Editing Prague (section)

===Late Middle Ages===
[[File:Archikatedra Świętych Wita, Wacława i Wojciecha w Pradze 20190816 1333 5260.jpg|thumb|The current [[St. Vitus Cathedral]] in Prague was founded in 1344.]]
Prague flourished during the 14th-century reign (1346–1378) of [[Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor]] and the king of [[Kingdom of Bohemia|Bohemia]] of the new [[House of Luxembourg|Luxembourg dynasty]]. As King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, he transformed Prague into an imperial capital. In the 1470s, Prague had around 70,000 inhabitants and with an area of 360 ha (~1.4 square miles) it was the third-largest city in the Holy Roman Empire.<ref>{{cite news |title=Deset století architektury (1997) [TV cyklus] - Nové Město pražské (1998), 2. série - 21. díl |url=https://www.fdb.cz/film/deset-stoleti-architektury-2-serie-21-dil-nove-mesto-prazske/52565 |work=FDb.cz |language=cs |access-date=4 March 2023 |archive-date=5 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230305221610/https://www.fdb.cz/film/deset-stoleti-architektury-2-serie-21-dil-nove-mesto-prazske/52565 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Charles IV ordered the building of the [[New Town, Prague|New Town]] (Nové Město) adjacent to the [[Old Town (Prague)|Old Town]] and laid out the design himself. The Charles Bridge, replacing the Judith Bridge destroyed in the flood just prior to his reign, was erected to connect the east bank districts to the Malá Strana and castle area. In 1347, he founded [[Charles University]], the [[List of oldest universities in continuous operation|oldest university]] in Central Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cuni.cz |title=Charles University Official Website |access-date=21 April 2022 |archive-date=29 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029011251/http://www.cuni.cz/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

His father [[John of Bohemia]] began construction of the [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] [[St. Vitus Cathedral|Saint Vitus Cathedral]], within the largest of the Prague Castle courtyards, on the site of the Romanesque rotunda there. Prague was elevated to an archbishopric in 1344,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Palmitessa |first=James |date=2002 |title=The Archbishops of Prague in Urban Struggles of the Confessional Age 1561–1612 |url=http://brrp.org/proceedings/brrp4/palmitessa.pdf |journal=Bohemian Reformation and Religious Practice |volume=4 |pages=261–273 |access-date=24 February 2019 |archive-date=25 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190225103017/http://brrp.org/proceedings/brrp4/palmitessa.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> the year the cathedral was begun.

The city had a [[mint (coin)|mint]] and was a center of trade for German and Italian bankers and merchants. The social order, however, became more turbulent due to the rising power of the [[Artisan|craftsmen]]'s [[guild]]s (themselves often torn by internal conflicts), and the increasing number of poor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=McKechnie |first=Gordon |date=2018-11-12 |title=PRAGUE REVISITED – PART I {{!}} Hungarian Review |url=https://hungarianreview.com/article/20181119_prague_revisited_part_i/ |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=hungarianreview.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-04-25 |title=Prague Story |url=https://czechtour.org/en/prague-story/ |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=CzechTour.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Hunger Wall, a substantial fortification wall south of Malá Strana and the castle area was built during a famine in the 1360s. The work is reputed to have been ordered by Charles IV as a means of providing employment and food to the workers and their families.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prague's Hunger Wall, Impressive Story and Sight |url=https://www.praguewise.com/hunger-wall.html |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=PragueWise}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Hunger Wall Visiting Hours, Tickets, and Historical Significance in Prague |url=https://audiala.com/en/czech-republic/prague/hunger-wall |access-date=2024-11-01 |website=Audiala: Your Pocket Tour Guide |language=en}}</ref>

