What's in a Prague street name

Originally posted on X on 17 March 2024.

Jan Hlavsa was born at some point in the 1400s. I have no idea when, but I’m going to estimate that it wasn’t later than 1470, and not earlier than 1440, because we do know that he was a scribe of the land registers from 1497 to 1499.

In 1506, he, along with two other citizens, published the Bible benátská / Venice Bible, the first Czech-language version of the Bible to be published abroad, and the third overall.

In 1515, he gained a coat of arms and became known as Jan Hlavsa z Liboslavi. He also became a member of the Old Town council (various websites say he was mayor, but I don’t think the Old Town had any mayors until 1537, which was three years after Hlavsa died).

Hlavsa also owned a local house, U železných dveří (The Iron Doors), number 19 on Michalská.

It’s interesting that Hlavsova has street status, or a name, at all (this happened in 1918) – it’s really just a passage way through this building, connecting Michalská with Jilská.

Along with nearby Zlatá (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/03/prague-1-day-165-zlata/), this is one of two streets to which your access is severely limited if you’re not a resident, or have a key for some other reason.