THE PALECEKS

Our Palecek ancestors came from the country of Bohemia . Along with Moravia and Silesia , Bohemia is now a part of the Czechoslovak Republic , with Czech as the native language. Until the three became politically joined in 1918 they were culturally alike, but separate countries. The older name of the Czech language, Bohemian, is derived from "Boli", a Celtic tribe transient in Bohemia ("the home of the Boii") before the Christian era.

Czechoslovakia, before 1848 existed in a feudal system of land tenure, with the majority of the people a nation of serfs governed by a handful of intellectuals, the only existing middle and upper class

In 8 B.C. the Boii were supplanted by the Germanic Marcomanni. It is probable that Slav peoples entered the country by the 1st century A.D. but the stages of Slav immigration cannot be reliably established. The most powerful of these entering Slav tribes were the Cechove (Czechs) who gradually subjugated other peoples in the area. After their settlement in Bohemia the Cechove were in turn conquered by the Avars, but they succeeded in overthrowing their oppressors in the early years of the 7th century.

According to tradition the first ruling house of Bohemia was founded by a plowman, Premysl, who married a princess named Libusa, which began the Premyslid dynasty followed by the Luxemborg dynasty in 1310.

Perhaps it was in the court of George of Podebrady (1458), the only Hussite king of Bohemia who endeared himself to his countrymen, or in the palace ofa—later-King Louis who was crowned at_the age of 3, Or perhaps it was in the royal halls of the court of Frederick, the "Winter King" who fled at the Battle of White Mountain at the gates of Prague in 1620, that a certain court jester made himself known. What his original name was we do not know, but what it became was of great interest, because this court jester was the first Palecek.

This court jester was a very uniquely talented man. Not only was he very amusing but he was extremely clever and witty, and through his wit subtly manipulated the actions of the king and in this sense he ran the kingdom moreso than the king himself. The jester caused the king to make certain decisions which benefited the country and in return was awarded with land and wealth, and bestowed with the name of "Palecek" literally meaning "little finger". According to this story or legend the name of Palecek was to identify the jester and his descendants forever as having once been favored by royalty.