Rudolph I of Bohemia

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Rudolf I of Habsburg
Rudolf I of Habsburg

Rudolf I of Habsburg (Czech: Rudolf I. Habsburský; 1281 – 3/4 July 1307, Horažďovice in Bohemia) was King of Bohemia (1306–1307), Duke of Austria (as Rudolph III), and titular King of Poland 1306–1307. He was the son of Albert I of Germany and Elisabeth of Tirol.

On May 25, 1300, he married Blanche, daughter of Philip III of France by his second wife Maria of Brabant. Their only daughter died young, and Blanche herself died in 1305.

Rudolf was presented in 1306 as a rival claimant to the Bohemian throne against Henry of Carinthia. Albert had Rudolf married to Elisabeth Richeza of Poland, widow of Wenceslas II of Bohemia (1278–1305) and in 1306 occupied Prague to place Rudolf on the Bohemian throne.

As some nobles continued to hold out for Henry of Carinthia, Rudolf besieged the rebel fortress of Horažďovice, but fell ill of dysentery and died there in 1307, leaving no children. The nobles then restored Henry of Carinthia as king in return for a charter of privileges.

Preceded by
Henry of Carinthia
King of Bohemia
1306–1307
Succeeded by
Henry of Carinthia
Preceded by
Rudolph II
Duke of Austria and Styria
with Albert I

1298–1307
Succeeded by