Childhood of Central European Habsburgs in the Early Modern Period – prof. Martin Holý

Based on the results of the Czech Science Foundation project, the lecture focuses on selected aspects of childhood at the court of the Central European Habsburgs in the 16th to 18th centuries. Based on the analysis of a wide range of historical sources, its primary focus will be on two areas in particular: childcare from the prenatal period to adulthood (pregnancy, births, baptisms, daily care of children, their relationships within the family, future plans, etc.), and education and training (basic knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic, language training, specific skills such as fencing, horse riding, music and art education, etc.). In both of these broad spheres, the aim is to capture some general tendencies in boys’ and girls’ childcare and education, but also the specificities of the monarchical environment, as well as the key developments that can be observed during the early modern period, which affected the whole of society, including the social elites.

Speaker: prof. PhDr. Martin Holý (University of Prague)

Martin Holý is a Professor of History at Prague University, specializing in the cultural, intellectual, and educational history of the Czech lands in the 16th and 17th centuries. His research focuses on the upbringing and education of the Bohemian and Moravian nobility, as well as networks and relations between Bohemia and other parts of the Holy Roman Empire during the early modern period. He has published extensively on the history of education in the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern Times, specifically focusing on the academic networks of young elites, oftentimes adopting a European perspective.

Since 2006, Holý has actively participated in international research projects with universities throughout Europe. He also serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals, including the Czech Historical Review and Folia Historica Bohemica. His research has earned him the Otto Wichterle Prize in 2009 and the Academy of Sciences Award in 2012. Most recently, he received the Academia Prize in 2022 and continues to work on the history of education of the elites as part of multiple projects at the Historical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

Venue: Maison des Sciences Humaines, DHLAB

Program

17h15 – Registration & welcoming words

17h30 – Presentation

18h15 – Questions & discussion

18h45 – Cocktail

With the suppory of C²DH, IHIST, Historic.ul