What's in a Prague street name

Originally posted on Twitter on 14 May 2022.

Černínova was built before 1875.

Diviš Černín z Chudenic (1565-1621) was a member of the Czernin family, one of the most prominent in the Kingdom of Bohemia.

Diviš presumably converted to Catholicism to further his career, and became a commander (hejtman) at Prague Castle, maintaining the role even after the second Prague defenestration in 1618.

He wasn’t considered a rebel until late 1620, but, in February 1621, he was arrested and imprisoned in the White Tower at Prague Castle. His ‘crime’ was obeying an order to let rebels into Prague Castle on the day of the defenestration.

On the day of the execution, he received a partial pardon. Horrifyingly, the meaning of ‘partial pardon’ in this case is ‘you only get beheaded instead of quartered or hanged as well as beheaded’.

It also gave the Habsburgs a bit of ‘Look, we’re not just killing Protestants!’ leeway. Or, rather, it was meant to.

People can be really be quite awful, can’t they.

From 1940 to 1945, the street was Žalanského, after Havel Žalanský-Phaëthon (1567-also 1621), a Czech Protestant clergyman and writer who died immediately before the mandate to expel non-Catholic clergy.