What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on Twitter on 19 August 2022.

Štítného was built before 1875.

Tomáš Štítný ze Štítného was born into the lower nobility at the  Štítná fortress (now part of Žirovnice, Vysočina Region) around 1333.

He moved to Prague to study at the Art Faculty of Charles University, where he became acquainted with reform preachers and started his literary activities.

In the 1350s, he returned to Štítný, but settled in Prague again in 1381 after the death of his wife, and became one of the first writers to use the local vernacular.

He wrote the Klementinum Codex, which prescribed some of the essential practices of Christianity and daily life. He is often regarded as the first person to teach the science of ethics in Bohemia.

While he slightly predated the Hussite movement, his thoughts – including his opposition to excessive worshipping of saints and veneration of relics – certainly became a major influence on it.