Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and Grim and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised.
Speaker 1: There's a book by the nineteenth century check writer Aloise
Speaker 1: Harissak that any listeners who happen to grow up in
Speaker 1: a Zech school system might remember. Old Czech Legends is
Speaker 1: a collection of stories from a rich cultural history, some
Speaker 1: dating back to the days of Bohemia, one of the
Speaker 1: earliest incarnations of a Czech state. One of the tales
Speaker 1: in the book details how the Czech people first found
Speaker 1: their way to their homeland, while other stories talk of
Speaker 1: brutal wars or feats of bravery. There is one legend
Speaker 1: that stands out from the rest, though, about a princess,
Speaker 1: about magic, prophecy, and eventually in uprising by women against men.
Speaker 1: While there is no historical evidence to prove that any
Speaker 1: of these legends are anything more than just that legends,
Speaker 1: the story of LaBouche, the prophetic pagan princess who founded Prague,
Speaker 1: strongly persists in the Czech cultural imagination. I'm Dana Schwartz
Speaker 1: and this is Noble Blood. Like any legend, l Bushes
Speaker 1: differs based on who's telling it and when they're doing
Speaker 1: so here sex version of events is the most popular,
Speaker 1: so it's the one that will default too. He was
Speaker 1: writing during the Czech National Revival in the nineteenth century,
Speaker 1: a cultural movement dedicated to the Czech language and national
Speaker 1: identity during a time of Germanization, spearheaded by the Habsburgs.
Speaker 1: The Kingdom of Bohemia, known today as the Czech Republic,
Speaker 1: was at the time under the rule of the Austrian Empire.
Speaker 1: The Czech language had been essentially erased from the school system,
Speaker 1: so a number of works by here A Second his
Speaker 1: contemporaries were aimed specifically at students in collecting and retelling
Speaker 1: Czech legends first recorded by the eleventh century historian Cosmos
Speaker 1: of Prague. He was seeking to instill national pride back
Speaker 1: into the next generation. So the legend that goes like this,
Speaker 1: A tribe of Slavic people travel west in search of
Speaker 1: plentiful land. They're led by Forefather Czech, who they will
Speaker 1: later be named after a top a mountain. Forefather Check
Speaker 1: sees their land in the distance, inhabited and lush with
Speaker 1: rivers full of fish and fertile soil. During his lifetime,
Speaker 1: the people and land prosper living and working together in harmony.
Speaker 1: After he passes his son, Kroc assumes tribal leadership in
Speaker 1: accordance with an assembly of elders. Kroc was also considered
Speaker 1: a wise leader. During his time, he founded a school
Speaker 1: to teach religion, hymns, prophecy, and magic. Magic was considered
Speaker 1: the highest form of learning. Honoring the gods, Kroc would
Speaker 1: often go into seclusion to ask for the guidance of
Speaker 1: the gods, and prominent men of the tribe built him
Speaker 1: a castle, vi Shrad to do so. Tales of the structure,
Speaker 1: whose name means high castle, remained today. Cosmos. The eleventh
Speaker 1: century writer dates Vishrad's construction to six hundred and eighty
Speaker 1: three CE, but modern historians have concluded that in fact,
Speaker 1: the actual bill thing would have been built closer to
Speaker 1: the tenth century. The disparity in the timeline calls into
Speaker 1: question the legitimacy of the story. It doesn't completely rule
Speaker 1: out Kroc's existence, but it certainly demonstrates a clear divide
Speaker 1: in what anthropologists think of Bohemia's origins and what legend
Speaker 1: tells us for reference. From this point on, these events
Speaker 1: are said to have taken place sometime in the eighth century.
