Usquoque tu, Domine, obdormis gravi sopore?

A Newly Found Topical Song from Late Medieval Bohemia (Fragment Prague, Library of the National Museum, 1 K 618)

Abstract

The study presents an edition of a newly found Latin topical song written probably in Bohemia between 1459 and 1468. The song is surely anti-Catholic, directed especially against two prominent figures of Czech Catholic elite of the time, Hilarius of Litoměřice and Wenceslas of Křižanov, but the exact context in which it originated remains obscure. Within the discussion, recurring themes in other songs, satires and invectives of the time are pointed out, namely faith, truth, Eucharist, nostalgia, and the approaching end of the world. Special is the theme of waking up God so that he would put an end to the troubles of the time.