Historica Olomucensia

A Duke Founder? The Matter of Memory about the Reign of Bretislaus I in Modern Historiographic Paradigma and in Domestic Sources of the 12th and 14th Century

The origins of the Benedictine monastery in Rajhrad traditionally arouse a wide range of questions at medieval historians. This fact is caused by poor knowledge of primary sources until the beginning of the 13th century that would give evidence of this institution history. The oldest documents, which date back to years 1045 and 1048, have conclusively been proven to be forgeries. The objective of this contribution is to reconsider the information value of both forgeries. On the grounds of the analysis of domestic narrative and diplomatic sources dated to the 12th and 13th century, the author assumes that awareness of practical traits of the reign of Bretislaus I, who is named a founder of the monastery in Rajhrad by both documents, could not have been too concrete. Parenthetically, this fact noticeably collides with a large body of literature that attributes pursuing of elaborated reforms in Moravia before 1034 to Duke Bretislaus I. Because a writer of both forgeries could not find inspiration anywhere, the author of this article in accordance with modern medieval methods argues that Rajhrad forgeries should be perceived as a specific historiographical document that may provide a present historian with certain knowledge - what people, who wrote these forgeries in the second half of the 13th century, thought about their own history.