hall hear of several in the history of Prague,
but they are not necessarily an asset to a country that wishes to
develop in peace and consolidate within its own boundaries. It is
difficult to see what good Vladislav did by his trip to Asia with the
crusaders; he left his troops in charge of a foreigner and created a
distinctly wrong impression on another people while on his way home.
Again, he was romantically brave in Italy at the head of a Bohemian army
which was much in excess of the numbers required of him by his agreement
with Barbarossa. Of this large army very few returned to their native
country. There is, however, one deed by which Vladislav becomes entitled
to undying merit: he founded the Monastery of Strahov.

Where the strip of land which connects the Hrad[vs]any Hill with that of
Pet[vr]in, mentioned in Libu[vs]a's forecast, dips a bit before rising
again, there Vladislav laid the foundations of Strahov. This happened in
1140, what time Vladislav was beset by enemies of his own house, who
disputed his right to the throne; he was even assailed in his capital,
Prague, by another P[vr]emysl, Conrad of Znoymo. Nevertheless the walls
of Strahov Monastery rose over the terraced valley that dips down into
Prague between Pet[vr]in and Castle Hill. The good monks of Strahov,
illumined by the light that spread from Cluny, soon made of their house
a home of learning and piety, a haunt of peace where weary souls found
rest from strife and turmoil; Mount Zion, the people called this sacred
spot, and the name still clings to it despite the many vicissitudes
through which it has passed. It must have been a-building when the
enemies of Vladislav attacked the city, it was destroyed when the
Hussite wars broke out over Bohemia, and it suffered at the hands of the
Swedes during the War of Thirty Years. But the good work that Vladislav
the King had started on Mount Zion of Strahov was not allowed to perish;
the monastery re-arose from its ashes after each visitation, with
renewed strength, arose to look out over Prague from its terraced
height. While looking out over the city with the eye of a friend full of
loving understanding, the congregation on Mount Zion pursued the even
tenor of its way, collecting treasures for the benefit of future
generations. The library, a wonderful sight and soothing after the
turmoil in the streets of Prague, contains many of those collected
treasures, instruments used by the astronomer Tycho de