Frederick (Czech: Bedřich) (died 25 March 1189) was the duke of Olomouc from 1164 and then duke of Bohemia from 1172 to 1173 and again from 1178 to his death. He was the son of King Vladislaus II, who abdicated in 1172 in his favour. However, he could not hold on to his principality, because he was approved of by neither the national diet nor the emperor, and was deposed in September the year following by the emperor at the Diet of Hermsdorf . The Emperor Frederick I, godfather and namesake of Frederick, nominated Oldrich, son of Sobeslaus I, but he renounced the throne in favour of Sobeslaus II, friend of peasants, but enemy of both nobles and emperor.
Frederick allied with the emperor and defeated Sobeslav at the battles of Lodenice and Prague. The emperor recognised Frederick as an imperial prince, but he also raised the bishop of Prague, Henry Bretislaus, to princely status, making him a direct vassal of the emperor. He also appointed Conrad Otto margrave over Moravia and thus divided the duchy into three parts dependent on him. When Frederick, who was practically a puppet of the emperor, died, he was succeeded by Conrad Otto.
By his marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of Géza II of Hungary, he had the following issue:
Regnal titles | ||
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Preceded by Vladislaus II |
Duke of Bohemia 1172–1173 |
Succeeded by Sobeslaus II |
Preceded by Sobeslaus II |
Duke of Bohemia 1178–1189 |
Succeeded by Conrad II |
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