History and Prospects of Material Examination of Manuscripts of Dvůr Králové and of Zelená Hora

Abstract

The disagreement with the age and authenticity of the title Manuscripts has persisted in Czech literature up to now: Do they originate from the Middle Ages or are they romantic forgeries from the 19th century? An overview is provided of the history of chemical examination of both manuscripts. A greater part of the analytical results suggests their Middle Ages origin in contrast to historic and linguistic examination. The prospects of applying modern non-destructive methods in the examination are discussed.