Judith of Schweinfurt
Judith of Schweinfurt | |
---|---|
Duchess of Bohemia | |
Born | before 1003 |
Died | 2 August 1058 |
Noble family | House of Schweinfurt |
Spouse(s) | Bretislav I, Duke of Bohemia |
Issue | |
Father | Henry of Schweinfurt |
Mother | Gerberga of Henneberg |
Judith of Schweinfurt (
Family
Her parents were
Bretislav and Jitka
According to František Palacký, the young Bohemian prince Bretislav, son of the Přemyslid duke Oldřich of Bohemia, on his way to the court of Emperor Conrad II in 1029 passed through Schweinfurt, where he met Judith and immediately fell in love with her.[8]
Duke Oldřich had forged an alliance with the German king Henry II to depose his elder brothers Boleslaus III and Jaromír. [9]He also had been able to reconquer large Moravian territories occupied by the Polish duke Bolesław I the Brave by 1019. Therefore, Oldřich was not averse to confirm his good relationship with the German nobility through a marriage to Judith.
Beautiful Judith was a desirable bride, however, Oldřich's only son Bretislav was of illegitimate birth from his misalliance with the farmer's daughter Božena.[10] Judith's relatives were very proud of their noble origins, thus complicating the prospect of Bretislav's marriage with the high-born Judith. The young man solved the problem in his own way by sneaking into the monastery and abducting Judith[11][12] on a wild ride out of Schweinfurt, shattering locks and chains with his sword.[1] Bretislav was never punished for the crime. He and Judith settled at Olomouc in Moravia.
Bretislav married Judith some time later.
Exile in Hungary
After Bretislav died in 1055, Judith was expelled by her son Spytihněv out of Bohemia, like many other Germans, and moved to the Kingdom of Hungary with her younger son Vratislaus.[16] In Hungary she may have secondly married the former king Peter Orseolo, who had been deposed in 1046.[17][18] Judith died in 1058 and her mortal remains were transferred to St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague.[19]
Legacy
The marriage of Bretislav and Judith was perpetuated in the theatre play Bretislaus, also named Bretislav and Jitka, written by the Czech author Jan Campanus Vodňanský (1572–1622) in 1614.[20][21] The performance was then forbidden, considered detrimental to the reputation of the Bohemian monarchs.[21] According to legend, Judith during her kidnapping lost a shoe when Bretislav's horse galloped downhill from the Schweinfurt monastery; since the 19th century a masonry cave with a stone shoe marks the site.
References
- ^ a b c Herwig Wolfram, Conrad II, 990-1039: Emperor of Three Kingdoms, transl. Denise A. Kaiser, (The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006), 226.
- ISBN 978-1-936466-63-4.
- ^ Staats-Bahnen.), Joseph LANG (Ober-Conducteur der k b (1861). Führer auf dem Kön. Bayer. Staats-Eisenbahnen und den Königl. privilegirten Ost-Bahnen. Ein Handbuch für Reisende, sammt Fahrpreis-Tarifen und zwei Eisenbahn-Kärtchen (in German).
- ISBN 978-0-7864-7684-8.
- ^ Zimmermann, Wilhelm (1878). A Popular History of Germany: From the Earliest Period to the Present Day. H. J. Johnson.
- ^ Yellowed Pages. Southeast Texas Genealogical & Historical Society. 1971.
- ISBN 978-90-04-34112-8.
- ISBN 978-90-04-34112-8.
- ISBN 978-90-04-36379-3.
- ISBN 978-3-7847-8261-4.
- ^ Zimmermann, Wilhelm (1878). A Popular History of Germany: From the Earliest Period to the Present Day. H. J. Johnson.
- ISBN 978-90-04-34112-8.
- ISBN 978-3-030-66511-1.
- ISBN 978-90-04-36379-3.
- ISBN 978-1-4766-0111-3.
- ^ Helmolt, Hans Ferdinand (1907). The History of the World; a Survey of a Man's Record. Dodd, Mead.
- ISBN 978-3-902862-26-6.
- ISBN 978-3-030-66511-1.
- ISBN 978-1-000-86633-9.
- ISBN 978-0-521-43437-9.
- ^ a b Jednatelska Zprava o cinnosti spravniho vyboru Umelecke Besedy: ve spravnim roce ... (in Czech). Gregr. 1882.
Literature
- Barbara Krzemienska Břetislav I. - Čechy a střední Evropa v prvé polovině XI. století. Praha : Garamond, 1999.
- Josef Žemlička Čechy v době knížecí 1044–1198. Praha : NLN, 2002. 660 s. ISBN 80-7106-196-4.