ZLV Online

The idea of a Czech frontier forest was mentioned in national historical records predominantly as a factor for protecting the country against invasion. Mentions have also been made by foreign authors from neighbouring countries who view the idea as a ”nationalistic myth”. An attempt is made to find evidence documenting the former understanding and outlining the role of the frontier forest as a factor influencing and determining the integrity of the country as well as the historical events and processes. A further aim of the study is to document the economic and political power of Czech dukes and kings, determined by ecological and environmental factors. One such factor was the deforestation of an area in the contemporaneous landscape to enable agricultural production (fundamental in the early feudal society) as well as the area of soil types convenient for the more primitive, traditional agriculture. Analysis of the literature supports the hypothesis of the considerable power of Czech rulers in relation to the importance of the Czech frontier forest between medieval Czech kingdom and neighbouring German countries.