Duchy of Bohemia
Czech Republic, 870 CE–1198. Draft, not yet reviewed
The Duchy of Bohemia was formed around 870 by Czechs as part of the Great Moravian realm. Bohemia separated from disintegrating Great Moravia after Duke Spytihněv swore fealty to the East Frankish king Arnulf in 895. In 1002, Duke Vladivoj was given the Duchy of Bohemia as a fief by King Henry II of Germany, and what had been a fully sovereign duchy became part of the Holy Roman Empire. The Duchy of Bohemia was raised to a hereditary Kingdom of Bohemia, when Duke Ottokar I ensured his elevation by the German king Philip of Swabia in 1198.
Seat of power: Prague
Rulers
Bořivoj I
Duke of Bohemia, 872 CE–883 CE
Around 872, his overlord King Svatopluk I of Moravia recognised him as a sovereign ruler and sent Bishop Methodius of Thessalonica to begin the Christianization of Bohemia. The duke or, more probably, his son Spytihněv moved his residence to the Hradčany mountain and laid the foundations for Prague Castle.
Portrait of Bořivoj I: Karel Javůrek, Public domain, file
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Spytihněv I, Duke of Bohemia
Duke of Bohemia, 888 CE–915 CE
After Svatopluk died in 894, Spytihněv took advantage of the situation to free himself from Moravian vassalage. He also had several castles erected along the borders of his realm at Mělník, Libušín, Tetín, Lštění, and Boleslav.
Portrait of Spytihněv I, Duke of Bohemia: anonymous fresco in Znojmo (CZ), Public domain, file
Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia
Duke of Bohemia, 921 CE–935 CE
With the nobles' support, Wenceslaus took control of the government and used Christianity to strengthen his state. Wenceslaus introduced German priests into his realm and favoured the Latin rite instead of the old Slavic. In 929, a sudden attack by Duke Arnulf of Bavaria and King Henry I the Fowler forced Wenceslaus to resume payment of a tribute first imposed by the East Frankish king Arnulf of Carinthia.
Portrait of Saint Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia
Duke of Bohemia, 935 CE–972 CE
Boleslaus I is generally respected by Czech historians as an energetic ruler who significantly strengthened the Bohemian state and expanded its territory. After taking the throne in 935, Boleslaus conquered the adjacent lands of Moravia and Silesia and expanded farther to Kraków in the east.
Portrait of Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia: Känsterle (Overleg), CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia
Duke of Bohemia, 972 CE–999 CE
Boleslaus II took over the rule of the Duchy of Bohemia on his father's death in 972. Like his father, he initially quarrelled with the Ottonian kings of Germany. In 978, he solemnly pledged allegiance to the emperor at the Easter festivities in Quedlinburg.
Portrait of Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia: anonymous fresco in Znojmo (CZ), Public domain, file
Jaromír
Duke of Bohemia, 1003–1012
In 1004, Jaromír occupied Prague with a German army and proclaimed himself Bohemian duke. At Merseburg, he promised to hold Bohemia as a vassal of the king. This action definitively placed Bohemia within the jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Empire.
Portrait of Jaromír: Karelj, Public domain, file
Oldřich, Duke of Bohemia
Duke of Bohemia, 1012–1034
His accession to the Bohemian throne marked the start of a phase of stability after a long period of internal dynastic struggles. Under his rule, the Moravian lands were reconquered from Polish occupation. He secured his rule by suppressing the Vršovci insurgents.
Portrait of Oldřich, Duke of Bohemia: AnonymousUnknown author, Public domain, file
Bretislaus I
Duke of Bohemia, 1035–1055
In 1039, he invaded Lesser and Greater Poland, captured Poznań and sacked Gniezno. In 1054, he established rules for the ducal succession and introduced agnatic seniority as the law of succession. He wrote decrees concerning the rules of Christianization, which included a ban on polygamy and trade on holidays.
Portrait of Bretislaus I: anonymous fresco in Znojmo (CZ), Public domain, file
Vratislaus II of Bohemia
Duke of Bohemia, 1061–1085
Vratislaus supported Henry in both the Investiture Controversy against the Popes and the rebellions in Saxony that dominated his long reign. He was the first King of Bohemia as of 15 June 1085, with a royal title granted as a lifetime honorific from Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV that did not establish a hereditary monarchy.
Portrait of Vratislaus II of Bohemia: anonymous fresco in Znojmo (CZ), Public domain, file
Bretislaus II
Duke of Bohemia, 1092–1100
He succeeded his uncle Conrad I and worked for the destruction of the old Slavic culture. In 1097, he expelled the Slavonic monks of the monastery in Sazava. He also received a long-desired imperial investiture at the Diet of Regensburg on 19 April 1099.
Portrait of Bretislaus II: Acoma, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia
Duke of Bohemia, 1100–1107
He was originally opposed by Duke Ulrich I of Brno, his cousin, and a civil war ensued. In 1117, the brothers were reconciled and they ruled the duchy jointly, though divided, until 1120.
Portrait of Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia: Acoma, CC BY 3.0, file
Vladislaus I
Duke of Bohemia, 1109–1117
Vladislav I ruled in a difficult time with considerable success. Although he continued to acknowledge the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Empire, he weathered the interventions of Poland into Bohemian affairs, conflicts with his kinsmen in Moravia, and undertook offensive campaigns against both Poland and Austria. In 1115, the Benedictine monastery of Kladruby was established, with Vladislav endowing the abbey with 25 manors and the lordship of Zbraslav.
Portrait of Vladislaus I: Unknown author, Public domain, file
Soběslav I, Duke of Bohemia
Duke of Bohemia, 1125–1140
He was an adversary of the German monarchy throughout his reign. On 18 February 1126, at the Battle of Chlumec, Soběslav routed and captured King Lothair. King Lothair was released on condition of Soběslav's investiture with Bohemia.
Portrait of Soběslav I, Duke of Bohemia: anonymous fresco in Znojmo (CZ), Public domain, file
Vladislaus II of Bohemia
Duke of Bohemia, 1140–1158
In 1140, with the help of his brother-in-law, the king of Germany, Conrad III, he was elected Duke of Bohemia by the Bohemian nobility. On 11 January 1158, Frederick crowned Vladislav with a diadem at an imperial diet in Regensburg. The aristocracy strongly opposed both his commitment to campaigning in Italy and his unilateral amendment to the Bohemian constitution.
Frederick, Duke of Bohemia
Duke of Bohemia, 1178–1189
Backed by Emperor Barbarossa, Frederick and his allies marched against Prague, where he was elected duke in 1178. He prevailed in a decisive victory outside the Prague city walls on 27 January 1179. The duke confirmed the drawing of the Bohemian-Austrian border and also maintained peace with his Polish, Meissen and Hungarian neighbours.
Portrait of Frederick, Duke of Bohemia: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, file
Culture
- The Christianization initiated by Saints Cyril and Methodius was continued by the Frankish bishops of Regensburg and Passau. Duke Boleslaus II and Emperor Otto I founded the Diocese of Prague together in 973.
- Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, killed by his younger brother Boleslaus in September 935, became the land's patron saint.
- The Duchy earned a significant income from the Prague slave trade, trafficking Pagan Slavs to slavery in al-Andalus in the 10th and 11th centuries. Mining of tin and silver began in the Ore mountains in the early 12th century.
Picture
Vyšehrad is a historic fort in Prague, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River.
Image: Stanislav Jelen, CC BY-SA 3.0, file
Sources
Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.