This interactive map application presents the most complete available digital data set of Christian religious houses in the Czech lands from the beginnings up to the present day. The data were manually compiled on the basis of the extensive, so far nine-volume encyclopedia by Milan Buben, Encyklopedie řádů, kongregací a řeholních společností katolické církve v českých zemích.
The map covers 782 records and thus represents a very comprehensive resource on the development of Christian monastic life in the Czech lands. However, a crucial gap is the absence of female religious houses, because the volume on those has not yet been published. Female houses are thus covered only insofar as they were described as part of a record in the hitherto published volumes.
The map allows users to explore monasteries and other religious houses throughout history and relate the data points to other relevant spatial and historical datasets. The records can befiltered by religious order (Benedictines, Jesuites, etc.),status (abbey, priory, etc.) and time (for instance, only showing monasteries which were in place in the medieval period).
Each record is accompanied by an info box, which lists the namesunder which the religious house is known, the communities which lived in that religious house (order and time interval), and the changing status of the religious house. The info box also allows the copying of geographic coordinates. Finally, a vast proportion of the records are complemented with original photographic documentation of the present state of the building (or, in the case of unpreserved buildings, the location).
Recommended citation: Hořínková, Hana; Ondrejka, Peter; Zbíral, David (2023). Religious houses in the Czech Lands (v. 0.2.0). Dissident Networks Project (DISSINET). Retrieved August 30, 2023 from https://dissinet.cz/maps/monasteries-czech-lands/.
Whenever citing this map and dataset, also cite the original data source: Buben, Milan (2002–2018). Encyklopedie řádů, kongregací a řeholních společností katolické církve v českých zemích I, II/1-2, III/1-4, IV/1-2. Praha: Libri.