Available Archives
Throughout the centuries-long existence of the Strahov canonry, the activity of the Premonstratensians generated an enormous amount of documentation. These can be divided into two groups, which intersect and overlap at certain points. The first group includes documents related to the community itself, its personnel, spiritual life, and parish administration, characteristic of the Premonstratensians. This group also includes documents important for the history of the entire order. The second group covers the management of the monastery's estates. Since the Middle Ages, the institution was financially dependent on agricultural production. The king, upon founding the monastery, donated certain lands with subjects to the new foundation so that the profits from their management would satisfy the needs of the canonry and help develop its spiritual, cultural, and charitable activities. The Strahov Monastery owned lands both in its immediate vicinity and near Prague, as well as economic units in various regions of Bohemia and Moravia. The documents of both groups constitute a significant part of the historical archive.
The music archive in its current form preserves evidence of the musical culture primarily in the monastery's Basilica of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and other churches where the Strahov Premonstratensians operated, and the interests and scope of musically talented and active members of the canonry. Its focus is on music from the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century, (not only) Prague's monastic churches became venues for high-quality music performance, but this tradition was slowed down, and in many places completely abolished, by the religious and ecclesiastical reforms of Emperor Joseph II. However, the exceptionally high-quality musical life at Strahov continued despite the adversities of the time.
