The Myth of the Origin – Stadice

Fact of the Czech figure „Three Lives of Czech Myths – Prague”

Part of the „The story of the beginning” topic

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In the spring of 1359, two peasants from Stadice in the Bílina region visited Prague Castle to complain to Charles IV that his father, King John, had given them to Jindřich of Lipá, even though the peasants’ ancestors had held land and estates by hereditary rights and were therefore considered free from the outset. According to the charter of 12 May, it is evident that they did not leave empty-handed. Not only were all their privileges over the four cultivated strips of arable land restored to them, but they also gained custody of the other three strips of land belonging to the mythical Ploughman. In exchange, they were responsible for tending to a hazel bush said to have grown thorns of the legendary Přemysl the Ploughman and providing the royal table with harvested nuts annually. The bowl of nuts from Stadice remained on the table of Czech rulers until the early 20th century. This tradition even survived the end of the monarchy in 1918.