What's in a Prague street name

Ctiborova was built in 1892. Which is possibly also when somebody last bothered to clean that street sign.

Ctibor was supposedly a nobleman who worked as a judge during the reign of Václav I (who ruled from 1230 to 1253, and founded what are now the country’s second and sixth-largest cities (Brno and Olomouc)).

Ctibor was respected enough in his profession to be nicknamed Moudrá Hlava (‘Wise Head’).

By about 1248, many people in Bohemia had decided that Václav was no longer fit to rule (see https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2025/01/06/prague-4-day-6-otakarova/, or, if you’re too busy for that: Václav’s eldest son died and he largely withdrew from public life).

Ctibor and the lords in the Bohemian court declared that Václav’s eldest surviving son, Otakar, should be King instead.

The rebellion was defeated in 1249, and Ctibor fled to Germany with his son, Jaroš. However, he was found by a group of Germans (we don’t know their identities) and was promptly handed back to a vengeful Václav.

On 29 December 1250, Ctibor was beheaded at Petřín (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/11/prague-1-day-82-u-lanove-drahy/), while Jaroš was impaled on the city walls.

Václav had actually pardoned the rebels – but Ctibor and Jaroš hadn’t been present at the peace negotiations, which meant that they (clearly) didn’t benefit from this.