Ostrozsko
JAN AMOS COMENIUS, THE WINEMAKER
If you ask Czech people about Jan Amos Komensky (Comenius), virtually everybody will be able to tell you that “the teacher of nations” was an important figure in the history of this country. In the 17thcentury, this Protestant teacher and scholar was one of the biggest minds in Europe and many of his views on education are still relevant today. It is still not clear where Comenius was born – there are 3 places (a little more to the north from here) competing for the privilege of being designated his official birthplace, namely Komna, Nivnice, and Uhersky Brod. What has been confirmed, thought, is the fact that his ancestors had come from the village of Komna and when his father moved to Uhersky Brod, he was given the name Komensky (= coming from Komna).
Jan Amos Komensky statue
The Komenskys used to be a well-to-do and well respected family in Uhersky Brod, which at that time meant that they owned some vineyards here, in Blatnice. (Some members of the Komensky family even settled here).
Jan Amos inherited a vineyard from his father. After the battle of Bila Hora in 1620, when the Protestans were defeated, he lost his property and as a pastor of the Protestant Moravian Brethern he was forced to leave the country. He used his knowledge of vineyards and the ways of tending them in his didactic works The Visible World in Pictures (Orbis Pictus) and The Gate of Languages Unlocked (Janua Linguarum Reserata). He allegedly loved wine, yet he always advised moderation where drinking was concerned.
Contact
VIS Bílé Karpaty, o.p.s.
Marie Petrů, DiS.
Bartolomějské nám. 47? 698 01 Veselí nad Moravou
Tel.:518 322 545
e-mail:petru@bilekarpaty.cz
http://www.bilekarpaty.cz/vis
