A History of Central Eastern Europe

STRAZNICA who returned with 300 cavalry soldiers, 8000 foot soldiers and 300 battle wagons.
This large force plundered the ČERVENÝ KLÁŠTOR, captured the village of KEŽMAROK, destroyed
the SKALA ÚTOČIŠŤA monastery and another in SPISSKÝ STIAVNIK.
The death of 2 kings in 2 years (SIGISMUND in 1437 and ALBRECHT in 1439) opened a period of
strife and struggle for power in the land. Former Hussite warriors attacked monasteries as well as
wealthy citizens and nobles in 1447 and 1448. They were finally defeated and expelled in 1462
under the reign of MATTHIAS I CORVINUS. During this period of unrest, ČERVENÝ KLÁŠTOR fell
to ruin was rebuilt in 1462. i
In 1563, the monks from the rebuilt monastery at SKALA ÚTOČIŠŤA found shelter at ČERVENÝ
KLÁŠTOR after the marauding knight BAŠO MATEJ bass plundered it. It’s possible that BAŠO was
related to the knight, RUTKER VON MATREI, given the similarities of name and career. KING
FERDINAND I revoked its charter after this.
Two years later mercenaries from NEDECKÝ HRAD invaded, forcing the monks to abandon
ČERVENÝ KLÁŠTOR. With the monastery virtually empty by 1563 and its last prior dead in 1567,
the property was taken over by the SPIŠ provost GREGOR BOMEMISZA. After 1569, the entire
property was placed in the hands of secular nobles: GASPAR MAGOCZI, ŽUPAN of TOLNA, STEFAN
THÖKÖLY, & JURAJ HORVATH. After HORVATH’S death in 1625, the king gave the property to
PAVOL RAKOCZI and it stayed with the family until 1699 when ELIZABETH ERDODY-RAKOCZI
sold it to the BISHOP OF NITRA, LADISLAV MAŤAŠOVSKÝ. In 1705, the bishop bequeathed the
entire property to the Benedictine monks who, after taking up residence in 1711, renovated it in
the Baroque style that remains to this day. The complex was struck by 4 fires between 1746 and
1760 and, after the last blaze, many collapsed including the tower with its 5 bells.
Continuing in the tradition of monastic medicine of the Cartesian monks, but in a different vein,
a pharmacy was established in 1754 whose fame spread across Europe. Due in large measure to
the custodian (1756 – 1775), BROTHER CYPRIAN who was born FRANCIS IGNAC JASCHKE, the
science of herbal medicine advanced rapidly. His most significant work is his HERBARIUM
(1766), a catalogue of 272 different herbs and their medicinal properties.
The monastery is also famous for the cattiness of their talking statues.
After the 1760 blaze it was many of the buildings that collapsed, not the monks –
though I suspect a few of them did as well.