Bohuslav Balbín was a Czech

Czech people

Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

 writer and Jesuit

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

, the "Bohemian Pliny," whose Vita beatae Joannis Nepomuceni martyris was published in Prague, 1670,
is in large part responsible for the developed legend of Saint John of Nepomuk

John of Nepomuk

John of Nepomuk is a national saint of the Czech Republic, who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus, King of the Romans and King of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional...

. Balbín graduated University of Olomouc.

His entire life was devoted to collecting and editing the materials for Bohemian history, and his researches have often been utilized by the Bollandists. He wrote over thirty works, the most important of which is Miscellanea Historica regni Bohemiae ("Miscellany of Bohemian History", 6 vols., Prague, 1679-87), in which he described the geography

Geography

Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

, natural history

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

,and chief historical

History

History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 events of his native land. The work includes brief vita

Biography

A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...

e of prominent Bohemians.The sections are

• Miscellanea historica regni Bohemiae - Bohemian history
• Liber naturalis - The Nature of Bohemia
• Liber popularis - The population
• Liber chorographicus - Topography
• Liber hagiographicus – Bohemian Saints
• Liber parochialis – The Parishes
• Liber episcopalis - The Archdiocese of Prague
• Liber regalis - Rulers
• Liber epistolaris - Series of letters
• Bohemia Docta - Bohemian literature and teaching
• Liber de seu curialis magistratibus et officiis curialibus regem Boohemiae - Paper on Courts and Offices of the Czech Crown

He also wrote in Latin an "Apology for the Slavic and especially the Bohemian tongue".

Balbinus was the first to edit the ancient vernacular chronicle of the tenth century known as the Life of St. Ludmilla and Martyrdom of St. Wenceslas, which is considered the oldest historical work written in Bohemia by a Bohemian. Balbinus wrote also De archiepiscopis Bohemiae ("The Archbishops of Bohemia", Prague, 1682) and Bohemia Sancta, sive de sanctis Bohemiae, Moraviae, Silesiae, Lusatiae ("Sacred Bohemia, or the Saints of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia" Prague, 1682).