he Extraordinary Newspaper Collection of William of Rosenberg

Abstract

An exceptional collection of handwritten newspapers and other reports has been preserved in South Bohemia, largely thanks to William of Rosenberg. The aim of this study is to present the origins of this unique collection, and the people involved in its creation. Due to his extensive diplomatic activities, William of Rosenberg maintained an excellent overview of current events and therefore subscribed to handwritten newspapers, despite their cost. However, some newspapers had already been acquired by William’s predecessors, while others, especially those from the Netherlands, were commissioned by his brother Petr Vok. After the extinction of the Lords of Rosenberg, the collection was probably further enriched by documents from the archives of the Lords of Schwanberg. In this manner, at least 835 handwritten newspapers, mostly in German and Latin, have survived.