Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Bef 1034, Böhmen, Tsjekkia; Hertug.

Notes:

Occupation:
Oldrich (Latin: Odalricus, Udalrichus, German: Odalric, Udalrich; c.?975 – 9 November 1034), a member of the Premyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1012 to 1033 and briefly again in 1034. His accession to the Bohemian throne marked the start of a phase of stability during internal dynastic struggles. Under his rule, the Moravian lands were reconquered from Polish occupation.

Oldrich was the third son of Duke Boleslaus 2 of Bohemia (d. 999) and his consort Emma of Melník. Upon the death of his father, his eldest brother Boleslaus 3 succeeded him as duke, however, he soon entered into a fierce conflict with his younger brothers Oldrich and Jaromír.

In 1001 both had to flee to the Bavarian court at Regensburg. When Boleslaus 3 was deposed by the rivaling Vršovci dynasty the next year and the Polish ruler Boles?aw 1 the Brave invaded Bohemia, King Henry 2 of Germany intervened. Upon his expedition to Prague, Boleslaus' brothers were able to return and Jaromír was installed as Bohemian duke in 1004.

In the German–Polish War, Duke Jaromír remained a loyal supporter of the German king. Nevertheless, Henry did not take action when he was deposed and blinded by his brother Oldrich on 12 April 1012. While Jaromír fled to Poland, Oldrich too recognised the suzerainty of the King of the Romans. He secured his rule by suppressing the Vršovci insurgents.

Oldrich and his son Bretislaus sought to win back Moravia, once conquered by Oldrich's grandfather Duke Boleslaus 1, from the Poles. Bretislaus and his wife Judith of Schweinfurt took their residence in Olomouc.

In 1029 the Bohemian forces, backed by Emperor Conrad 2, finally drove the Poles out of the eastern lands. However, Bretislaus' efforts to occupy adjacent territories in what is today Slovakia by marching against the Kingdom of Hungary failed in 1030 due to the jealousy of the emepror, who reached an agreement with King Stephen 1. In the following year, Bohemian forces refused to take the field for the emperor.

In 1032, Duke Oldrich was invited to the Hoftag diet at Merseburg, but did not appear. His absence raised the ire of the emperor and Conrad, busy with events in Burgundy, charged his son Henry 3 with punishing the recalcitrant Bohemian. Oldrich was arrested, deposed and sent to Bavaria. He was again replaced by his brother Jaromír. However, when Oldrich was pardoned the next year, he returned to Bohemia and had Jaromír captured, blinded, and deposed. He seized power again and drove out Jaromír's son from Moravia.

Oldrich died abruptly on 9 November 1034 and later examination of his skeleton reveal his skull to have suffered a fatal blow. Jaromír then renounced the throne in favour of his nephew Bretislaus.

Udalrik married Bozena av Böhmen about 1002. Bozena (daughter of Kresina) died about 1052. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
According to legend rendered by the medieval chronicler Cosmas of Prague, Duke Oldrich about 1002 married a peasant girl known as Bozena, daughter of Kresina, after discarding his first wife on the grounds that they were childless.

Together they had a son:

Bretislaus 1 (1002/1005–1055), Duke of Bohemia from 1035 until his death.
Though his parents were married, Bretislaus remained an illegitimate heir. He nevertheless was able to succeed to the Bohemian throne as sole descendant of his grandfather Duke Boleslaus 2.

1. Bretislav av Böhmen, "Bretislav 1" was born between 1002 and 1005; died on 10 Jan 1055.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Bef 0999, Böhmen, Tsjekkia; Hertug.

Notes:

Occupation:
Boleslaus 2 the Pious (Czech: Boleslav 2. Pobožný) (c.?932 - 7 February 999) was a Bohemian nobleman, a member of the P?emyslid dynasty and was the ruling Duke of Bohemia from 972 until his death.

Boleslaus was the son of Boleslaus 1 and brother of Strachkvas, Dobrawa - wife of Mieszko 1 and Mlada Maria. According to some historians his mother was Biagota. Biagota is only known from her coins and according some historians (V. Katz, J. Slama, J. Paukert) was wife of Boleslaus 1.

Boleslaus 2 became Duke (or Prince) on his father's death. Boleslaus maintained good relations with the Ottonian German kings, and in 975 supported Otto 2 during the civil war against Henry 2, Duke of Bavaria. In 977, Boleslaus again attacked Bavaria, but on this occasion was barred from annexing any lands by Otto 2.

Boleslaus' reign is most notable for the foundation of the Diocese of Prague in 973, placed at that time within the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Mainz.

In 982, Adalbert of Prague (later known as Saint Adalbert) was appointed to head the bishopric until he abandoned his primacy to lead a mission to the Old Prussians in 994. The alliance between Poland and Bohemia was overturned between 977 and 985, and Poland participated in invasions led by the German Emperor against Bohemia. However, in 985 or 990 Poland acquired Silesia at the expense of Bohemia.

On 28 September 995, Boleslaus and his confederate Vršovci stormed Libice in southern Bohemia and massacred the members of the Slavník dynasty. This clan had been the main rival of P?emyslid power in Bohemia. Boleslaus' brutal triumph ensured the unity of Bohemia under a single ruler.

Boleslaus' first wife Adiva, was perhaps the daughter of Edward the Elder, King of England, who married a prince near the Jupiter mountains, meaning the Alps.

His second wife was Emma of M?lník.

