Old Czech and Slovak Literature

Chronological overview of the older periods of Czech and Slovak literature with an emphasis on the development of various genres (legend, chronicle, spiritual and secular song, knightly epic, manifest).
1. Old Church Slavonic literature of Great Moravia and the period of Cyril and Methodius (9th century).
2. Medieval literature (from the 10th century to 1500): Historical framework, historical poetics, religious conditioning of literary creativity. Forms of secular literary creativity, essential texts. Culture during the reign of Charles IV. in the Czech Republic and Matija Korvin in Hungary. Development of education and establishment of the first Central European universities. The influence of Hussites on national consciousness among Slovaks.
3. Humanism and the Renaissance (1500–1640): Historical framework and echoes of European humanism in the Czech and Slovak cultural space. Literary creativity. The relationship between Latin and the native languages (Czech and Slovak) in literature. Important writers and their works.
4. Disputes between the Czech state estates and the Habsburgs, the Battle of Bílá Hora, the consequences of defeat, the development of the Czech Baroque in exile (J. A. Komenský).
5. Baroque (1640–1780): Anti-Reformation activity and creativity of the Trnava University (Catholic) center and creativity of the Bratislava Evangelical Lyceum. Differentiation of literary creativity (semi-folk and folk creativity), Slovak Baroque religious literature and the emergence of Baroque Slavism. Historical poetics of the period.

Czech Latin Baroque, development of historiography, germanization. Other writers and their works. Development of Jesuit education. Important Czech and Slovak polyhistorians.