Sedletz Monastery (Czech: Sedlecký klášter) is a monastery just outside the city of Kuttenberg.
The monastery is not accessible to Henry with the exception of the graveyard and the ossuary of it's chapel.
Sedletz monastery has traditionally controlled all decisions regarding religious buildings in Kuttenberg which has led the Monastery into a bitter feud with the Brotherhood of Corpus Cristi over the control of the unfinished St. Barbara's Church.
Codex Entries[]
Sedletz Monastery[]
The Sedletz Monastery used to be the oldest Cistercian abbey in the Czech Kingdom. Founded by the Bavarian Abbot Gerlach in 1142 , it was later abandoned and reoccupied many times in its history, either due to wars or poor financial situations.
In 1421, it was burnt down by the Hussites, only the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist survived. After the end of the war, only a few monks returned and it remained in this dismal state until the 17th century. In 1783, the monastery was completely abolished by an imperial decree.
The cemetery church of All Saints with the adjacent burial ground was originally part of the monastery, but later it began to serve as the municipal cemetery for Kuttenberg, because as records showed, burials were taking place there long before the arrival of the monks. The cemetery was at its busiest during wars and plague epidemics. In 1318 alone, 30,000 dead were buried there, and another 10,000 during the Hussite wars.
The site is shrouded in many legends. The most famous one states that the abbot of the Heidenreich Monastery brought a handful of dirt from Jerusalem on his pilgrimage to the Holy Land, which he then scattered around the cemetery and the ossuary. Thus, the cemetery ground became sacred and highly sought after, not only by the people of Kuttenberg, but also by pilgrims and those wishing to be buried there from all over Bohemia and neighbouring regions. Who wouldn't want to rest in the ground where Jesus Christ himself once walked?
Today, a cigarette factory is located on the site of the former monastery.
Sedletz Ossuary[]
The ossuary is an underground chapel of the All Saints cemetery church, built in the second half of the 14th century, which originally belonged to the Cistercian abbey in Sedletz. It bears an uncanny resemblance to the underground chapels of Jerusalem where pilgrims were buried.
During the Hussite wars, the monastery was burnt down and abandoned together with the ossuary. It was not rebuilt until the second half of the 15th century. In 1511, the bones from the cemetery were exhumed and moved to the ossuary's underground, where a half-blind monk put them together into the famous pyramids and bone structures in our game, however, we decided to attribute their creation to Henry.
In its later history, the Sedletz ossuary underwent Baroque modifications and today it is one of the most popular tourist sites in the Czech Republic. The bone structures, made from the remains of more than 60,000 people, have undergone extensive renovation and, as a memento mori, are still a reminder that: dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return...
Locations of Interest[]
In the southwestern corner of the wall near a stream you can find a spot marked as "Hidden ladder" where you can find a knocked down ladder and a chest with valuables and "Map from chest by Sedletz" which points to a barn marked as "Love Spot" with some more valuables inside.
Quests[]
- Thou art but dust...
- The Magic Arrow
- The Reliquary
Notable Residents[]
- Gravedigger Lenek