Václav of Rovné

Václav of Rovné entered into the service of the Rosenbergs as a clerk who after years of service achieved the post of Rosenbergs chancellor at the court of Peter von Rosenberg. In 1488 he was promoted by the Czech king Vladislav II. Jagelonský into gentry, and in 1495 Peter von Rosenberg freed him from serfdom. He entered history especially as a humanistic intellectual, collector and church sponsor because he built a wide-ranging library, which he donated to the chaplains at the St. Vítus Church in Český Krumlov. Parts of the library were passed over to a fund of the Jesuit college (Horní No. 154), a prelate library of Jiří Bílek from Bílenberk, and part of it was put in the Kaplanka ( Horní No. 159) or in the Saint Vítus church. In 1513 he bought a house in Horní No. 159 street next to the church stairs and in 1514 - 1520 had it rebuilt for the useage of the chaplains of the St. Vítus Church. The beginnings of the theatre in Český Krumlov are also connected with the name of Václav of Rovné. In 1497 he introduced the humanist Jakub Canter of Holland to the court of Rosenbergs, who wrote a play called Rosa Rosensis celebrating the Rosenberg family. Václav of Rovné also copied a comedy called Polixena by the Italian writer Leonardo Bruni. We also see his name on the purchase or sale of property that brought him high profits, a large part of which he then gave for collections and sponsoring.

(mj)