Alma mater Pragensis / Studie k počátkům Univerzity Karlovy – Šmahel František (2016)

The oldest history of Charles University forms a significant part of medieval higher education and, with its European reach, remains the center of research interest for both domestic and foreign historians. The very establishment of the Prague higher education by Emperor Charles IV in 1348 raises a number of questions. Was it truly the first north of the Alps and east of the Rhine, or does the primacy belong to Erfurt? Among the still debated topics is also the oldest seal of the university community. Did it originally belong only to the lawyers who formed a separate university within the Prague higher education in 1372? Studies by Professor František Šmahel, who has dedicated nearly sixty years to the history of the Prague university, provide answers to these and other questions and mysteries. His collection of 23 studies and dissertations covering the years 1348 to 1620 illuminates the teaching at the arts and medical faculties, describes events related to the Kutná Hora Decree, and among other things, seeks the first traces of humanism on university grounds. However, the focus of his attention has always been and continues to be the Prague students and their professors.