Speaker 1: Kroc had no male heirs, but he did have three
Speaker 1: beautiful daughters, each with unique gifts. Kazi, the eldest, healed
Speaker 1: the sick with her vast knowledge of herbs and use
Speaker 1: of magic incantations. Teta the middle, was a pagan priestess
Speaker 1: who guided the people in sacrifices and prayers. And labushe
Speaker 1: the youngest and wisest, as noted, also the most beautiful,
Speaker 1: possessed the gift of foresight. Emphasis on the three sisters
Speaker 1: beauty with the added emphasis on Labush's particular beauty is
Speaker 1: a pattern we've seen repeated throughout stories of powerful women
Speaker 1: across cultural histories, and one that we've discussed before on
Speaker 1: this show. Why are most of our historical heroines described
Speaker 1: as striking beauties? Whether it serves to soften these women
Speaker 1: with incredible power, reconcile their femininity with masculine constructs of power,
Speaker 1: or further canonize them in the mythological sphere, it's a
Speaker 1: trope that pop culture still hasn't quite escaped from. On
Speaker 1: a simple level, it might just be that society as
Speaker 1: a whole tends to only value women if they're also
Speaker 1: considered attractive, but onward. Labusha's great power came in the
Speaker 1: form of prophecy. It said she was prone to fall
Speaker 1: into a trance and make predictions, which garnered some fear
Speaker 1: among the people. Due to her power and wisdom, the
Speaker 1: Assembly of elders appointed LaBouche, even she was the youngest,
Speaker 1: as the next ruler, and initially there was no dispute
Speaker 1: from the people. As tribe leader, Labusha's role was similar
Speaker 1: to that of a judge, and most of her work
Speaker 1: as ruler revolved around resolving disputes of all manners. After all,
Speaker 1: she was chosen for her wisdom and was known for
Speaker 1: her fair judgments, aided by her prophecies. One day, she
Speaker 1: was presented with a bitter conflict between two men over
Speaker 1: the boundaries of their land. According to Hirisak, when she
Speaker 1: ruled in favor of the younger man, the older launched
Speaker 1: into a fit of rage, beginning a tirade against Labusha
Speaker 1: and women as a whole. Quote, what kind of justice
Speaker 1: can we expect from a woman long haired but short
Speaker 1: on brains? Let her sew in spin, but not be
Speaker 1: a ruler and judge. Where else does a woman rule
Speaker 1: over men? Except here? We are the laughing stock among nations,
Speaker 1: and we can outstand for such a judge any longer
Speaker 1: her to die than bear such a rain end quote.
Speaker 1: Labusha considered her response thoughtfully and quietly, before rising and remarking,
Speaker 1: you are right. I am a woman, and I rule
Speaker 1: like a woman, not with a rod of iron, but
Speaker 1: with compassion, which you take for weakness. You need a
Speaker 1: stricter ruler, and your demand shall be fulfilled. Go now
Speaker 1: in peace. Let the people choose a duke to rule them,
Speaker 1: and I shall marry whomever they choose. Lubusha spent the
Speaker 1: rest of the day in her secluded garden worshiping Perun,
Speaker 1: a wooden idol with a head of silver and a
Speaker 1: beard of gold. She called upon her sisters to join her,
Speaker 1: and their discussions continued throughout the night. The next morning,
Speaker 1: Labusha called for a gathering of the clan leaders, who
Speaker 1: had traveled from far and wide to hear who would
Speaker 1: be chosen. As the duke, trumpets announced Labusha's arrival, who
Speaker 1: was accompanied on your side by her sisters, Lubusha made
Speaker 1: her speech, All of you know why I called you together.
Speaker 1: You did not appreciate the freedom I gave you, So
Speaker 1: the gods inspired me to tell you that I shall
Speaker 1: rule you no longer. You want a man, a duke,
Speaker 1: who will take away your children to serve him, who
Speaker 1: will choose the best of your cattle and horses for
Speaker 1: taxes according to his whims. You want to serve a master,
Speaker 1: and to pay for it, as so far you have
Speaker 1: not had to do in return, you will not have
Speaker 1: to be ashamed of having a woman ruler. So be it.
Speaker 1: Go ahead and choose a duke, But do so wisely
Speaker 1: and carefully, because it is easy to put someone in power,
Speaker 1: but hard to get rid of him. However, if you wish,
Speaker 1: I can advise you as to whom to choose. The leaders,
Speaker 1: having no candidate to follow through with enthusiastically excepted Lubusha's aid,
Speaker 1: Lubusha rose, her eyes grew dreamy as she and shared
Speaker 1: a prophetic trance. In a faraway voice, she advised, beyond
Speaker 1: the hills is a small stream called Billina, a hundred
Speaker 1: and twenty paces beyond, in a narrow valley, there is
Speaker 1: a field where you will find your future duke, a plowman.
