Judith of Thuringia

Judith of Thuringia
Queen of Bohemia
Tenure	1153–1172
Spouse	Vladislaus II of Bohemia
Issue	Ottokar I of Bohemia Vladislaus III Henry of Bohemia Richeza of Bohemia
House	Ludowingians
Father	Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia
Mother	Hedwig of Gudensberg
Born	c. 1135
Died	9 September after 1174 Bohemia, Czech Republic

Judith of Thuringia (Czech: Judita Durynská, c. 1135 – d. 9 September after 1174) was the second wife of Duke and later King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and after 1158 the second Queen of Bohemia.

Marriage to Vladislaus II

Judith was the daughter of Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia and Hedwig of Gudensberg. Vladislaus II married her in 1153, three years after the death of his first wife Gertrude. The main reason was that Judith was related to the new German King Frederick I. Vladislaus' bride was most eighteen years old; he was 15–20 years older.

Queen Judith

Probably in 1155, two years after the wedding, Judith gave birth to the first son. In medieval times the names for babies were chosen mostly by mothers, so it was probably Judith's idea to name the son Přemysl (name of the legendary founder of the dynasty).^[1]

A chronicler wrote about Judith that she was of great beauty and mind, educated in Latin and politics. It is said that she often deputized for Vladislaus in his absence. When he was crowned in 1158, Judith became queen. Her coronation is not actually documented, but chronicles write about Queen Judith.

During Vladislaus' rule a new bridge in Prague was built, where the Charles bridge stands today. It was the first stone bridge in central Europe and in honour of the queen it was called Judith's bridge.

When Vladislaus abdicated in 1172, his wife followed him to exile. It is not known where she died, but her remains were found in a monastery in the town of Teplice. According to Emanuel Vlček she died as an old lady after 1210, living to see the successful reign of her eldest son Přemysl.^[2]

Children

• Ottokar, later king of Bohemia, first of a hereditary line
• Vladislaus, later duke of Bohemia as Vladislaus III
• Richeza (died 19 April 1182), married to the son of Henry II, Duke of Austria

Ancestry

Literature

• KAREŠOVÁ, Z.; PRAŽÁK, J. Královny a kněžny české. 1. vyd. Praha : X-Egem, 1996.
• VLČEK, E. Judita Durynská– paní znamenité krásy a ducha neobyčejného. O čem vypovídá lebka manželky krále Vladislava II. Vesmír 81, říjen 2002.
• M. Skopal. K otázce řezenské korunovace Vladislava II. "Acta Universitatis Carolinae. Philosophica et Historica", T. 2: Studia Historica, t. 31: 1987, s. 31–39, ad rem: s. 36–37.
• A. Merhautová-Livorová. Reliéf na věži bývalého Juditina mostu. "Uméní", R. 19: 1971, nr 1, s. 70–75.

References

1. ↑ KAREŠOVÁ, Z.; PRAŽÁK, J. Královny a kněžny české. Prague : X-Egem, 1996.
2. ↑ VLČEK, E. Judita Durynská – paní znamenité krásy a ducha neobyčejného. O čem vypovídá lebka manželky krále Vladislava II. Vesmír 81, říjen 2002