth, then moved to Prague to study at Charles University and graduated in 1415.

A moderate Hussite, he became vicar of Týn church in 1427, and became head of the Orphans, a left-wing Hussite group, in 1432.

In 1436, he became archbishop of Prague, but was driven from Prague by Emperor Sigismund the following year.

He returned in 1448, supported by George of Poděbrady (Jiří z Poděbrad), whose advisor he became.

The sources I used for today’s posts (Czech / English Wikipedia and Britannica) give disconcertingly different biographies. So much so that I emphatically did not enjoy writing this.

Please don’t quote today’s posts as a source, like, ever.

The English Wikipedia page even has a warning message stating that the Czech Wiki contradicts other available information.

I hope tomorrow’s street will be easier than this.

Part of modern-day Rokycanova existed as a separate street, Všehrdova, from 1880 until 1947, before two became one.

There’s still a Všehrdova street on Malá Strana.