What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 10 April 2023.

Jenštejnská was built in 1894.

Pavel z Jenštejna was born… somewhere, in the first half of the 14th century.

From 1351 to 1374, i.e. during Karel IV’s reign, he was the royal chamber’s notary and the King’s bookkeeper. Karel’s writings referred to him as Paulo de Praga.

He owned several properties in Prague, including one on Zderaz (nearby, and coming up in one of the next few threads).

Outside of Prague, he also purchased the castle at Jenštejn in 1368 – hence the family name.

Pavel died in Prague in 1375. His son Jan, following in his father’s footsteps, would become Chancellor to Václav IV, but quit the role in 1384 due to disagreements on religious issues.

Jan was also archbishop of Prague from 1379 until his conflicts with the King forced him to resign in 1396. In addition, he wrote poetry and composed musical pieces.

He died in poverty in Rome in 1400. He had also lost the castle, perhaps as early as 1390, while the family would die out in the 1500s.

The castle – pictured in 1812 – has undergone a fair amount of reconstruction in the past decade: https://www.jenstejn.cz/zivot-v-obci-1/hrad/rekonstrukce-hradu/