Komunikativní obraz bitvy u Záblatí
The Communicative Image of the Battle of Záblatí

Summary/Abstract: Immediately after the Battle of Záblatí a vast range of printed flyers and leaflets on theevent was published. The key element for the communicative image of the battle was basedon the conflict between two propagandistic concepts. As the cause for the outbreak ofthe war was connected to the will of God, it was therefore logical and common that thematter of religion, in a strongly „confessionalised“ society at the end of the 16th century,and at the beginning of the 17th century gained more importance in other contemporarydocuments than any other issues. Besides divine interventions, human cupidity and greed,usually on the part of the enemy, were considered the next reason for the war.On both sides, the authors followed up the real course of the events that provided themwith the platform where they could share their own perspective and observations. Whereasthe Catholic author showed the tendency to praise the flawless tactical command andleadership style of Charles Bonaventure de Longueval, Count of Buquoy, the author ofthe Protestant flyer informed about the predominant position of the Imperial Army. Inhis description of the war, he tried to campaign for the commander of the Imperial ArmyPeter Ernst von Mansfeld. Moreover, within the scope of the printed flyers and leafletsabout the Battle of Záblatí, some curious life stories came alive. In the case of the heroes,on both the Protestant and Catholic, the authors were biased by topoi and themes typicalfor the journalism of the 16th and 17th century. However, the perspective of how the localsin the towns and villages of South Bohemia perceived the Battle of Záblatí was basedon another factual basis than the contemporary journalist focused on. The undisciplinedcorps of the Bohemian Estates´ army, which moved across the country, plundering it, tormentedthe town residents. A daunting problem for the town residents as well as for thevillage inhabitants were the dead soldiers who had been left on the battlefield at the mercyof wild animals and decay. The coexistence of the ordinary people at the beginning of the17th century with the military element seemed to be very explosive. During the time ofthe uprising of the Bohemian Estates, the Bohemian Estates´s army posed, in particularcases, the same threat as the Imperial Army did to village inhabitants or town residents.

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