ABSTRACT
During the Middle Ages, large areas of cities were frequently devastated by major fires. Medieval Prague was no exception. The study examines the issue of fires in the Prague suburbs on three closely interrelated levels: through preserved fire prevention codes and measures; by means of an analytical examination of selected records written by the historian Peter of Zittau, in whose chronicle one finds quite detailed information about some of the Prague fires; on the basis of several critical remarks, a polemic with the conclusions of building historians, who have directly linked two fires that occurred in the medieval city in April 1316 with the subsequent extensive area-wide reconstruction (or rather new construction) of the above-ground storeys of Prague's Gothic houses. The chief objective is to draw attention to how the consequences of major fires might be overstated and the necessity of critically evaluating every known similar incident. The architectural transformation of the city was not the result of either fires or floods, but rather stemmed from political, economic, social, and later also ecclesiastical changes that affected urban society. Particularly the economic and social changes, as captured in written sources, are not always sufficiently taken into account in (not only) building history research. Although natural disasters led to destruction and a significant burden for every city and its inhabitants, they were not enough in and of themselves to lead to far-reaching changes in the urban organism.
