What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on Twitter on 10 July 2022.

Chelčického was built in 1885.

Petr Chelčický (1379-1460-ish) was most likely a pseudonym for Petr Záhorka, born in the Chelčice region (in South Bohemia).

He was a writer, translator and theologian, one of the most important figures of the Czech Reformation.

He didn’t have a university education, but was more knowledgeable than most of his contemporaries who did.

He was primarily influenced by Jan Hus and John Wycliffe, and his teachings were, in turn, an influence on the Quakers and the Baptists.

He was a pacifist and an opponent of the clericalization of the church. These views were radical at the time, to the extent that he is sometimes referred to as the first Czech anarchist thinker.