Queen Libuše - People In Prague #3

I've written a little about the old citadel of Vyšehrad and Queen Libuše in a previous post. As a lifelong fan of mythology and legend, I was immediately drawn to the tale of how Prague became the city it is now, and it's only fitting to revisit Libuše's story as part of the People of Prague series. It's also an opportunity to showcase some new photos that I took in the summer!

Libuše and Přemysl

The statue shown in these photographs is of Libuše and her peasant husband, Přemysl, and is one of four great statues in the grounds of the Vyšehrad fort, sculpted by Josef Myslbek in the late 1890s. Originally they were situated at the four corners of Palacky Bridge but were badly damaged in 1944 during a US bombing raid over southern Prague. The original was too badly damaged to be retained and this is a copy.

According to legend, Libuše was one of the three daughters of old king Krok. She was the wisest of the three sisters. Her sister Kazi was a healer, Teta was a magician, but Libuše had the gift of prophecy, and was chosen by her father as his successor, to judge over the people.

Although regarded as a wise and just leader, Libuše was unmarried which was a problem in a largely male-dominated society. To appease the tribe, she agreed to take a husband but was in love with a peasant ploughman. In order to marry the man she desired, she told of a vision in which she saw the man she would marry eating from an iron table, wearing a broken sandal, and her horse would be able to lead her to this man. The animal was duly dispatched where it came across the ploughman called ‘Přemysl’ (his name means thoughtful, or studious). He was brought back to Vyšehrad and became the father of the great Přemyslid dynasty.

Libuše and Přemysl

Inspired by her prophetic success, Libuše went into a further trance. This time her horse took her in a quite different direction, towards the area where Prague Castle now stands. ‘Go until you reach a man making a lintel for his house’, the vision had said, ‘and there you will found a city whose fame will reach the stars.’ She did, and she named it ‘Prah’, the old Czech word for a lintel.

Libuše

Přemysl

Legend aside, the Přemyslid dynasty ruled Bohemia from the 8th century- the first historical Přemyslid was Duke Bořivoj I, baptised in 874 by Saint Methodius - until 1306.

Queen Libuše features in many Czech literary, musical and dramatic works, including the opera by Smetana and 'Pole a palisáda', a novel by Miloš Urban. The minor planet 264 Libussa is named for her.

For reference the other sculptures in the vicinity of the statue of Libuše and Přemysl in Vysehrad are:

• the allegorical couple, ‘Lumír and Piseň’ — singer and muse. 
• Ctirad and Šárka, characters from the 7th-century War of the Maidens
• Záboj and Slavoj, the brothers who lead the rebellion against the invasion of Charlemagne and allegedly led the victorious battle in 805