Bretislaus I, Duke of Bohemia

Bretislaus I (Czech: Břetislav) (born between 1002 and 1005, died 10 January 1055), known as Bohemian Achilles, of the house of the Přemyslids, was the duke of Bohemia from 1035 till death.

Contents 1 Youth 2 Raid into Poland 3 Internal policy 4 Notes 5 References

Youth

Bretislaus was a son of duke Oldřich and his would-be wife Božena. As illegitimate son cannot obtain a wife by conventional way. His solution was typical for that era: in 1019, at Schweinfurt, he kidnapped his future wife Judith of Schweinfurt (Czech: Jitka), a daughter of a Bavarian magnate, margrave Henry of Schweinfurt of Nordgau.

During his father’s reign, in 1019 or 1029,^[1] he took back Moravia from Poland. About 1031 Bretislaus invaded Hungary in order to prevent its expansion under king Stephen. The partition of Bohemia between Oldřich and his brother Jaromír in 1034 was probably the reason why Bretislaus fled beyond Bohemian border only to come back to take the throne after Jaromir’s abdication.

Raid into Poland

In 1035 Bretislaus helped Emperor Conrad II in his war against the Lusatians. In 1039 he invaded Little and Great Poland, captured Poznan and sacked Gniezno, bringing the relics of St. Adalbert, Radim Gaudentius and St. Five Brothers back with him. On the way back he conquered part of Silesia including Wrocław (Czech: Vratislav). His main goal was to set up an archbishopric in Prague and create a large state subject only to the Holy Roman Empire. In 1040 the German King Henry III invaded Bohemia but was forced to retreat after he lost the battle at Brůdek (pass in Bohemian Forest). However, the following year Henry III invaded again, skirted the border defences and laid siege to Bretislaus in Prague. Forced by a mutiny among his nobles and betrayed by his bishop, Bretislaus had to renounce all of his conquests save for Moravia.

In 1047, Emperor Henry III negotiated a peace treaty between Bretislaus and the Poles. This pact worked in Bretislaus' favour as the Polish ruler swore never again to attack Bohemia in return for an annual subsidy to Gniezno.

Internal policy

Bretislaus was the author of decrees concerning the rules of Christianization, which included a ban on polygamy or trade on holidays.

It was in 1030 that he married the aforementioned Judith. Before his death, Bretislaus organised the succession (in 1054) and issued the famous Seniority Law. For the first time this act stated that Bohemia and Moravia would pass directly through the senior line of the Přemyslid dynasty. Younger members of the dynasty were allowed to govern Moravia, but only at the Duke's discretion. His eldest son, Spytihněv, was to succeed him as duke of Bohemia with control over that territory. Moravia was incorporated into the Bohemian duchy, but divided between three of his younger sons. Olomouc Appanage went to Vratislaus, Znojmo Appanage went to Konrád, and Brno Appanage went to Otto. The youngest son, Jaromír, entered the church and became bishop of Prague.

Bretislaus died at Chrudim in 1055 during his preparation for another invasion of Hungary and was succeeded by his son Spytihněv II as Duke of Bohemia and left to his other younger children the Region of Moravia. Otto (†1087) and Vratislav were kept away of the government by Spytihněv, but after his death both gained control of Moravia and Bohemia respectively.

Notes

1. ^ Exact date of conquering Moravia is unknown; Czech and part of Slovak historians assert earlier date while their German and Polish colleagues recognize the latter one

References

• Krzemieńska, Barbara (1999) (in Czech). Břetislav I.: Čechy a střední Evropa v prvé polovině XI. století [Bretislaus I: Bohemia and Central Europe in 1st Half of the XI Century] (2nd. ed.). Praha: Garamond. ISBN 80-901760-7-0. 

Regnal titles
Preceded by Oldřich	Duke of Bohemia 1035–1055	Succeeded by Spytihněv II

Monarchs of Bohemia Přemyslid c.870–1306 Bořivoj I Spytihněv I Vratislaus I Wenceslaus I Boleslaus I Boleslaus II Boleslaus III Vladivoj Boleslaus III Boleslaus the Brave1 Jaromír Oldrich Jaromír Oldrich Bretislaus I Spytihněv II Vratislaus II Conrad I Bretislaus II Bořivoj II Svatopluk the Lion Vladislaus I Bořivoj II Vladislaus I Sobeslaus I Vladislaus II Frederick Sobeslaus II Bedřich Conrad II Wenceslaus II Ottokar I Bretislaus III Vladislaus III Ottokar I 2 Wenceslaus I Ottokar II Wenceslaus II Wenceslaus III Non-dynastic 1306–1310 Henry the Carinthian Rudolph I Henry the Carinthian Luxembourg 1310–1437 John the Blind Charles I Wenceslaus IV Sigismund Habsburg 1437–1457 Albert Interregnum Ladislaus the Posthumous Non-dynastic 1457–1471 George of Poděbrady Matthias Corvinus3 Jagiellon 1471–1526 Vladislaus II Louis Habsburg 1526–1780 Ferdinand I Maximilian Rudolph II Matthias II Ferdinand II Frederick Ferdinand III Ferdinand IV Leopold I Joseph I Charles II Charles Albert3 Maria Theresa Habsburg-Lorraine 1780–1918 Joseph II Leopold II Francis Ferdinand V Francis Joseph Charles III 1 Also duke of Poland from the Piast dynasty. 2 Hereditary kings since 1198. 3 Antiking.

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Name	Bretislaus I, Duke Of Bohemia
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Date of birth
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Date of death	1055
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