The Petrovští

Towards the end of the Thirty Years' War and after it, Petřín was chiefly the haunt of robbers hiding there, who for that reason are said to have been called the Petrovští. At first they were mostly wretches without shelter or food who wandered the countryside until they turned to robbery. They fell upon noblemen, merchants and manor farms, but hardly ever upon village people. They are said to have formed a whole regiment, and their captains took names from the famous commanders of the day — so they had their Montecuccoli, their Piccolomini, their Colloredo, Wrangel and Königsmark. The government issued a severe patent against them on 7 August 1650, but the robbery did not diminish, and the diet was still occupied with the Petrovští under Emperor Leopold I. It is more likely, of course, that the Petrovští were the band of one Peter; later the name was given to robbers in general.