Vratislaus II of Bohemia

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Vratislaus II
Conrad I of Bohemia
Born	c. 1032  Bohemia
Died	14 January 1092 (aged c. 59–60)  Bohemia
Burial	Vyšehrad
Spouse	Maria Adelaide of Hungary Świętosława of Poland
Issue	Bretislaus II of Bohemia Borivoj II of Bohemia Vladislaus I of Bohemia Soběslav I of Bohemia
Bretislaus I of Bohemia
Mother	Judith of Schweinfurt

Vratislaus II (or Wratislaus II) (

Before his elevation to the royal dignity, Vratislaus had ruled Bohemia as duke since 1061.

On his father's death in 1055, Vratislaus became duke of Olomouc, whereas his older brother became Duke of Bohemia as Spytihněv II. He fell out with his brother and was exiled to Hungary. Vratislaus regained the ducal throne of Olomouc with Hungarian assistance and eventually reconciled with his brother, then succeeded him as duke of Bohemia when he died in 1061.

Campaigns of Henry IV

Both Pope Alexander II and Pope Gregory VII confirmed Vratislaus in the privilege of wearing the mitre and tunic which his predecessors had.^[4] Despite this, Vratislaus supported Henry in both the Investiture Controversy against the Popes and the rebellions in Saxony that dominated his long reign. These actions would negate the significance of the mitre.^[4]

Vratislaus was often at odds with his brother Jaromír, Bishop of Prague. Jaromír, for his part, ignored the creation of a new Moravian diocese in Olomouc by Vratislaus in 1063.^[5] Jaromir even went so far as to retake, by arms, the relics removed from Prague and taken to Moravia. Despite the pope's support for Vratislaus' new see, the Bohemian duke was unswayed in his loyalty to the emperor.

The Saxons revolted under Duke

. The Bohemian troops showed conspicuous bravery. Henry then took Jaromír to Germany to be his chancellor under the name of Gebhard and Vratislaus was greatly relieved.

Vratislaus also took part in the wars against the anti-kings who opposed Henry's rule and were elected by a faction of the nobility to replace him. At the Battle of Flarchheim, only through the aid of Vratislaus' contingent was the imperial army capable of overcoming the rebels of the papally-approved claimant Rudolf of Rheinfelden, Duke of Swabia.^[6] Vratislaus even succeeded in seizing Rudolf's golden lance.^[6] The golden lance was then carried in front of Vratislaus on state occasions.

Vratislaus would defeat the rebels again at Mailberg in 1082, and it would be in thanks for this victory that Henry granted Vratislaus the title of king in 1085.^[7]

Relations with the papacy

Vratislaus requested permission to utilize Slavonic liturgy to the Roman Curia in 1080; the request was denied.^[8] This petition may have been made in an effort to save a "Slavonic" Benedictine monastery still in operation that was founded in Sazava, close to Prague, in 1032.^[8]

Vratislaus raised an army to serve in Henry's Italian campaign of 1081. In 1083, Vratislaus and his Bohemians were with Henry when they entered Rome itself.

Expansionism

Vratislaus coveted the largely Slavic marches of

. Vratislaus was thereafter cool to Henry's military adventures. He never wavered in his loyalty, but he abstained from giving the emperor martial aid.

Internal affairs

It was a

, but died in 1090 before a pope ruled on the matter.

Sadly for Vratislaus, his last years were occupied by dynastic quarrelling. When his brother Otto died in 1086, he gave Olomouc to his son Boleslaus, which was seen to be an act against the interests of Conrad. Vratislaus raised an army against Conrad and sent it out under his other son

Bretislaus

. This son turned on him. Vratislaus, in keeping with Bohemian custom, designated an heir: Conrad. Thus reconciled, the two attacked Bretislaus, who fled to Hungary.

Vratislaus died of a hunting wound on 14 January 1092 after a reign of thirty years. He was buried in St. Peter and Paul's Church, Vyšehrad.^[9]

Legacy

Vratislaus frequently found himself in conflict with

, to secure any suitable consort at all. His successor continued to cultivate dynastic bonds with notable courts in central and eastern Europe.

Family

Vratislaus was married three times. His first wife Maria died during premature

They had:

• Vratislaus (-1061)
• Casimir I of Poland
• Ludmila (-after 1100)
• Duke of Bohemia

In 1062, Vratislaus married a third time to

They had five children:

• Boleslaus (-1091)[12]
• Bořivoj II of Bohemia (c. 1064-February 2, 1124), Duke of Bohemia^[12]
• Vladislaus I of Bohemia (-April 12, 1125), Duke of Bohemia^[12]
• Soběslav I of Bohemia (-February 14, 1140), Duke of Bohemia^[12]
• Judith (c. 1066-9 December 1108), married to Wiprecht II of Groitzsch

Notes

References

• Berend, Nora; Urbanczyk, Przemyslaw; Wiszewski, Przemyslaw (2013). Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c.900-c.1300. Cambridge University Press.
• Grudziński, Tadeusz (1985). Boleslaus the Bold, Called Also the Bountiful, and Bishop Stanislaus: The Story of a Conflict. Interpress Publishers.
• Ketrzynski, S. (1950). "The Introduction of Christianity and the Early Kings of Poland". In Reddaway, W.F.; Penson, J.H.; Halecki, O.; Dyboski, R. (eds.). The Cambridge History of Poland: From the Origins to Sobieski (to 1696). Cambridge University Press.
• Krofta, Kamil (1957). "Bohemia to the Extinction of the Premyslids". In Tanner, J.R.; Previte-Orton, C.W.; Brooke, Z.N. (eds.). Cambridge Medieval History: Victory of the Papacy. Vol. VI. Cambridge University Press.
• Knoll, Paul W.; Schaer, Frank, eds. (2003). Gesta principum Polonorum: The Deeds of the Princes of the Poles. Central European University Press.
• Lawler, Jennifer (2001). "Bohemia (chart 1)". Encyclopedia of Women in the Middle Ages. McFarland & Company Inc.
• Thompson, James Westfall (March 1926). "Medieval German Expansion in Bohemia". The Slavonic Review. 4 (12).

Literature

• ISBN 80-7021-655-7
• Hans Patze: Die Pegauer Annalen, die Königserhebung Wratislaws v. Böhmen und die Anfänge der Stadt Pegau. JGMODtl 12, 1963, 1-62
• Percy Ernst Schramm: Böhmen und das Regnum: Die Verleihung der Königswürde an die Herzöge von Böhmen (1085/86,1158,1198/1203) (Adel und Kirche. G. Tellenbach z. 65. Geb. Hrsg. J. Fleckenstein-K. Schmid, 1968), 346–364.

External links

Regnal titles
Preceded by Spytihněv II	Duke of Bohemia 1061–1085	Vacant Title next held by Conrad I
New title	King of Bohemia 1085–1092	Vacant Title next held by Vladislaus II