EN
The study focuses on the memoirs, private literary sources, particularly on their distinct type known as křiky and pláče (complaints and laments), and their different interpretations in the fields of history and literary history. Four texts are presented, predominantly literary ones, that canal so be studied as historical sources. They are Václav Černý’s Paměti, especially its second volume called Křik / Pláč koruny české, Ladislav Jehlička’s Křik koruny svatováclavské, Jan Zahradníček’s Pláč koruny svatováclavské and Jakub Arbes’ Pláč koruny české neboli Perzekuce lidu českého v letech 1868–1873. The main aim of the study is to find and describe their common features and their close relation to history.