Die böhmischen Länder in den Berichten der Nuntien in den ersten Jahren der Regierung Rudolfs II. (1576-1584)
The Czech Lands in the Reports of Nuncios in the Early Years of the Rule of Rudolf II (1576–1584)

Summary/Abstract: The article concentrates on the activities of the papal nuncios in Bohemia in the early stage of Rudolf II’s rule. It involves five personalities, varying in profiles and characters, who represented the pope and the curia at the imperial court and whose correspondence has recently been published (Giovanni Delfino, Bartolomeo Porcia, Orazio Malaspina, Ottavio Santacroce) or is currently being edited (Giovanni Francesco Bonomi). In expert literature, Giovanni Francesco Bonomi is repeatedly identified as the first nuncio permanently settled in Prague. Based on the latest published nunciature correspondence, this axiom can no longer be confirmed. It can therefore be assumed that regular nuncios at the imperial court had a permanent residence in Prague as of the end of 1576 (the final stage of Delfino’s nunciature). The study further asks the question of how papal diplomats perceived the Czech lands, lists the most significant ecclesiastical and secular contacts, and looks into the official confessional and ecclesiastical issues in relation to the fight against heterodox movements, the protection of ecclesiastical immunities, and the implementation of the Catholic Reformation programme from the Council of Trent. Some final notes refer to the nuncios’ activities in politics and society.

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