Přemysl Český (1233 - 1278)

Ancestors

Husband of Margarete (Babenberg) von Babenberg — married 11 Feb 1252 (to 1261) in Hainburg an der Donau, Herzogtum Österreich, Heiliges Römisches Reich

Descendants

Died 26 Aug 1278 at about age 45 in Dürnkrut, Herzogtum Österreich, Heiliges Römisches Reich

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Biography

Přemysl Otakar II at Medieval Lands Project

Ottokar II (Czech: Přemysl Otakar II.) (c. 1233 – 26 August 1278), called The Iron and Golden King (Czech: král železný a zlatý), was the King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He also held the titles Duke of Austria (1251–1276), Duke of Styria (1260–1276), Duke of Carinthia (1269–1276), Duke of Carniola (1269–1276), and lord of Pordenone.

Ottokar was the second son of King Wenceslaus I of the Přemyslid dynasty, and through his mother, Kunigunde of Hohenstaufen, was related to the Hohenstaufen family, being a grandson of Philip of Swabia.

Biography

Ottokar was originally educated for the role of an ecclesiastical administrator. However, after the death in 1247 of Vladislaus, Margrave of Moravia, Ottokar's older brother and the heir of Bohemia, Ottokar became the heir. According to popular oral tradition, Ottokar was profoundly shocked by his brother's death and did not involve himself in politics, becoming focused on hunting and drinking. In 1248 he was enticed by discontented nobles to lead a rebellion against his father, King Wenceslaus. During this rebellion he received the nickname "the younger King" (mladší král).

Wenceslaus managed to defeat the rebels and imprisoned his son.[1] Ottokar II held the title of King of Bohemia from 31 July 1248 to November 1249.[2]

Father and son were eventually reconciled to assist the King's aim of acquiring the neighbouring Duchy of Austria. The Duchy had been without a ruler since the death of Duke Frederick II in 1246. Wenceslaus initially attempted to acquire the duchy by marrying his heir, Vladislav, to the last Duke's niece Gertrude. That match had been cut short by Vladislav's death and Gertrude's re-marriage to Herman VI, Margrave of Baden. The latter was rejected by the Austrian estates and could not establish his rule in Austria. Wenceslaus used this as pretext to invade Austria in 1250 – according to some sources, the estates called upon him in to restore order.

Wenceslaus released Ottokar very soon and in 1251 made him Margrave of Moravia and installed him, with the approval of the Austrian nobles, as governor of Austria. Ottokar entered Austria, where the estates acclaimed him as Duke. To legitimize his position, Ottokar married the late Duke Frederick II's sister Margaret, who was his senior by thirty years and the widow of Henry of Hohenstaufen (who, ironically, had been engaged to Ottokar's aunt Saint Agnes of Bohemia prior to marrying Margaret). Their marriage took place on 11 February 1252.[2][3]

In 1253, King Wenceslaus died and Ottokar succeeded his father as King of Bohemia. After the death of the German King Konrad IV in 1254, Ottokar also hoped to obtain the Imperial dignity for himself, but his election bid was unsuccessful and Richard of Cornwall was elected instead.

Building up of the empire

Feeling threatened by Ottokar's growing regional power, his cousin Béla IV, King of Hungary, challenged the young King. Béla formed a loose alliance with the Duke of Bavaria and claimed the Duchy of Styria, which had been a component of Austria since 1192. The conflict was quelled through the Pope's mediation. It was agreed that Ottokar was to yield large parts of Styria to Béla in exchange for recognition of his right to the remainder of Austria. However, after a few years the conflict resumed and Ottokar defeated the Hungarians in July 1260 at the Battle of Kressenbrunn and ended years of disputes over Styria with Béla IV.

Béla now ceded Styria back to Ottokar, and his claim to those territories was formally recognized by Richard of Cornwall, King of the Romans, the nominal liege lord of all German lands. This peace agreement was also sealed by a royal marriage. Ottokar ended his marriage to Margaret and married Béla's young granddaughter Kunigunda of Slavonia. Kunigunde became the mother of his children. The youngest of them became his only legitimate son, Wenceslaus.

