Ahoj a vítejte! We’re Nick Curcio and Grace Mather, and welcome to the first entry in our MayX Blog! We’ve only been here for three days, but have learned a lot about identity intersects with Czech history and religion.

After arriving we began our time in Prague with an extravagant group dinner that showcased the best of Czech cuisine. The following morning, we toured Prague’s historic districts and learned about the city’s medieval history. Specifically, we focused on two main religious divisions. The first was between the Catholics and the Hussite, who defected from the Catholics in the 1500s. The Hussite were heavily persecuted in their early days under the control of the Catholic Hapsburg Empire, but power eventually shifted between these groups. The second division was between Christians and Jews. Because they were only permitted to work in finance they were segregated from the rest of society, forced to live in the city ghetto. While this section is now fully incorporated and trendy now, the Jewish Quarter’s synagogues and unique Hebrew Clock are still present and visible.

With context from professional genealogist Dr. Blanka Lednicka, it was interesting to ponder how one’s religious affiliation can so deeply affect their way of life outside of faith. With these three groups pitted against each other, their beliefs defined who they could associate with and what resources they could access. Catholics and Hussite exchanged dominance and tried not to collide and plunge the country into war while the Jewish community built each other up to cement their right to exist. Isolated, focusing on their own groups, they developed their own cultures and practices. 

The importance of religion and identity formation was further cemented the next day, when we visited a recreation of a 17th century farming village in the town of Kouřim and toured both the Cathedral of St. Barbara and the Ossuary – a chapel filled with sculptures of human bones in Kutna Hora. While Christian identities in Prague were tightly connected to the ruling power, those outside the city had stronger allegiance to their communities. Faced with laborious and dangerous work, death was always imminent. Thus, they found solace in their relationship with God, erecting elaborate churches and living in a way which reflected their faith’s teachings to reach paradise in the afterlife. 

In 2022 however, the western Bohemian half of the country is largely atheistic. Religion has lost its importance in identity. Here we think it is important to return to one of Dr Lednicka’s main takeaways – identity formation is based around one’s community. If someone belongs to a community of one faith, they are more likely to believe that faith, and consider nonbelievers as outsiders. For example, the Moravian half of the country in the east is more religious, demonstrating that this trend is not completely national. This makes us think about how our own personal identities are impacted on a local level; how the conversations we are having with the friends we have now will influence our identities in the future. 

While those days are far off, we still have so much more to see in Prague. So until next time, ahoj!