On Mar 1, 12:09=A0am, KLa...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
> I read that Moravia was affected by the Mongol invasion of 1241-42.
> Even though they were passing through from Poland on the way to
> Hungary, they apparently still did damage. Does anyone know what were
> the casualty figures (for lack of a better term) among the population,
> and who were brought in to help replenish it?
Svat=FD Host=FDn, Holy Host=FDn,
http://www.hostyn.cz/cizi/english.htm
is the most frequently visited pilgrimage shrine in Moravia and after
Velehrad the most memorable one. For three centuries now thousands of
pilgrims have been converging on Host=FDn mountain (735 meter above sea
level) with its sanctuary of Our Lady (a Basilica minor) to seek and
find there a refuge from their troubles and needs.
Several archeological surveys of the location have shown traces of
habitation from as far back as the Late Stone Age. The remnants of a
fortification (with a circumference of more than 1.800 meters) of the
La Tene culture of the Celts are conspicuous there. Recent research
has vindicated the assumption that Host=FDn was the second Celtic
oppidum in Moravia (the first being Star=E9 Hradisko near Protivanov).
Above the main altar of the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady is
located a life size statue of the Virgin Mary. The Child Jesus, whom
she is holding in her embrace, is aiming bolts of lightening at the
Tatars depicted beneath the statue. These cruel marauders, who were
threatening Europe during the 13th century, invaded Moravia in 1241,
murdering and plundering. The people sought refuge in the forests and
mountains to save their lives and whatever property they could bring
with them. According to legend, those who found refuge on Host=FDn were
saved through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, when the encampment
of the marauders was destroyed by fire caused by lightning. Another
legend tells of a visit to Host=FDn by the Apostles of the Slavs, Sts.
Cyril and Methodius, who are said to have destroyed a pagan place of
wor****p there and erected a chapel in honor of Mary.
Written records concerning Host=FDn come chiefly from the Jesuit
Bohuslav Balb=EDn. In the book, Sacri pulveres, of 1669 by George
Crugerius, we read that the people saved from the Tatar invasion
erected a statue of the Guardian Virgin Mary on Host=FDn mountain out of
gratitude. Until the Thirty Years' War there was a small church on
Host=FDn mountain which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. On the orders
of the non-Catholic rulers of the domain the church was destroyed.
The present basilica has its origins in a magnificent edifice, which
was built at the expense of Jan of Rottal and his heirs. Its
cornerstone was laid in 1721. The completed edifice was solemnly
consecrated by Bishop Ferdinand Julius Trojer of Olomouc on July 28,
1748. This church was destroyed several times and the entire mountain
of Host=FDn was abandoned completely. By imperial decree of Joseph II in
1784 the sanctuary was declared superfluous and pilgrimages were
prohibited. During the first half of the 19th century the faithful
began a fund-raising campaign in order to restore the church, which,
as a result, was consecrated anew in 1845.
O.K.
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