Ottokar II also led two crusade expeditions against the pagan Old Prussians and founded Königsberg in 1255, which was named in his honour and later became the capital of Prussia.

In 1266 he inherited Egerland, in 1269 Carinthia, part of Carniola and in 1272 he acquired Friuli. His claim was once again contested by the Hungarians on the field of battle. After another victory he became the most powerful king within the Empire.

The way to the final battle

A new election for the Imperial German throne took place in 1273. But Ottokar was again not the successful candidate. He refused to recognize his victorious rival, Rudolph of Habsburg, and urged the Pope to adopt a similar policy. At a convention of the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg in 1274, Rudolph decreed that all imperial lands that had changed hands since the death of Emperor Frederick II must be returned to the crown. This would have deprived Ottokar of Styria, Austria, and Carinthia.

In 1276 Rudolph placed Ottokar under the ban of the empire and besieged Vienna. This compelled Ottokar in November 1276 to sign a new treaty by which he gave up all claims to Austria and the neighbouring duchies, retaining for himself only Bohemia and Moravia. Ottokar's son Wenceslaus was also betrothed to Rudolph's daughter Judith. It was an uneasy peace. Two years later, the Bohemian king tried to recover his lost lands by force. Ottokar found allies and collected a large army, but he was defeated with Hungarian assistance and killed at the Battle of Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen on the March on 26 August 1278.

His son Wenceslaus II of Bohemia succeeded him as King of Bohemia.

Marriage and children

On 11 February 1252, Ottokar married Margaret, Duchess of Austria. Margaret was sick and left the marriage childless when she was repudiated in 1261.[3] On 25 October 1261, Ottokar married his second wife Kunigunda of Slavonia. They probably had four children.[4]

Ottokar also had two natural sons and some daughters. The most important of this issue was Nicholas I, Duke of Troppau (Czech: Mikuláš I. Opavský, Polish: Mikołaj I Opawski). His first-born child was never accepted as the crown prince to the Bohemian crown by the sitting pope, and was therefore in 1269 given the Duchy of Opava instead.

The most significant of Ottokar's natural children are as follows:

• Nicholas I, Duke of Troppau (1255–1318) (Mikuláš I. Opavský), the king's first-born son and also an ancestor of the Přemyslid dynasty in Opava.
• John, provost of Vyšehrad

From the marriage with Kunigunda there were four children:

• Henry of Bohemia (1262–1263)?.
• Kunigunde of Bohemia (January 1265 – 27 November 1321), married Boleslaus II of Masovia.
• Agnes of Bohemia (5 September 1269 – 17 May 1296), married Rudolf II, Duke of Austria.
• Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (17 September 1271 – 21 June 1305).

Legacy

Ottokar is considered the greatest King of Bohemia, together with Charles IV. He was a founder of many new towns (about 30—not only in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, but also in Austria and Styria) and incorporated many existing settlements through civic charters, giving them new privileges. He was a strong proponent of trade, law and order. Furthermore, he instituted open immigration policies through which skilled German-speaking immigrants settled in major cities throughout his domains. Thus he can be called the founder of the third state de facto, within his domains. The great eastern German city of Königsberg was named in his honour as a tribute for his support of the Teutonic Knights in their war with the pagan Sambians.

As Czech traditional law was different from that reigning in his other domains, many principles introduced during his reign formed core of the Czech law for the following centuries. From his time stems the oldest preserved source of Czech law, Zemské desky, and also the oldest written Czech communal law, recorded in the founding deeds of the respective towns. By supporting the city of Jihlava with its mines he laid foundation to the silver wealth of the Bohemian kings. Privilegies of civic chartres usually excluded the towns from obedience towards the traditional comital district courts held by members of nobility. This can be seen as a second rupture of the traditional Czech legal system (after the Church gained its general freedoms half a century before), but also as a step towards equality and a first form of today's civil law.

