History of eastern South Bohemia
Early Czech and Slovak Development
Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia are situated in the center of Europe, and throughout their entire history have been a meeting point of cultures from East and West.
The oldest settlements were in Moravia, and later spread out into Bohemia. After 2000 BC, Central Bohemia became one of the focal points of the Bronze Age culture. Later, in the 5th century BC, Celtic tribes settled there as well, introducing town culture with trade and industries. After the Celtic domination some Germanic tribes briefly settled in Central Bohemia, and the south-going tribes encountered the north-going Roman legions around the year 0. In the first centuries AD the Slavs migrated into the area, to become its final settlers. The Slavic tribes united against foreign rule from Romans, Avars, and Franks, culminating in the formation of the Great Moravian Empire at the end of the first millennium.
Regional History; the Rozmberk and Schwarzenberg Families.
In the last millennium BC and the first millennium AD, most of South Bohemia was covered in dense fir forests, known as the Hercinian forests. Although some human settlements already occurred along the rivers in this area, most of the lands remained outside these early developments.
The colonization of the Trebon Basin, the geological region along the Luznice River that includes Kojakovice and surroundings, took place only after the 10-11th century AD. The first colonizers faced a hard task. The relative flat but very wet Trebon Basin caused Jan Dubravius, a medieval bishop, to complain that..
the running water twists and turns with many oxbows. Near of them sit deep marshes and treacherous bogs from centuries past, with their shifting surface where man can meet a certain death. One wrongly placed step was enough, what the bog swallowed, it never returned.
From the 12th century till 1611, most of South Bohemia was ruled by the Rozmberk family, an important Czech aristocratic dynasty. The subsequent Rozmberk families had a tight control on the development of the landscape and its inhabitants; giving the landscape its present day appearance. Under their management, numerous small villages were established with arable fields directly around it and, further away from the village, the production forests. Although originally made only to drain the wet lands, fishponds where soon constructed for fish production. In particular in the wet Trebon Basin, fish farming became a blooming industry already in the 15-16th century. Under the last Rozmberks, the area knew a period of economic and spiritual bloom.
The number of inhabitants in each village and its development was controlled in such a way that there were enough people to work the fields, forests and fish ponds directly around the village and the fields produced enough to sustain the inhabitants and provide sufficient surplus to the controlling families. This mosaic of small villages with fields, ponds and forests still can be recognized in South Bohemia today.
Details of a 17th century map of the Kojakovice region. Kojakovice is located just below the large pond RUDA, the lowest pond in the upper-right corner. On the bottom of the picture part of Jilovice can be seen, the seat of the municipality to which Kojakovice belongs.
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648) was became a crucial point in the further development of many European countries. As hereditary emperors since 1452, the mainly conservative and Catholic Hapsburg family controlled large parts of Central Europe, suppressing any form of freedom. Opposed to them were the northern and western countries which were fighting for more liberalization, freedom of religion, and in some cases independency. In many ways, they were the young and eager (and mainly Protestant), breaking away from the old and conservative (mainly Catholic).
The war started in the in Prague but soon spread out involving most of Europe's countries. Unfortunately, in the Czech lands the emperor prevailed with help from foreign loyalist dynasties like the Schwarzenberg (German), Eggenberg (Austrian), and Buquoy (French) families. As reward for their support, these three families were given large dominions in South Bohemia, with the Eggenberg domain passing on to the Schwarzenbergs after this Eggenberg family died out in 1717. By then, the Scwarzenbergs controlled most of South Bohemia. Although strongly Catholic and more conservative, they sustained the development and management achievements of the Rozmberk families until 1947 (when the communists took over control).
