Josef Mirovít Král was a Bohemian Catholic priest, historian, topographer, writer and poet who lived during the Czech National Revival, specifically during the years 1789 to 1841. He closely co-operated with the group of Revivalists, formed around another Czech patriotic author Josef Liboslav Ziegler. Král as the author contributed to patriotic magazines of the early 19th century, such as Květy, Dobroslav and Čechoslav. Among his writings are included prosaic texts on various topics, poetry, treatises and educational articles. Král was also a pioneer on the field of Czech national history and historical research. Josef Mirovít Král was born on 16th February 1789 in Semechnice (in German Semechnitz) near Opočno in Rychnov nad Kněžnou District in the Hradec Králové Region. He received his education in Litomyšl as a student of the Piaristic College. Later on, he attended to the lectures at the Charles University in Prague and the theological class at the Hradec Králové. Beside theology, he was also dedicated to philosophy, history and literature. In 1811, after his studies, he moved to the Nový Hrádek u Opočna, where he started working as a chaplain. There he started with his literary work, firstly as a poet. He came into contact with Josef Liboslav Ziegler. Through his assistance, he became well known among Revivalists of the region of Eastern Bohemia. Král gained a friendship of many Czech revivalists of the Eastern region. Beside Josef Liboslav Ziegler, he maintained relations with Josef Vojtěch Sedláček, Josef Myslimír Ludvík, and Václav Michal Pešina. After his activity in Nový Hrádek u Opočna, Král moved to Jilemnice in 1825 and to Horní Braná two years later, where he continued working as a chaplain. In 1832, he was ordained as a parish priest. Owing to this event, he started with a new agenda, which was much more time-consuming than his previous obligations. Therefore, Král did not have a time to fulfil his literary ambitions. Even though, he managed to publish a large amount of literary works. Similarly, as in the case of his works for magazines, topics of his individual publications vary too. We can find philosophical, theological, historical or even pedagogical texts. The most famous writings of Josef Mirovít Král are as follows Jeden ovčinec, jeden pastýř (1829–1831); Vypsání života svatých dvou bratří, biskupů a apoštolů Crhy a Strachoty (1825); Slávové, praotcové Čechů, a bytedlná sídla jejich (1825); Láska k vlasti (1846); Dokonalý žák: dárek pilné mládeži (1827); Průvodce po biskupství královéhradeckém (1825–1827). The end of Král’s life was affected by serious illness. He died due to the unsuccessful operation in Horná Braná on 13th February 1841. Fortunately, his contribution to literature and historiography, even as regional author, was sufficient enough to keeping his memory alive.
From: KYSELA, Erik: Zpřístupnění písemné památky k dějinám města Hradce Králové pomocí webové aplikace, UHK, Hradec Králové, 2015