Speaker 1: Go take along the clothing fit for a duke, Give
Speaker 1: the man my message, and bring him back here to
Speaker 1: be your ruler and my husband. His name is Premissile,
Speaker 1: and our descendants will rule here forever. You will not
Speaker 1: have to ask the way my white horse will lead you.
Speaker 1: Just follow him. You will be certain it is he
Speaker 1: when you see him eating off an iron table. Just
Speaker 1: as Labusha had prophesied, her white horse led the men
Speaker 1: straight to Schmistle. Upon their arrival, she Mustle stuck his
Speaker 1: staff into the ground and invited the men to join
Speaker 1: him for breakfast. The plowman turned over his iron plow
Speaker 1: and made it in to a table, just as the
Speaker 1: queen had prophesied. As the stunned men sat and ate
Speaker 1: the bread Shemissal offered them, they noticed that his staff
Speaker 1: that he had planted in the ground had sprouted three
Speaker 1: green buds. The next time they looked, two of the
Speaker 1: three now leafy branches had triveled and died. They asked
Speaker 1: their future king what this meant, and he answered, quote
Speaker 1: here ye that many of my descendants will rule, but
Speaker 1: only one of them will remain a king and a ruler.
Speaker 1: Their next question was as to the meaning behind the
Speaker 1: iron table. I eat at an iron table, he replied,
Speaker 1: so that you may know that my lineage will rule
Speaker 1: with iron. Take iron seriously, flow with iron in times
Speaker 1: of peace, and in times of war, protect yourself with it.
Speaker 1: As long as the Checks have such an iron table,
Speaker 1: they will always defeat their enemy. When foreigners one day
Speaker 1: take this table from them, Checks will lose their freedom.
Speaker 1: Their third question, as the group made their way back
Speaker 1: to the castle, was to ask their future king why
Speaker 1: he was bringing his leather purse and best sandals when
Speaker 1: they had provided him with entirely new clothing. I give
Speaker 1: them to you to keep forever, so that my descendants
Speaker 1: may know where they came from, so that they may
Speaker 1: live in humility without pridefully oppressing the people entrusted to them,
Speaker 1: for we all are equal, he answered. As she promised,
Speaker 1: Labusha married Shemissle, who began to rule and judge as
Speaker 1: Labusha had, but manlier. Some versions of the story believe
Speaker 1: he consulted Labusha in his rule, but no matter the circumstances,
Speaker 1: it remains that Labusha did not have the position that
Speaker 1: she once did. The couple had three children, as Shemissule's
Speaker 1: buds had predicted. The most renowned element of Labusha's story
Speaker 1: was still yet to come, as described in the book
Speaker 1: Prague in Black and gold by Peter Demittz. Sometime later,
Speaker 1: on a mild summer night, Labusha, her husband, and the
Speaker 1: elders were standing on a cliff above the Voltava River.
Speaker 1: While looking across the water to the wooded hills, Labusha
Speaker 1: entered a trance, raised her hands towards the other shore,
Speaker 1: and uttered her prophecy, I see a great city whose
Speaker 1: fame will touch the stars. This is her most famous line,
Speaker 1: but Cosmos of Prague, the original writer, actually ripped it
Speaker 1: off of virgils a Kneed. She guided her people to
Speaker 1: cross the river and to find a man there who
Speaker 1: was busy hewing the threshold in check pra of a house,
Speaker 1: and asked him to build a castle to be called Prah.
Speaker 1: Right on the spot. Just as princes and army commanders
Speaker 1: bow their heads when they enter a house, Labusha proclaimed,
Speaker 1: so will they bow their head to my city. It
Speaker 1: will be honored, noble and respected by all the world.
Speaker 1: This prophesied city would of course become Prague, and it's
Speaker 1: with her vision of glory that Labusha's legend ends. But
Speaker 1: Labusha's legacy is the catalyst for one of the following stories.
Speaker 1: In Old Czech legends, Schmissul was the ruler check men wanted,
Speaker 1: but he was rejected by many of the land's women.
