4:30 p.m.– 6 p.m.

Lecture by Marek Zágora. Only in Czech.

Almost exactly 660 years ago, on Thursday 15 June 1363 (St. Vitus’ Day), Wenceslas IV was crowned King of Bohemia at the age of just two years and less than four months. The coronation at St. Vitus’ Cathedral was an extraordinary event in Bohemian history. Due to the King’s age, it was not possible to obey all the regulations that governed royal coronation ceremonies, yet despite this, the act of coronation was legally valid. According to later reports, the “only” protests against the coronation of a child were voiced by the Archbishop of Prague Arnošt of Pardubice, a close friend and advisor of Wenceslas’ father Charles IV. In Arnošt’s opinion, the entire act showed a lack of respect for the institution of coronation. However, he eventually had to bow to Charles’ wishes and conduct the ceremony. The lecture also describes other coronations of child kings – Ladislaus the Posthumous of Hungary (1440, crowned when he was less than three months old) and the Jagiellonian King Louis (crowned King of Bohemia in 1509).

Booking advance HERE 

The lecture will be streamed live on Facebooku and the gallery’s YouTube channel.

free entrance