prof. PhDr. Petr Vorel, CSc.

Prof. PhDr. Petr Vorel, CSc., was the first head of the Institute of Historical Sciences since its founding at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Pardubice (2001). Later, he held senior positions at the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy and the University of Pardubice (Vice-Dean, Dean, Vice-Rector). After his external research assistantship at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (1994), he completed his habilitation at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague (1999) and was appointed Professor at the Palacký University Olomouc (2004). He has long been the main representative of the historical professional community in the Czech Republic (chairman of the Association of Historians of the Czech Republic 2006-2011; chairman of the Czech National Committee of Historians since 2011). He is a member of the Learned Society of the Czech Republic and major foreign scientific boards (Collegium Carolinum – München; The Comenius Academic Club – New York).

Fields of interest:

• History of currency circulation
• Economic history of the early modern period
• History of the Papacy
• History of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation

Scientific activities

Spectrum of scientific interests of Prof. Vorel is quite wide, his bibliography over the past thirty years includes twenty original scientific book publications (published in multiple editions or multiple language versions) and two hundred journal studies, published in Czech and foreign languages. He is currently focusing on the issues of European economic history and currency circulation in the 15th – 17th centuries; links between the economic and political interests of the ruling class in times of political crises; the relationship between papal and imperial power in the 16th century and the history of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in the early modern period.

Grant projects (selection):

• 2012-2015: GA405/12/1000 War of the Princes in the Holy Roman Empire and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown 1546-1555.

Selected Publications:

• Vorel Petr: From the Silver Czech Tolar to a Worldwide Dollar (The Birth of the Dollar and its Journey of Monetary Circulation in Europe and the World from the 16th to the 20th Century). New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.
• Vorel Petr: La storia della piastra d´argento di Urbano VIII (L’attività della zecca romana sul finire del pontificato di Urbano VIII e il catalogo dettagliato delle piastre d’argento pontificie degli anni 1634-1644). Roma – Praha: Istituto Storico Ceco di Roma, 2013.
• Vorel Petr: The War of the Princes: The Bohemian Lands and the Holy Roman Empire 1546-1555. Santa Helena – California (USA): Helena History Press LLC, 2015.
• Vorel Petr: Funding of the Papal Army´s Campaign to Germany during the Schmalkaldic War (Edition of the original accounting documentation Conto de la Guerra de Allemagna kept by the Pope’s accountant Peter John Aleotti from 22 June 1546 to 2 September 1547). Theatrum Historiae 21, 2017, pp. 9 – 96.
• Vorel Petr: European merchant trading firms and the export of the precious metals from the Kingdom of Bohemia during the 16th century. in: Cheryl Susan McWatters (red.), Mercantilism, Account Keeping and the Periphery-Core Relationship, London – New York: Routledge 2019, pp. 49-60.

Awards:

• 2017 – Award of the Minister of Education for Excellence in Research, Experimental Development and Innovation
• 2019 – Palacky Medal of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic for merit in the field of history