Charles IV was born in 1316. In 1347 he became King of Bohemia and in 1349 he was crowned King of the Romans. In 1355 he became King of Italy and the first King of Bohemia to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. When he was crowned as King of Burgundy in 1365 he became the personal ruler of all the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire. He died in 1378. In the Czech Republic he is still today considered as Pater Patriae.
Charles IV was a patron of arts and culture and Prague became his capital. There he established the New Town and commissioned famous buildings like the Charles Bridge or the Saint Vitus Cathedral. Also in Prague he founded in 1348 the first university of Central Europe, the Charles University. Due to this efforts Prague soon became the cultural and intellectual centre of Central Europe.
Karlštejn Castle was founded in 1348 by Charles IV and was used to house the Imperial Regalia, the Bohemian crown jewels, holy relics and other royal treasures.
In 1356 he promulgated the Golden Bull, which fixed important aspects of the constitutional structure of the Holy Roman Empire like the election of the king.
No comments:
Post a Comment