to thrive and a new town was built on the heights above the river, with a castle and Kadaň Franciscan Monastery. There was a big fire in 1362. However, Emperor Charles IV who twice visited the town (1367 and 1374) granted it several municipal rights (home rule, a vineyard, and an annual market) that made it flourish again. The reign of Wenceslaus IV produced the skilled clockmaker Mikuláš of Kadaň, who, together with mathematician and astronomer Jan Šindel, designed the Prague Orloj. The 15th century brought a new dimension to the history of Kadaň: the town and castle often used to be pledged to royal creditors. At the end of the rule of George of Poděbrady first the town and later the castle was captured by Jan Hasištejnský z Lobkovic, who seemed to see Kadaň as a suitable capital for his dependent territories. The establishment and construction of the monastery of the Franciscans of strict observance, built as a family burial-place and later a pardon place of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, may reflect his ambitions for the town. Jan Hasištejnský died in 1517 and is buried in the Church of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. His tomb is still on display in the Church, now part of the municipal museum. The same year saw the beginning of the Reformation in Germany, which had an immediate impact on the atmosphere in German speaking Kadaň. In 1534, "Kadaň religious peace" was negotiated here between Württemberg Protestants and Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor for the Catholic side. In the Thirty Years' War during the next century, Kadaň suffered from fires and plundering by various armies on their way to the battlefields of Bohemia. After the war, the formerly Czech-German town became a monolingual German domain. 18th–19th centuries During the Silesian Wars, Kadaň was a foothold for the withdrawing French army that fortified in the Franciscan monastery and was besieged by Hungarian and Croatian units of the Austrian army. The door of the monastery church still shows the bullet holes from that battle on 14 October 1742. The town caught fire in 1746, providing a great opportunity for Kadaň's "Christopher Wren" – Johann Christoph Kosch. He built many Baroque buildings, including the Church of the Elevation of the Holy Cross, the Church of the Holy Family and the monastery of the Order of St. Elisabeth. The Castle of Kadaň was rebuilt to serve as a