Margaret of Bohemia, Duchess of Wroclaw

Margaret of Bohemia
Duchess consort of Wroclaw, Legnica, Brieg, Kalisz, Troppau and Legnica
Tenure	1308–1322
Spouse	Bolesław III the Generous
Issue	Wenceslaus I of Legnica Ludwik I the Fair
House	Přemyslid dynasty
Father	Wenceslaus II of Bohemia
Mother	Judith of Habsburg
Born	21 February 1296 Prague, Bohemia
Died	8 April 1322 (aged 26) Hradec Králové

Margaret of Bohemia (Czech: Markéta Přemyslovna, Polish: Małgorzata Przemyślidka) ( 21 February 1296 – 8 April 1322) was a daughter of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and his first wife, Judith of Habsburg. Her paternal grandparents were Ottokar II of Bohemia and Kunigunda of Slavonia, her maternal grandparents were Rudolph I of Germany and Gertrude of Hohenburg.

Biography

In 1308, Margaret married Bolesław III the Generous. The betrothal had been her father's doing.

Since Bolesław's arrival at the Bohemian court and after his betrothal to Margaret, the King clearly favored him; this attitude caused fear between the closest male relatives of the King, who saw the young Duke of Legnica as a potential rival for the throne. Although Wenceslaus II had a son who seemed to render him irrelevant, the sudden death of the King in 1305 and one year later the murder of his son and successor Wenceslaus III in Olomouc gained him an unexpected importance. Bolesław began his fight for the Bohemian throne taking the title of "haeres Regni Poloniae" (heir of the Polish Kingdom).

The throne of Bohemia passed to Henry of Carinthia, who was married to Margaret's eldest sister, Anna of Bohemia. Henry and Anna were only on the throne for a year before Rudolf of Habsburg overthrew them. He married Elisabeth Richeza of Poland; who was Margaret's stepmother. By 1307, Rudolf had died so Henry and Anna were invited back but were still not secure. They turned their attentions to Margaret and Anna's sister Elisabeth. Elisabeth was young and unmarried, Anna and Henry wanted her to marry Otto of Löbdaburg for political reasons but Elisabeth refused. Instead, Elisabeth married John of Luxembourg who overthrew Henry and Anna once and for all. They went to live in Carinthia were Anna died in 1313, childless. John and Elisabeth became King and Queen of Bohemia. They had many children - among them were Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Bonne of Bohemia; by now any chances of Bolesław and Margaret becoming King and Queen of Bohemia were gone.

Margaret died one day after giving birth to her youngest child. In 1326, Bolesław married secondly Katharina (d. bef. 5 March 1358), daughter of Mladen III Šubić^[1] by his wife Jelena, in turn daughter of King Stefan Uroš III Dečanski of Serbia.^[2] Through her father, Katharina was also a first cousin of Stjepan Tvrtko I, the first King of Bosnia.^[3] They had no children. In his will, Bolesław left the Duchy of Brieg to his widow, who ruled until her own death.