Vratislaus II of Bohemia

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Vratislaus II of Bohemia bigraphy, stories - Duke of Bohemia

Vratislaus II of Bohemia : biography

– 14 January 1092

Vratislaus (or Wratislaus) II () (d. 14 January 1092), the son of Bretislaus I and Judith of Schweinfurt, was the first King of Bohemia as of 15 June 1085. The royal title was merely a lifetime grant from Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, however, and was not hereditary. Before being raised to the royal dignity, he had ruled Bohemia as duke since 1061. He was one of the greatest of the medieval Bohemian rulers.

On his father’s death in 1055, Vratislaus became duke of Olomouc. He fell out with his brother Spytihněv II and was exiled to Hungary. Vratislaus regained his Moravian ducal throne with Hungarian assistance and eventually reconciled with his brother and succeeded him as duke of Bohemia.

Internal affairs

It was a Přemyslid tradition that Moravia would be entrusted to the younger brothers of the ruling prince. In Vratislaus’ case, his two younger brothers Conrad and Otto inherited Brno and Olomouc and the youngest, Jaromír, entered the church. However, enmity grew between the brothers. It was then that Vratislaus founded the diocese of Olmütz (diocese of Olomouc), under the Archbishopric of Mainz, to counter Otto’s authority within his province. Both pope and emperor took a hand in mediating the conflict, which was partially fixed with Henry’s appointment of Jaromír as chancellor in 1077. In April 1085, a reichstag convened in Mainz suppressed the Moravian see, but Vratislaus later re-founded see. Jaromír protested in Rome to Pope Urban II, 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.František Palacký: Dějiny národa českého v Čechách i v Moravě, book III

Literature

  • Vratislav Vaníček: Vratislav II. (I.). První český král. Vyšehrad 2004, 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.

Relations with the papacy

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.

Despite his serving an excommunicated emperor, Vratislaus maintained good relations with the papacy. Nonetheless, Gregory refused to grant Vratislaus permission to use the Slavonic liturgy. Never, however, did Vratislaus link his fate with that of Henry’s antipope, Clement III.

Family

Vratislaus was married three times. His first wife Maria died during premature childbirth. He married the second time in 1057 to Adelaide, daughter of Andrew I of Hungary, who died in 1061. They had four children:

  • Vratislaus (-1061)
  • Judith (1056/58-1086), married to Ladislaus I Herman, son of Casimir I of Poland
  • Ludmila (-after 1100)
  • Bretislaus II of Bohemia (c. 1060–December 22, 1100), Duke of Bohemia

In 1062, Vratislaus married a third time to Swatawa of Poland, a daughter of Casimir I of Poland. They had five children:

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