Doubravka of Bohemia
Doubravka of Bohemia | |
---|---|
Mieszko I of Poland | |
Issue | Bolesław I the Brave |
House | Přemyslid |
Father | Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia |
Doubravka of Bohemia, Dobrawa (
She was the daughter of Boleslaus I the Cruel, Duke of Bohemia, whose wife may have been the mysterious Biagota.[citation needed]
According to earlier sources, Doubravka urged her husband
Early life
Doubravka's date of birth is not known. The only indication is communicated by the chronicler
Nothing is known about Doubravka's childhood and youth. In 1895 Oswald Balzer refuted reports that previous to her marriage with Mieszko I, Doubravka was married to Gunther, Margrave of Merseburg and they had a son, Gunzelin. This view is based on the fact that Thietmar of Merseburg in his chronicles named Gunzelin, Gunther's son, brother of Bolesław I the Brave, Doubravka's son.[4] Currently, historians believed that Gunzelin and Bolesław I are in fact cousins or brothers-in-law.[5]
Marriage and Christianization of Poland
In the second half of 964[6] an alliance between Boleslav I the Cruel, Duke of Bohemia, and Mieszko I of Poland was concluded. In order to consolidate the agreement, in 965 Boleslav I's daughter Doubravka was married to Mieszko I. The marriage cemented the Polish-Bohemian alliance, which continued even after Doubravka's death.
Two independent sources attribute to Doubravka an important role in the conversion to Christianity of Mieszko I and Poland. The first is the chronicles of Thietmar, who was born two years before the death of Doubravka. He wrote that the Bohemian princess tried to persuade her husband to accept Christianity (even at the cost of breaking their marriage and with it the Polish-Bohemian alliance). In the end, she finally obtained the conversion of Mieszko I and with him, of all Poland.[7] In turn, the 12th-century chronicler Gallus Anonymus says that Doubravka came to Poland surrounded by secular and religious dignitaries. She agreed to marry Mieszko I providing that he was baptized. The Polish ruler accepted, and only then was able to marry the Bohemian princess.
Modern historians agree that the baptism of Mieszko I was dictated by political benefits and should not be attributed to any action of Doubravka. She is held to have had virtually no role in the conversion of her husband.[8] Historians note that the narrative of the conversion of Mieszko I thanks to Doubravka formed part of the tradition of the Church which stressed the conversion of Pagan rulers through the influence of women.[9]
Doubravka did have a significant role in the Christianization of the Poles. In her wedding procession, she arrived in Poland with Christian clergymen, among them possibly
Children
Doubravka and Mieszko I had at least one son,
Death and burial
Doubravka died in 977. In his study of 1888, Józef Ignacy Kraszewski wrote that "her tomb was discovered in Gniezno Cathedral. It was a simple stone marked with a cross. Purple robes and a weighty gold loincloth were the only objects found in her tomb."[11] A similar view of Doubravka's burial place was expressed earlier, in 1843, by Edward Raczyński in his study Wspomnienia Wielkopolski to jest województw poznańskiego, kaliskiego i gnieźnieńskiego (Memories of the Greater Poland districts of Poznań, Kalisz and Gniezno).[12] However, the burial place of the Bohemian princess is now considered to be unknown.[13]
Doubravka's death weakened the Polish-Bohemian alliance, which finally collapsed in the mid-980s.
References
- ^ Chronicle of Cosmas of Prague: translated, introduction and commentary developed by Maria Wojciechowska, Warsaw 1968, lib. I cap. 27, p. 149.
- ^ H. Łowmiański, Religia Słowian i jej upadek, Warsaw p. 338, footnote 889.
- ^ J. Strzelczyk, Bolesław Chrobry, p. 15.
- ^ Thietmari chronicon, vol. V, cap. 18, p. 274; vol. V, cap. 36, p. 300; vol. VI, cap. 54, p. 390.
- ^ View, inter alia, of Herbert Ludat.
- ^ Date fixed by H. Łowmiański, Początki Polski, vol. V, p. 548.
- ^ Thietmari chronicon, vol. IV, cap. 56.
- ^ J. Dowiat, Metryka chrztu Mieszka I, p. 79; Andrzej Feliks Grabski, Bolesław Chrobry. Zarys dziejów politycznych i wojskowych, p. 26; S. Trawkowski, Monarchia Mieszka I i Bolesława Chrobrego, pp. 116–117; H. Łowmiański, Początki Polski, vol. V, p. 549.
- ^ A. F. Grabski, Mieszko I, Warsaw 1973, p. 93.
- ISBN 80-901760-7-0.
- ^ J. I. Kraszewski, Wizerunki, p. 12
- ^ E. Raczyński, Wspomnienia Wielkopolski to jest województw poznańskiego, kaliskiego i gnieźnieńskiego, Poznań 1843, vol. II, pp 356–360.
- ^ K. Jasiński, Rodowód pierwszych Piastów, p. 78.