Domestic project

Emperor´s Insolvency and Government Bankruptcy of 1615 in the Kingdom of Bohemia (Economic context of Beginning of the "Bohemian War" in 1618)

Provider: The Czech Science Foundation
| Project duration: 2022–2024
| Project ID: GA22-11931S

The main proposer formulated a hypothesis that significantly changes the interpretation of the causes of the conflict in Bohemia in 1618. According to him, the deciding impulse was the uncontrollable indebting of the monarchy which resulted in a sovereign default (1615). The Bohemian Diet refused to guarantee the government bonds which lead to them losing their value. Between 1615 and 1618, along the fight for preservation of the religious freedom, a strenuous fight for a fiscal reform and control of the economic resources was in motion. The creditors – European politicians, bankers and generals – wanted the monarch to take over Bohemia with force in order to be able to pay off the outstanding debts. The essence of the project is an exact analysis of data regarding the monarchal credit crisis in Bohemia between 1615 and 1618. Up to this point, these data were not analysed scientifically. The main output of the project is a voluminous monograph which contains an analytical and an edition part. The secondary outputs being expert studies and presentations at international conferences.

Investigator

Petr Vorel
prof. PhDr., CSc.

Coinvestigator

Marie Buňatová
Mgr., Dr. phil.

Beneficiary

Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, University of Pardubice

Cobeneficiary

Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences