The Perception of Islam in Bohemia in the Turn of the 16th and 17th Centuries

The Czech public opinion, worried by the Ottoman invasion from the beginning, after the defeat in Mohács treated the Turkish question as a real and crucial problem. Czech soldiers took part in the battles against the Ottoman troops, and the Czech public opinion followed the events with great interest. This volume presents a special genre of Czech turkology, the works related to Islam. These works, although with the characteristics of religious debates, differ from the debates usual between Christian denominations, as their goal is not to convince the other party but to prevent Christians who connect with Turks (soldiers, diplomats, people in the invaded areas etc.) from converting to Islam. At the same time, these writings try to answer the same questions that Hungarian writers, theologians and philosophers asked at that time: Why does God allow the Turks (who were believed to be Pagans) defeat Christians? Do the Ottoman military successes mean that their religion and customs are dearer before God? Is a Christian allowed to get armed and fight? And finally, can the Ottoman battles mean that the latter days and the great final battle of the Apocalypse are nearing? The volume includes selected related texts of Bartoloměj Dvorský and Václav Budovec, translated into Hungarian.