Bohemia: The Silver Kingdom That Funded Europe

In the 13th century, miners in the mountains of Bohemia found one of the richest silver deposits in European history. The town of Kutná Hora grew up around it, and the silver it produced — minted into Prague groschen — became the currency of Central Europe. Bohemia's silver funded kings, built cities, and made the Kingdom of Bohemia one of the wealthiest states of medieval Europe. In this episode of Empires & Economics: The Kutná Hora silver rush: Europe's first mining boom The Prague groschen: the dollar of medieval Central Europe How silver made Bohemia a European power The mining code of Jihlava: the first modern mining law The decline: war, inflation, and the Thirty Years' War Sources: Bartoš (1993), Kořán (1999), Graus (1953), Blanchard (2005) #Bohemia #Silver #KutnaHora #MedievalHistory #Mining #HistoryDocumentary #AncientEconomics #EmpiresAndEconomics #AncientHistory #EconomicHistory #HistoryDocumentary #AncientEconomics