Why is it that so many Czech and Slovak hockey players (Hejduk, Novy, Kraft, Jurcina, etc.) are named for a town in northern Italy??Great question, man without peers. The answer can be found deep in Austrian history.
After the Treaty of Utrecht ended the War for Spanish Succession in 1713, the Austrian Empire became the reigning hegemon over the Italian peninsula. Under the Hapsburg emperors, the Austrian Empire gained control over large portions of northern Italy by annexing the the Kingdoms of Venice and Genoa. During the time the Hapsburgs controlled the northern Italian states, they also controlled the Slavic areas that are now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. During this time, cultural diffusion lead to a mingling of the areas all under the Hapsburg empire at the time. As a result, there is a large influence of Northern Italy in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. I hope this history lesson has been helpful Peerless!
And for the record, I looked none of that up. It helps sometime to have a degree in History.
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