Raudnitz - Encyclopedia

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES

RAUDNITZ (Czech Roudnice nad Labem), a town of Bohemia, Austria, 44 m. N. of Prague by rail. Pop. (1900) 7986, mostly Czech. It is situated on the Elbe, and its chief attraction lies in the interesting and valuable collections in its château, which has belonged to the princely family of Lobkowitz since the beginning of the 17th century. These include a library with a large number of the earliest specimens of printing and valuable MSS., together with a series of pictures from the time of Charles V. to the Thirty Years' War. In 1350 Cola di Rienzi, "the last of the tribunes," was confined by the emperor Charles IV. in the castle, which occupied the site of the present château, previous to his despatch under arrest to the pope at Avignon. In 1184 Raudnitz is mentioned as belonging to the see of Prague. The title of duke of Raudnitz was conferred on the head of the family of Lobkowitz by the emperor Joseph II. in 1786.