The Catholic emigration from Hussite Bohemia and Moravia is a unique migratory phenomenon in late medieval Central Europe. At least one tenth of the Hussite towns’ population is believed to have left at the beginning of the turbulent period. As these were often wealthy German merchants, the events include also a strong social and national dimension. The project will examine diplomatic and narrative sources of domestic and foreign origin, which provide information on the burghers’ life strategies as well as their experience of going into exile. On this basis a monograph study is to be compiled outlining and analysing the phenomenon in question. The research will focus on the most frequent emigration locations, i.e. Catholic towns in Bohemia and Moravia (Plzeň, Jihlava, Olomouc and Brno), as well as prominent trading centres in nearby countries (Wroclaw, Vienna, Görlitz, Nuremberg and Dresden). This research will also carry on from research into émigrés among the clergy and describe communications and financial relations between these two groups of refugees.