His sons were:

1. Boleslaus 3, his eldest son and successor.

2. Wenceslaus, died as an infant.

3. Jaromír, later became Duke of Bohemia.

4. Old?ich, also became Duke of Bohemia.

Boleslav married Hemma (Emma) av Sachsen. Hemma was born before 0950; died about 1006. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Emma (Hemma) (b. before 950, d. 1005/06) was a Bohemian duchess consort as the second wife of Boleslaus 2 of Bohemia.

Her origins are uncertain. Historian Gelasius Dobner (1719–1790) thought she was a princess of Burgundy, and this theory has been recently respected. However the latest research of historians and numismatics indicate that she was of Italian-Burgundian origin and identified with Queen Emma of France (Emma of Italy), widow of King Lothair of France (d. 986).

Notes:

Married:
Emma (Hemma) became the second or wife of Boleslaus 2 about the year 989 and died either in 1005 or 1006. It was traditionally supposed by Czech historians that Emma was the mother of Boleslaus' younger sons Old?ich and Jaromír and that the mother of the oldest son, Boleslaus 3 of Bohemia, was Adiva, the first wife of Boleslaus 2.

Afraid of Boleslaus 3, Emma chose to go into exile at the court of Bavaria in 1001 together with Old?ich and Jaromír. The brothers sought military backing from the German King Henry 2. This action definitively placed Bohemia within the jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1004, Jaromír occupied Prague with a German army and made himself Duke. Emma came back to Bohemia, maybe living in town M?lník, where she died.

The proof of the existence of Duchess Emma are denars (coins) with the inscription ENMA REGINA (Queen Emma, not duchess).

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Abt 0935, Böhmen, Tsjekkia; Hertug.

Notes:

Occupation:
Boleslav was the ruler (knize, literally prince, but usually translated as duke) of Bohemia from 935 to his death. He was the son of Vratislaus 1 and the younger brother of his predecessor, Wenceslaus 1.

Boleslav is notorious for the murder of his brother Wenceslaus, through which he became Duke of Bohemia. Wenceslaus was murdered during a feast; at precisely that time Boleslav's son was allegedly born. He received a strange name: Strachkvas, which means a dreadful feast. Being remorseful for what he had done, Boleslav promised to devote his son to religion and educate him as a clergyman.

Despite the fratricide, Boleslav is generally respected by Czech historians as an energetic ruler who significantly strengthened the Bohemian state and expanded its territory. The pro-Christian religious policies pursued by Wenceslaus do not appear to have been a cause for Boleslav's fratricide, since Boleslav in no way impeded the growth of Christianity in Bohemia, and in fact actually sent his daughter Mlada, a nun, to the Pope in Rome to ask permission to make Prague a bishopric.
One of Boleslav's major concerns was the tribute paid yearly to the East Frankish kings. He stopped the payment shortly after he ascended the throne, which led to the prolonged war with King Otto the Great. This conflict, presumably consisting of border raids (the general pattern of warfare in this region at the time), reached its conclusion in 950 when Boleslav signed a peace treaty with Otto. Despite being undefeated, he promised to resume the payment of the tribute. Five years later, the armies of Czechs and Germans allied against the Magyars in the victorious Battle of Lechfeld on 10 August 955. Boleslav had also helped Otto to crush an uprising of Slavs on the Lower Elbe in 953.

After the Battle of Lech, the rest of the huge Magyar army turned to Bohemia, where it was crushed by Boleslav. Because of this victory, Boleslav freed Moravia from Magyar raids and expanded his territory to Upper Silesia and Malopolska. To strengthen the Bohemian-Polish alliance, Boleslav's daughter Dobrawa married the pagan Piast prince Mieszko I in 965, and helped bring Christianity to Poland. Boleslav's wife may have been Biagota. He was succeeded by his oldest son Boleslaus the Pious.

Anerkjente keiseren som lensherre 946. Utvidet riket med Mähren og deler av Galitsja og Schlesien.

Boleslav married Biagota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Married:
It is not even sure that Biagota was the mother of all four adult children of Boleslaus 1 (Dobrawa, Boleslaus 2 of Bohemia, Strachkvas and Mlada of Bohemia).

Her origins are unclear. She could have originated from one of the German states of the Holy Roman Empire or from a Slavic country (Blahota or Bjegota was an old Bulgarian name).

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Abt 0915, Böhmen, Tsjekkia; Hertug.

Notes:

Occupation:
Upon the death of his elder brother Spytihnev in 915, Vratislaus became Bohemian duke at a time when his duchy had already distanced itself from the political and cultural influence of Great Moravia and fallen under East Frankish, especially Bavarian influence. The Annales Fuldenses report that in the year 900 the Bavarians had attacked Moravia in alliance with the Bohemians. On the other hand, Vratislaus supported the Magyars in their 915 campaign against the Duchy of Saxony under Duke Henry the Fowler.

Vratislaus is credited with the establishment of St. George's Basilica at Prague Castle and also with the foundation of the Silesian city of Wroclaw (Vratislavia). He died in battle against the Magyars, possibly in 919, although 921 is more often conjectured.

Vratislav married Drahomira av Hevelli before 0907. Drahomira was born between 0877 and 0890; died after 0935. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Birth:
Drahomira's homeland was around Brandenburg, a castle near present-day Berlin. She was a princess of the Havolans.

Notes:

Married:
Drahomira married Vratislav 1 of Bohemia and gave birth to at least three children: Saint Wenceslas, Boleslaus 1 and Strezislava. She led her husband to cooperation with her vernaculars, which waged war against Saxony. After her husband's untimely death in 921, she and her mother-in-law, Saint Ludmila, divided the government of Bohemia. She was the regent of Bohemia in 921-924 during the minority of her son.