Charles IV died in 1378. During the reign of his son, King [[Wenceslaus, King of the Romans|Wenceslaus IV]] (1378–1419), a period of intense turmoil ensued. During Easter 1389, members of the Prague clergy announced that Jews had desecrated the host (Eucharistic wafer) and the clergy encouraged mobs to pillage, ransack and burn the Jewish quarter. Nearly the entire Jewish population of Prague (ca 750 people) was murdered.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.everything2.org/title/The%2520Prague%2520Pogrom%2520of%25201389 |publisher=Everything2 |title=The Prague Pogrom of 1389 |date=April 1389 |access-date=16 June 2009 |archive-date=18 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618060237/http://www.everything2.org/title/The%2520Prague%2520Pogrom%2520of%25201389 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prague.cz/jewish-quarter/ |publisher=prague.cz |title=The former Jewish Quarter in Prague |date=April 1389 |access-date=16 June 2009 |archive-date=17 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417235108/http://www.prague.cz/jewish%2Dquarter/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Astronomical Clock (8341899828).jpg|left|thumb|The [[Prague astronomical clock]] was first installed in 1410, making it the third-oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still working.]]
[[Jan Hus]], a theologian and [[Rector (academia)|rector]] at Charles University, preached in Prague. In 1402, he began giving sermons in the [[Bethlehem Chapel]]. Inspired by [[John Wycliffe]], these sermons focused on what were seen as radical reforms of a corrupt Church. Having become too dangerous for the political and religious establishment, Hus was summoned to the [[Council of Constance]], put on trial for [[heresy]], and burned at the stake in [[Konstanz]] in 1415.

Four years later Prague experienced its [[Defenestrations of Prague|first defenestration]], when the people rebelled under the command of the Prague priest [[Jan Želivský]]. Hus' death, coupled with Czech proto-nationalism and [[proto-Protestantism]], had spurred the [[Hussite Wars]]. Peasant rebels, led by the general [[Jan Žižka]], along with Hussite troops from Prague, defeated Emperor [[Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor|Sigismund]], in the [[Battle of Vítkov Hill]] in 1420.

During the [[Hussite Wars]] when Prague was attacked by "Crusader" and mercenary forces, the city militia fought bravely under the Prague Banner. This swallow-tailed banner is approximately {{cvt|4|by|6|ft|m|abbr=off}}, with a red field sprinkled with small white fleurs-de-lis, and a silver old Town Coat-of-Arms in the center. The words "PÁN BŮH POMOC NAŠE" (The Lord is our Relief/Help) appeared above the coat-of-arms, with a Hussite chalice centered on the top. Near the swallow-tails is a crescent-shaped golden sun with rays protruding.

One of these banners was captured by Swedish troops during the [[Battle of Prague (1648)]] when they captured the western bank of the [[Vltava river]] and were repulsed from the eastern bank, they placed it in the [[Swedish Army Museum|Royal Military Museum]] in [[Stockholm]]; although this flag still exists, it is in very poor condition. They also took the [[Codex Gigas]] and the [[Codex Argenteus]]. The earliest evidence indicates that a [[gonfalon]] with a municipal charge painted on it was used for the Old Town as early as 1419. Since this city militia flag was in use before 1477 and during the Hussite Wars, it is the oldest still preserved municipal flag of Bohemia.

In the following two centuries, Prague strengthened its role as a merchant city. Many noteworthy Gothic buildings<ref>{{cite web |url=http://old.hrad.cz/castle/architektura/gotika_uk.html |title=Architecture of the Gothic |publisher=Old.hrad.cz |date=13 October 2005 |access-date=18 November 2013 |archive-date=8 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808144404/http://old.hrad.cz/castle/architektura/gotika_uk.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hrad.cz/en/prague-castle/photogallery/prague-castle/9.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401061009/http://www.hrad.cz/en/prague-castle/photogallery/prague-castle/9.shtml |archive-date=1 April 2009 |title=Old Royal Palace with Vladislav Hall – Prague Castle |publisher=Hrad.cz |date=16 December 2011 |access-date=18 November 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> were erected and [[Vladislav Hall]] of the Prague Castle was added.