In the country, Ottokar's introduction of the Law of Emphyteusis into the Czech law is sometimes interpreted as "Germanization". In fact it was a progress (for the subjects under this law were liberated from any bodily obediances, except for paying rent - and tax, if such was declared). Free selling and leaving of such subject estates could also be bought and soon became common. As early medieval slavery did not exist already, and serfdom was not known yet - it was gradually introduced only after the Hussite wars by the victorious nobility - Ottokar can be safely called that one of Czech rulers, who did the most for real equality of people before empress Maria-Theresa (1740–1780) and emperor Josef II (1780–1790). This change of legal environment in the Bohemian lands was not introduced by some single law or decree, but by the way of example, by systematic founding of villages chartered according to this law.

He issued also a general privilege to the Jews (1254), which established principles of incorporation of the Jews into the Czech society, until 1848. The Jews got some positions (such as servants of crown), thereby being little less subject to religious hatred. Instead of being able to claim only the support of individual lords, the Jews could from then on claim support of any royal officer, when their privileges were threatened.

Ottokar followed with a systematic policy of strengthening his domains by building fortifications. Besides supporting towns, he built many fortresses himself - Zvíkov Castle, Křivoklát Castle or Bezděz Castle in Bohemia, Hofburg Palace in Austria etc. - and also induced his vassals to build castles. A sign of rising strength of Bohemia and other lands, it was also a reaction on Mongol raids in the previous period (see Béla IV of Hungary). Conflict for the title of ownership to these fortified places built by members of nobility was probably the source of uprising (1276), which cost Ottokar the Austrian lands, and two years later (in an attempt for reconquest) his life.

Some of the fortresses built by Ottokar were for centuries the strongest in Bohemia. Interestingly enough, Bezděz Castle served as a prison for his son Wenceslaus II of Bohemia for short time after Ottokar's death. The castle was safe deposit for the Bohemian legal records Zemské desky and many spiritual and temporal treasures during the destructive civil strife of Hussite wars (1419–1434) in Bohemia. It was first and last conquered in 1620, but only after it was long deserted, and in that state defended by rebelling subjects against regular army. Still the Swedes held it important enough to station a detachment there before 1648.

Before conflict with Rudolf of Habsburg, besides his own domains, he exacted influence over number of relatives, allies and vassals in Germany: Margraviate of Brandenburg etc. - and spiritual princedoms: Archbishopric of Salzburg, Patriarchate of Aquileia and others. Since the death of Konradin in 1268 he was an heir of the House of Hohenstaufen's claim to the imperial crown. He however did not raise this claim, staying content with informal influence in Germany. In 1267 he was appointed protector of the royal domains (of the Holy Roman Empire) east of the Rhine by the Roman king Richard of Cornwall. He held this office till 1273.

He is a famous figure both in history and in folkloric legend. In the Divine Comedy by Dante, Ottokar is seen outside the gates of Purgatory, in amiable companionship with his imperial rival Rudolph. He is also the protagonist of a tragedy by the 19th-century Austrian playwright Franz Grillparzer.

In the painting, "Přemysl Otakar II: The Union of Slavic Dynasties," part of Alfons Mucha's 20-canvas work, The Slav Epic, Ottokar is depicted at his niece's wedding celebration, forging alliances with other Slavonic rulers in attendance.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Ottokar II of Bohemia

References

1. ^ Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
2. ^ a b Cawley, Charles, Profile of Ottokar II, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, retrieved August 2012.
3. ^ a b Cawley, Charles, Profile of Margaret, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, retrieved August 2012.
4. ^ Cawley, Charles, Profile of Ottokar II and his children, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, retrieved August 2012.

Sources

Wikipedia: Ottokar II of Bohemia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottokar_II_of_Bohemia : accessed 22 Aug 2013)

Repudiated his first wife Margarete Babenberg

• https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/ottocaro_II_di_Boemia