page_title: Peter Parler
section_title: Family and personal life
hierarchical_section_title: Peter Parler / Family and personal life
caption_attribution_description: Česky: Náhrobní deska Petra Parléře
context_page_description: Peter Parler was a German-Bohemian architect and sculptor from the Parler family of master builders. Along with his father, Heinrich Parler, he is one of the most prominent and influential craftsmen of the Middle Ages. Born and apprenticed in the town of Schwäbisch Gmünd, Peter worked at several important late Medieval building sites, including Strasbourg, Cologne, and Nuremberg. After 1356 he lived in Prague, capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and seat of the Holy Roman Empire, where he created his most famous works: St. Vitus Cathedral and the Charles Bridge.
context_section_description: The Parler family grew large and its many members worked at Gothic construction sites all over Central Europe and Northern Italy. Peter's branch of the family began with his marriage to his first wife, Gertrude. Although their wedding date is not exactly known, by 1360 they were raising three sons and a daughter:
  Johann Parler the Younger: born around 1359, educated in Prague, worked alongside his father on St. Vitus. Johann took over his father's role as the cathedral's master builder in 1398 and also became the master builder of St. Barbara's Church, Kutná Hora, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
  Nikolaus Parler: became a clergyman and served as a canon in Prague from 1380–1398. Little else is known about him.
  Wenzel Parler: born around 1360, also educated in Prague, worked with both his father and brother Johann at St. Vitus through the 1390s. He then went on to become master stonemason at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna.
  Their daughter appears around 1383 as the wife of a Michael from Cologne, possibly the son of another cathedral architect named Michael (1364–1387).
  After 1360, Peter owned a house in Prague Castle Square and had been elected city alderman. His first wife Gertrude died in the late 1360s and he returned to Cologne to dispose of her inheritance in 1370. He then married Elisabeth Agnes von Bur in 1380 and in the same year bought a second house on Castle Square. From this marriage two more children were born: Johann, who possibly became a stonemason in Zagreb; and Paul, about whom no information survives. He may have had other children as well. The purchase of the houses, the marriage of his daughter, and the number of his children led to some legal disputes. Peter Parler is known to have relinquished both houses to his second wife and their children.
  Peter was granted citizenship in Prague in 1379. By his old age he had become a wealthy man and was still active as an architect. His name appears as Cathedral Master (German: Dombaumeister) on a panel at St. Vitus as late as 1396. He died in Prague in 1399 and was buried at St. Vitus Cathedral, with his sons Peter and Wenzel carrying on his work.
caption: Tomb of Peter Parler in St. Vitus Cathedral
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