Speaker 1: Under Labusha's rule, men and women enjoyed equal rights and treatment,
Speaker 1: But just as Labusha had predicted, the Duke ushered in
Speaker 1: an age of patriarchal rule. It said that he struckt
Speaker 1: women of their rights and implemented practices associated with patriarchal societies,
Speaker 1: such as feudalism and serfdom. There was particular unrest among
Speaker 1: Labusha's former maidens, who felt abandoned and quote angry when
Speaker 1: the men held them up to ridicule and called them
Speaker 1: quote lost sheep end quote. The legend tells that a
Speaker 1: maiden named Vlassa, Labusha's favorite, was the one who first
Speaker 1: took up arms and gathered an army of tired, angry
Speaker 1: women across the land, beginning what became known as the
Speaker 1: Maiden's War against men. Last of strategically organized and trained
Speaker 1: the women who were leaving their husbands, brothers, and fathers
Speaker 1: to join their fight. The strongest women were chosen to
Speaker 1: lead the attack, and the most beautiful were chosen to
Speaker 1: entice the men away from their battle groups so that
Speaker 1: they could be killed. She Missile's army openly mocked the
Speaker 1: female warriors, but the king warned them not to underestimate
Speaker 1: the women's strength. He was right to do so. The
Speaker 1: bloody battles began and the women were winning. They fortified
Speaker 1: the castle Devine, utilizing it as a military base, and
Speaker 1: they warded off the men from even attempting a breach.
Speaker 1: Aiding Vlasta was another high ranking lieutenant and clever tactician,
Speaker 1: a woman named Charka. In her boldest plot, Charka staged
Speaker 1: a mock betrayal and feigned helplessness as she was quote
Speaker 1: tied to a tree and the left to die end quote.
Speaker 1: She screamed and cursed the rebel forces to gain the
Speaker 1: attention and sympathy of a band of men patrolling the
Speaker 1: forest for women. This group of men on patrol included
Speaker 1: one of the men's best fighters, Citrod, who believed charka
Speaker 1: story and freed her from her restraints. The men set
Speaker 1: up camp for the night, and thanking them, Charca board
Speaker 1: mead for all the men, which she had, of course
Speaker 1: spiked with a potent sleeping powder. Once the men fell asleep,
Speaker 1: the rebel forces emerged from the tree line. They slaughtered
Speaker 1: them all except Sir Trod, who was taken back to
Speaker 1: Devon and tortured to death. The men were so enraged
Speaker 1: that they abandoned the formalities of battle and began to
Speaker 1: attack all innocent women traveling on the roads. Vlosta, unable
Speaker 1: to bear the weight of the torment that the men
Speaker 1: were inflicting, ceded to their strategy and met the men
Speaker 1: in open combat. She was slain and the army disbanded
Speaker 1: soon after their leader fell. For their victory, lap the
Speaker 1: men burned Divine or the Castle of Maidens to the ground.
Speaker 1: In his telling, Hirosek would like to side with the women,
Speaker 1: but the narrative turns against them because he says they
Speaker 1: had quote no heart, okay, whatever that means. It was
Speaker 1: as Labusha predicted, the men would get what they wanted
Speaker 1: of patriarch a master at the expense of the freedom
Speaker 1: she had once ruled by. As is always the case,
Speaker 1: the casualties of patriarchy are the women whose voices are
Speaker 1: stripped away. Persistent as these legends are in Czech culture,
Speaker 1: there unfortunately is no real anthropological evidence supporting that they're
Speaker 1: anything more than well legends. Really, that applies to Labusha's
Speaker 1: entire existence too. The more likely founder of the stronghold
Speaker 1: of Praha was Duke Bogevois, whose rule began circa eight
Speaker 1: hundred and seventy. He was the first documented duke of
Speaker 1: Bohemia and progenitor of the Shemissed dynasty. He was said
Speaker 1: to be the last son of the mythical Bohemian princes,
Speaker 1: and therefore a direct descendant of Laboushe and Shemissul. This
Speaker 1: lineage can of course not be confirmed by historians, and
Speaker 1: an opposing theory believes that he was instead related to
Speaker 1: a Slavic dynasty. The writer of the first Bohemian Chronicle,
Speaker 1: published about two hundred years after the Duke's death, believed
Speaker 1: that the distinction between myth and real history begins with
Speaker 1: Bogevoy's rule. Bougevoy was also notably Bohemia's first Christian ruler,
Speaker 1: and he built Bohemia's first church, dedicated to Saint Clement's.
