Bretislaus II of Bohemia

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Bretislaus II (Czech: Břetislav II; c.1060 – December 22, 1100) was the duke of Bohemia from 14 September 1092 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Vratislaus II and Adelaide, daughter of Andrew I of Hungary. He was a major enemy of paganism.

He succeeded his uncle, Conrad I. He worked for the destruction of the old Slavic culture. In 1097, he expelled the Slavonic monks of Sazava, founded in 1033 by Procopius. Bretislaus also wished to kill the elective principle of succession and replace it with a type of seniorate as conceptualised by Bretislaus I: the eldest prince of the reigning family would hold Bohemia as sovereign over the entire state while the younger scions of the dynasty ruled as territorial dukes over the regions of Moravia. This was to the benefit of his half-brother Borivoj II. He invested Borivoj as duke of Brno in 1097, thus removing the sons of Conrad I from the succession. Bretislaus also succeeded in receiving a long-desired imperial investiture at the Diet of Regensburg on April 19, 1099. Bretislaus was assassinated by his adversaries at the hunting lodge of Zbecno in western Prague on December 22, 1100.

Bretislaus had married, in 1094, Luitgard of Windberg, with whom he had one son:

• Bretislaus, rebelled against Sobeslav I and was killed on 8 March 1130

Preceded by: Conrad I

Duke of Bohemia 1092–1100

Succeeded by: Borivoj II