Intriky a informace Kariéra zpravodaje Matyáše Floriana v průběhu českého stavovského povstání
Intrigue and information: the career of the reporter Matyáš Florian during the Bohemian Revolt

Summary/Abstract: Research dedicated to the originators of written newspapers indicates that during the reign of the Emperor Matthias there was a certain decline in Prague news reporting. Numerous correspondents, including the important Saxon agent Jan Zeidler, followed the monarch to Vienna in 1612 and 1613. Only Gabriel Püchler was demonstrably still active in Prague, using a network of capable assistants to produce and distribute his newspaper, and it was from their ranks that competition began to take shape in 1618, when the demand for news from the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia increased with the beginning of the Bohemian Revolt. In particular Matyáš Florian (Matthias Florian) took advantage of this extraordinary opportunity. In addition to other potential customers of the newspaper, in the autumn of 1618 he specifically contacted the court of the Elector of Saxony, John George I, in Dresden. He could not compete with the established journalistic workshop of his former employer Gabriel Püchler in finding out the contents of the confidential letters of military commanders or directors, but he offered an insider’s account of everything that happened and was talked about in the streets of Prague. The Elector of Saxony finally ordered Florian’s reports through his secret councils. Matyáš Florian’s newspaper therefore began to supplement the information sent to John George I by Gabriel Püchler and also by the Saxon agent Fridrich Lebzelter, based in Prague. These three personalities were supposed to work together, but at the beginning of 1620 a conflict arose between them, which showed a lot about mutual relations between the correspondents and their modes of communication with influential patrons.

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