Speaker 1: Despite revolts from traditional rivals, Bougevoy continued on to build
Speaker 1: a second church, this one to worship the Virgin Mary.
Speaker 1: Later in his life, he decided to move his resident
Speaker 1: closer to the latter church, and the castle built was
Speaker 1: called Praha or Prague Castle, which still stands today. The
Speaker 1: etymology of Praha is debated still to day among historians,
Speaker 1: with some believing its origin comes from the idea of napras,
Speaker 1: or a barren place on which the sun beat down mercilessly.
Speaker 1: It could also reference quote, the cleaning of the forest
Speaker 1: by fire or bracchiti. There are still, some, however, who
Speaker 1: find la Boush's idea of the threshold or pra most compelling.
Speaker 1: The idea the t wanted people to lower their heads
Speaker 1: and enter a city as they would a home. As
Speaker 1: for the Maiden's War, there is even less of a
Speaker 1: connection to recorded history. Some historians argue that the story
Speaker 1: is based on tales of the Amazonian warriors, while others
Speaker 1: believe it could have roots in Bohemia's factual past. Speaking
Speaker 1: to Radio Prague International, Voslav Ladvinka, the director of Prague's
Speaker 1: City Archives, tells us quote, there are some historians who have,
Speaker 1: in my opinion, a somewhat fertile imagination. They claim that
Speaker 1: there could have been a matriarchal society, that women had
Speaker 1: primacy and that they were overthrown by men. This could
Speaker 1: be true, but then the same could be said about
Speaker 1: the ancient Greeks, so it seems most likely that Cosmos
Speaker 1: took the basis for his tales from those ancient texts,
Speaker 1: and as we know, Cosmos did enjoy stealing from Roman
Speaker 1: epic X. That's the story or the legend of Labusha
Speaker 1: of Bohemia. But keep listening after a brief sponsor break
Speaker 1: to hear a little bit about how the legend has
Speaker 1: been translated into modern culture. Labusha's story has inspired the
Speaker 1: works of many Czech and European artists, and perhaps the
Speaker 1: most famous is her namesake opera, containing music by Czech
Speaker 1: composer Bedrick's Mantana and written first in German by author
Speaker 1: Joseph Lindzig. The opera was written in eighteen seventy one
Speaker 1: for the coronation of Franz Joseph as King of Bohemia,
Speaker 1: but Smitana ended up saving Labusha for the opening of
Speaker 1: the National Theater in Prague, which took place nine years
Speaker 1: later on June eleven. Act one of the opera depicts
Speaker 1: Labusha's ruling over the land dispute, but in a departure
Speaker 1: from the myth, Act two decides to develop the backgrounds
Speaker 1: of the men in the conflict and deepen all of
Speaker 1: the characters. This involves a love triangle in which a
Speaker 1: classically conniving woman feigns interest in one of the men
Speaker 1: to make the other jealous. All is eventually resolved, and
Speaker 1: Act three depicts a Midsummer Night's dream esque double wedding
Speaker 1: between all the lovers and Labusha and Schmissul, before Labusha
Speaker 1: has her prophecy of Prague, a reminder to all of
Speaker 1: the hopeful witches out there that, no matter how powerful
Speaker 1: you are, you may end up in only two thirds
Speaker 1: of your own opera in favor of some random men
Speaker 1: in a land dispute. Noble Blood is a production of
Speaker 1: I Heart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey.
Speaker 1: Noble Blood is hosted by me Danis Shwartz. Additional writing
Speaker 1: and researching done by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Mira Hayward,
Speaker 1: Courtney Sunder, and Laurie Goodman. The show is produced by
Speaker 1: rema Il Kali, with supervising producer Josh Thane and executive
Speaker 1: producers Aaron Mankey, Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. For more
Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows