Libraries of the canons of Olomouc in the years 1565-1642

Abstract

This study analyses the corpus of the personal libraries of the canons of the Olomouc chapter from 1565 to 1642, preserved in the holdings of several Olomouc church institutions. The aim of this article is to find out how the canons, who made up the spiritual elite of the Catholic Church in Moravia, reflected on the rapidly developing book culture of the time and how the practice of dedicating personal books to the Olomouc chapter developed during this period. In investigating these questions, new source material obtained from research into Swedish book treasures from the Czech Lands was used. As part of this, it was possible to identify the contents of the libraries of approximately 30 Olomouc canons. Analysis of these indicated a very gradual development of canons’ libraries which gained momentum only after 1600. The typical features of canons’ libraries included a conservative character in terms of the content and external appearance of books and a relatively intensive transfer of books within the Olomouc ecclesiastical milieu. Canons’ libraries mainly reflected the education and professional or spiritual orientation of the canons, and only in exceptional cases their owners’ personal basis as well. New trends in the field of private libraries were usually brought to Olomouc by canons with longer experience abroad or a wider cultural background and supra-regional contacts. This research also shows that the canons’ strategy regarding referencing their personal books also changed during the period surveyed. The Jesuit College in Olomouc, founded in 1566, gradually became the main recipient of book donations. Book bequests in its favour increased significantly at the beginning of the 17th century. However, the greatest increase can be observed during the period of tense religious relations after the Bohemian Revolt of 1620. This increasingly frequent practice was influenced not only by the canons’ personal relationships with the progressive Jesuit order but probably also by the assumption that the donated books would be deposited in a Jesuit college (as opposed to chapter libraries) and continue to be actively used.