ho were to be found doing good,
according to their lights, in other cities of Europe, namely, Irish
monks. It is of interest to us to note that these monks were frequently
called Scots: you will find traces of them under that designation in the
Schotten Kirche at Ratisbon and the Schotten Ring in Vienna. In Prague
they were recognized as Irish, and their name lives on in the Hybernska
Ulice in the Old Town. A church, with an altar dedicated to St. Patrick,
arose at the corner of that street by the cross-roads, under the hands
of Irish monks; a church now used for secular purposes, and built over
the original edifice, stands there still. Amidst all the turmoil of this
busy centre of the city you may still in those small hours of the
morning when the traffic dies down for a while pick up an echo or two of
the voices of those zealous Irishmen, but you must listen with all your
soul, for those sounds are very elusive. Again, looking out over the
city from my terrace I notice a copper dome just across the Charles
Bridge, a dome flanked by high towers, and all bearing the unmistakable
mark of Jesuit architecture. Yet that building, now used as part of the
University, recalls memories of pious souls who came to Prague at the
invitation of P[vr]emysl Ottokar II. These were the Knights Crucifer, or
the Cruciferous Knights as the guide-book prefers to call them. Their
Order, the members of which always carried a cross in the left hand, was
founded by St. Cletus; their work was to tend the sick and offer
hospitality to pilgrims. The Order went down on the death of the founder
and sought refuge in Palestine, where St. Cyriak discovered it, reformed
it, and eventually brought it to Rome. This is said to have happened in
the latter half of the fourth century, but I should think the date
extremely uncertain; nor does it matter much. The Order received new
rules in the twelfth century from Pope Alexander III, who, being on good
terms with Ottakar II at the time, allowed the Order to be transplanted
to Prague. I do not in the least know what the good knights did all
those years between their installation at Prague in 1256 and the
dissolution of their Order in 1783. Anyone who wants to know may no
doubt find records of their doings, which were probably concerned with
adding up quarterings and deciding questions of etiquette. Still their
name, Knights Crucifex, lingers round one of the most picturesque
corners of Prague, under the shadow of