Myslív

Fragment of the former Cistercian monastery in Klášter

Zelená Hora Castle

The first known mentioning of Myslív is from 1352, calling it "Myslewa", essentially a localized diminutive of a word referring to the acquiring of game or fish and related to its legacy of fish ponds.[1][2] The modern name is closer to the German version which removes the characteristic Czech southwest ending vowel. For much of its history, locals referred to it as "Myslivo". The village is believed to have been created sometime after 1144 by Catholic Cistercian monks of a monastery about 6 miles north in efforts of local colonization. The monastery's central village was Pomuk (now Nepomuk). Near Myslív, the monks opened the "Vráž" gold mines which drove some of its early economy.[3]

By 1384, Myslív had its own Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. For several hundred years, it would serve as the parish seat for many of its surrounding villages.[4] In 1393, a priest and vicar-general for St. Giles' Church in Prague named Jan (from Pomuk) was killed and tortured by order of King Václav IV for confirming a Roman-papacy candidate as Abbot of Kladruby instead of one for Avignon. As a result, Jan became recognized as a local legendary religious-figure "Jan Nepomucký" or "John of Nepomuk," leading to pilgrimage and his later sainthood.

On the hill between Pomuk and the monastery, Hussite forces created a fort in 1419 which became Zelená Hora Castle in 1424. They destroyed the monastery in 1420 which in-turn made Myslív into property of the castle and estate and probably converted it to Protestantism.[5] The monastery's ruins became the village of Klášter (equivalent to "cloister").

Myslív's church

The area's economy centralized around pond-development and fish-farming, represented by the meaning of its name and the carp in its flag. The nearby village Milčice was rebuilt in another location in 1608 to connect two smaller ponds for this purpose.[6] During the Thirty Years' War, Myslív was owned by Adam II. ze Šternberka as part of the town of Plánice within the Zelená Hora estate, later owned by Maxmilián Valentin z Martinic .[1] In 1630, Myslív was districted to Plánice, possibly on order of the Habsburgs because of the Hussite control of Nepomuk. Because of the war, the Monarchy led efforts of re-Catholization and Germanisation of the Czech lands. Since at least 1643, Myslív's church has kept vital records of its member villages, used to document and verify baptisms and marriages as Catholic rather than Protestant though some pages of the 17th century are torn or lost.[7] In the 1654 tax list, nine senior farmers are named though many families lived in the village at that time.[8] From parish and school records of the 1600s to early 1800s, it's apparent that recorded surnames often changed depending on which household a person lived at, causing genealogical confusion. For example, Martin Noháček (whose father's surname was actually Stupka) married Mariana Pavelcová in 1733. After moving into her household, his name was changed to Martin Pavelec and records of his descendants use both names.

Myslív has had 2 cemeteries: Podvrškojc (?-1785 & part of 1800s) and Pod Jandečkojc] (1785-? & 1868-)

According to available census information, Myslív was historically overwhelmingly Catholic with some temporary Jewish residents.

As of 2019, the population is currently 426.

Because of increased immigration due to the end of the Mexican-American War and start of the California Gold Rush, since the mid-1800s, about 139 people born in Myslív have been identified as moving to America along with many others from the general vicinity. The very first, possibly from the whole parish, might have been Jan "John" Duban (1820-1897) and his family who moved to Illinois side of the St. Louis area around 1851. Given that American Czechs were a significant minority, most of his children married people of German descent. Afterwards, immigration increased with the foundation of Norddeutscher Lloyd in 1857 through which a majority of Myslív's immigrants traveled by ship from Bremen to Baltimore.

Duban was followed by the Tichacek family several years later (no known connection between the two). The Tichacek's temporarily lived in Myslív where one of their sons Alois was born in 1857. Shortly afterwards, they also moved to St. Louis. Immigration slowed for a time in the 1860s because of the American Civil War in which Duban served in the Union Army. Within a couple years after the war ended, people from Myslív poured in waves through the port of Baltimore. Many of those who settled in Baltimore nested in Little Bohemia and were early participants of the St. Wenceslaus Church. The Brozik and Zeman families moved to Iowa. Josefa Silovska, who married in Baltimore, was brought to Oklahoma City by her husband during the Land Rush of 1889. Frantiska Protivova's family and the Sevcik's moved to Minnesota. The Zoubkova sisters moved to Cook County, Illinois and Ohio. Some of the Nocar's moved to Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Washington.

Historically, social life commonly took place in pubs where men drank, narrated, and cheered with many staying until morning, coming home to "hear the endless lamentation of his wife." Myslív's grandmothers regularly went to church for rorates in the morning, and in the evening they drove feathers around the cottages. The washing of the feathers was then closed by doders, when they were singing, feasting and dancing. In the carnival time, villagers disguised in masquerade would run around, representing a traditional shaggy laufra, a masked figure walking at the head of the procession, a running Jew with a punch on his back, a photographer or a mare.

God's punishment for wasting food and goods was widely believed and money would be spent carefully so as to not be condemned for scandalism. People in the village and in the city counted every issued tailor. So, for example, the bark for tannery was peeled from the trees that had been slaughtered during the sap, and the peeled peeling consisted of borders for paper mills. The woodcutters used the brush and the skins at home by cutting them into small pieces and tied them in haggles. These were then settled on the walls throughout the summer. Wads, dry lands and stumps have served as (today one would say excellent ecological) fuel throughout the winter.

• Ladislav Stehlík, (1908 - 1987) poet, writer

• Church of the Assumption
• Rectory

• Myslív
• Loužná
• Milčice
• Nový Dvůr

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  Village square
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  Houses
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Myslív.

• Czech Statistical Office: Municipalities of Klatovy District