Arneštovice

Arneštovice is a municipality and village in Pelhřimov District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 90 inhabitants.

Arneštovice lies approximately 14 kilometres (9 mi) north-west of Pelhřimov, 38 km (24 mi) north-west of Jihlava, and 80 km (50 mi) south-east of Prague.

The oldest people in Arneštovice which aren't nobles were called freedman, which they were free peasants which had an estate equivalent to a surf estate. They also had to pay taxes and serve in the military. They also didn't technically own the surf estate. Burghers and nobles were also part of the hierarchy, but they were obligated to take control of the entire estate. The first mention of freedman in Arneštovice was in 1524, where a freedman sold hereditary fields to Jan Lis. ^[5]

In 1654, after the Thirty Years' War, all people were obligated to list out their possessions, which divided everyone into gardeners, cottagers and peasants.^[6]

In 1789, the urbanial treaties also concerned the hereditary purchase of land, which had farmers pay their debt per month. After that, everyone must now, to this day, list out their possesions and the amount of residents in their house. ^[7]

Arneštovice has been apart of different areas. The table below shows the administrative incorporation of Arneštovice within the secular administration. ^[8]

Religion is a common recurring part in the history of Arneštovice. Before the establishment of the Prague bishopric, Arneštovice was apart of the Diocese of Regensburg. Later, during the reign of Emperor Charles IV, also the Prague bishopric, became an archbishopric in 1344 by Pope Clement IV. However, the boundaries of the classical parishes weren't established in Bohemia until the 1330s. The other bishoprics were integrated into the Prague province after Prague became archbishopric. The parish of Horepnice was also part of the Prague archdiocese until 1786, when the new diocese of České Budějovice was created from the then regions of Tábor, Písek and Klatovy.

In the middle of the 12th century, there were also archdeacons, which were people used to supervise the spirituality in their own district, which consisted of a maximum of 11 people. However, archdeacons met a slow decline in the middle of the 14th century, and were replaced with the archbishop. Below the archdeacons were the deaneries, which had a total of 53 people in the 13th century. Their job was to transfer information from the priests and tell the civilians and visit their own district.

From 1419 to 1434, the Hussite Wars happened, which disrupted the Catholic rule in the Prague bishopric for the 13th century until 1561 which Prague was reocuppied by Antonín Brus of Mohelnice.

In 1627, Catholic was the only permitted religion in the Renewed Land Constitution of 1627, and the newly elected Cardinal Arnošt of Harrach abolished the deaneries and replaced them with vicars. After this, vicariates fought to control the Prague bishopric, which continues to this day. ^[9]

From 1774, education was compulsory under the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa, which required all 6 to 12 year olds to learn. Till this day, primary education has not been introduced to Arneštovice, instead they have to walk to nearby Hořepník.

In 1961, kindergartens were founded in Arneštovice, but it later closed in 1968. There are also local education committees which still exist. [1]

Firefighters in Arneštovice are called the Arneštovice Fire Department, which was founded in 1922 and operates till this day. Other than that, in 1921, the Catholic Youth Assocation for Horěpník was established to teach the youth about church singing. Also, there are farming, women, hunting, economic and other youth assocations in Arneštovice.

Fishing, theater performances, cassations, burning witches and cutting down the maypole became traditions in Arneštovice. However, maypoles didn't become an annual tradition. [2]

Agriculture in Arneštovice began when feudalism was introduced which required serfdom by everyone, such as agriculture. In 1848, feudalism was abolished and everyone gradually paid off their debts and lived as a freedman.

However, people didn't stop farming. Instead, they invented machines such as the žentour to drive cutters and tractors in the mid 20th century. After World War 2, machinery expanded despite droughts in 1947. From 1948 to 1950, land reform acts were passed in Arneštovice.

There were also local agricultural organizations, such as the Arneštovice Agricultural Machinery Cooperative (AAMC) from 1948 to 1952, then was replaced with another one, the Arneštovice Unified Agricultural Cooperative (AUAC) from 1952 to now. The seizing of farming equipments and developments also happened due to the existence of the organizations.^[10]

Below is the list of mayors from 1866 to 2025. [3]

Currently, Stanislav Suk is the mayor of Arneštovice, which includes his cabinet, such as the deputy mayor Ivo Vagner, the council members, which are Vaclav Dvořák (Chairman of Control), Karel Musil (Chairman of Civil Affairs), Petr Zak (Chairman of Forestation and Environment), Ondrej Kuran (Chairman of Fire Protection) and Vladimir Mezera (Chairman of Finance). [4]

• Official website