Region of the Flying Monk Cyprian

Zamagurie
Spiš is one of the Slovak counties where you can find such lovely sceneries. Its area, the region of Zamagurie, is situated in northwest Slovakia, near the Polish border, on the right side of the High Tatras, between the mountain ranges of Spišská Magura and the Pieniny National Park and the Dunajec River. It was primarily settled between the 13th and16th centuries by Slavic, as well as German, people. At that time, the people were mostly engaged in shepherding, farming, woodcutting and trade. However, especially at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, difficult economic conditions forced many inhabitants to leave the country in order to seek a better life elsewhere. Regarding the natural and cultural beauties of Zamagurie, this region has unique predispositions for becoming a place that is highly popular among tourists. Tourism could thus become the main source of income for the region’s current inhabitants. 

Monastery of Carthusian and Camaldulian monks
Apart from its natural beauties, the region of Zamagurie is rich in cultural and historical monuments, as well. The landmark of this region is the national culture site of the monastery of the Carthusian monks (Červený Kláštor). The history of this monastery is closely linked to the history of the village Lechnica. The village of Lechnica was the property of the noble family Berzeviczy. In 1319, master Kokoš Berzeviczy donated Lechnica to the Carthusian monks from the region of the Slovak Paradise for the establishment of a monastery there. This monastery, which is situated in the Valley of St. Anton near the Dunajec River, became the second monastery in Spiš, which was, just as in the whole of present-day Slovakia, a part of the Kingdom of Hungary at that time. The members of the Carthusian order lived there from the 14th to 16th century. They were one of the strictest contemplative orders in the Roman Catholic Church. The members of this order still abide by the principles of their founders to the present day. The rules of the order put an emphasis on the role of books – as “eternal spiritual food". God’s Word was not preached verbally, but rather with hands (i.e. by writing), in which the monks were engaged in transcribing and binding the Holy Scripture.

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In the 15th century, the development of the monastery was interrupted by the invasion of the Hussite army cavalry from Bohemia. The long-term occupation by the Hussites resulted in the dilapidation of the monastery and the economic decline of the local villages. The disorderly situation in the kingdom, the beginning of the reformation, two rulers along with the fights between Ferdinand von Habsburg and John Zapolya for the throne in the Hungarian Kingdom led to outbreaks of religious hatred. The country’s disin­tegration had a negative impact on both monasteries in Spiš. Their properties shrank and were often plundered. The monks gradually abandoned the monasteries and left for calmer Poland, Austria and Moravia. In 1563, the monastery was shut down and dissolved upon the death of the last monk.
The monks from the Camaldulian order arrived in Červený Kláštor in 1711. Their lives were governed by strict Benedictine rules and just as in the Carthusian community, they observed strict self-renunciation. They were engaged in farming, apiculture, cultivating of crops, medicinal herbs and trees. The monastery was renovated and rebuilt in the Baroque style and acquired a look that can still be admired today. In 1782, the Emperor Joseph II ordered the dissolution of all the monastic orders that, in his view, did not pursue useful activities. The emperor’s decree was read in Červený Kláštor on 24 April 1782; there were 17 members of the order in the monastery. The last monk remaining there left the monastery four years later. 

Romuald Hadvábny
Červený Kláštor, which is in a village of the same name, was recorded into the history of Slovakia’s natural culture mainly thanks to Camaldulian monks. In the Camaldulian period, the monastery became an important literary and translation centre. A significant personality then was Romuald Hadbavný, a clergyman, who was in charge of keeping the monastery’s ar­chives. He is considered to be the co-author of the first translation of the Holy Scripture into the Western dialect of the Slovak language in 1750, in which he applied grammar and spelling rules. Unique works of the Slovak writing of the 18th century, which stem from the monastery, include a Latin-Slovak dictionary with a brief description of the grammar from 1763 and a translation of the religious songs of French Benedictine mystic Louis de Blois into the Slovak language. The works of Mr. Hadbávny are excellent works of the Slovak literature and philology of the 18th century.

The father Cyprian
The father Cyprian, whose real name was Franz Ignatz Jäschke, excelled in medicine and natural science. He was born into a family of a tailor on 28 July 1724 in Polkovice in the region of Sliezsko (currently a part of Poland). He studied in Wroclaw. In those days he was one of only a few people with a comprehensive education. He was involved in medicine, botany, pharmacy and alchemy, but also mechanics and cosmology. He lived in several monasteries, including a monastery in Italy, as it is believed, where he acquired botanic, floristic and herbal knowledge. Probably under the influence of his stay in Italy, where he became acquainted with the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci, he started to use the additional name Italus. He came to Červený Kláštor as an experienced herbalist, physician, pharmacist and botanist in 1756, where he lived until the end of his life in 1775.

Camaldulian monks set up a pharmacy on the first floor of the monastery.  Cyprian ran the pharmacy from 1756–1775. He was known for his success in healing wounds – he cured them with herbal decoctions, tinctures and teas, in which he could manipulate fractures and bloodletting. The pharmacy in the monastery, which became well known far and wide thanks to him, was one of the oldest pharmacies in Central Europe (the oldest pharmacy is considered to be the pharmacy U Červeného Raka under Michael’s Gate in Bratislava ( it is a pharmaceutical museum at present).

Herbarium
The Cyprian’s life work was the herbarium from 1766 onwards. The book is bound in dark leather with the size 39×23×10 cm. The book’s introduction features contemplations of the father Cyprian and his opinions on the medical science of those days. A portion of the introduction is a text written by an unknown author who praises in verse the versatile talent and skills of Cyprian as a religious scholar, physician and producer of light fittings and mirrors – an expert on a thousand handicrafts. There is a large mirror in a rococo framework on the third page of the book, which allegedly shows the reflections of Cyprian’s skills. The first part of the herbarium contains 97 pages with herbs. The herbarium comprises a collection of 283 herbs with their names in Latin, German, Greek, Polish and Slovak. In the second part, the Cyprian presents his knowledge on diseases and the methods for their respective treatment. The original copy of the herbarium is deposited in the collections of the Museum of Science of the Slovak National Museum in Bratislava. 

Flying monk
There is a legend about the Cyprian, which is probably not very far from the mark. Since he knew a lot about the earth, he was also very interested in the cosmos. As legend has it, while collecting herbs in the lovely Pieniny nature, he watched an eagle in the sky and felt the desire to fly like this bird. He decided to construct a flying machine. He believed that he would fly even higher than the birds and would see and experience mysteries, which are inaccessible to other people. After constructing the glider, he flew from the “Three Crowns” hill and on magic wings, driven by love to a beautiful shepherdess, he flew so high that an angel saw his reflection on the bottom of the mountain lake Morskie Oko in Polish Tatras and struck him with lightning to the ground. On this place, there is a rock in the form of a tower now, which is called Monk.

The life of the Cyprian served as inspiration for a co-production film “Flying Cyprian”. Slovak, Polish, Czech and Hungarian authors headed by the director Marianna Čengel – Solčanska want to introduce the film to the public at the beginning of 2010. It should become another invitation for a visit to the monastery of the Carthusian monks in Červený Kláštor, which offers a pleasant and rich museum exposition with a just recently renovated church of St. Anton Pustovník, along with other possibilities for relaxation and recreation in the beautiful Pieniny nature, rafting on the Dunajec River and other excellent attractions.

Photo: CYPRIAN

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