The Czechs

Czech people

Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

 name Přemysl, the Ploughman, (also spelled Premysl or Przemysl; in Czech

Czech language

Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...

 Přemysl Oráč, pr̝ɛmɪsl oraːtʃ) as the mythical ancestor of the Přemyslid dynasty

Premyslid dynasty

The Přemyslids , were a Czech royal dynasty which reigned in Bohemia and Moravia , and partly also in Hungary, Silesia, Austria and Poland.-Legendary rulers:...

, containing the line of princes (dukes) and kings which ruled in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown

Lands of the Bohemian Crown

The Lands of the Bohemian Crown , also called the Lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas or simply the Bohemian Crown or Czech Crown lands , refers to the area connected by feudal relations under the joint rule of the Bohemian kings...

 from 873 or earlier until the murder of Wenceslaus III

Wenceslaus III of Bohemia

Wenceslaus III Premyslid was the King of Hungary , King of Bohemia and the king of Poland ....

 in 1306.

Story

According to a legend, Přemysl was a peasant of the village of Stadice

Stadice

Stadice is a small village near Teplice in the northern part of the Czech Republic. It was the home of the legendary ruler Přemysl, the Ploughman...

 who attracted the notice of Libuše

Libuše

Libuše, Libussa or, historically Lubossa, is a legendary ancestor of the Přemyslid dynasty and the Czech people as whole. Libuše was the wisest of the three sisters and prophesied the foundation of Prague from her castle Libušín...

, daughter of a certain Krok, who ruled over a large part of Bohemia

Bohemia

Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...

. Přemysl married Libuše, the traditional foundress of Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, and became prince of the Bohemian Czechs. Přemysl and Libuše had three sons: Nezamysl

Nezamysl

Nezamysl was the first of the seven Bohemian mythical princes between the founder of the Přemyslid dynasty Přemysl the Ploughman and the first historical prince Bořivoj...

 (heir), Radobyl and Lidomir.

The Přemyslid dynasty became extinct in the male line when Wenceslaus III died, but through females the title to Bohemia passed from the Přemyslids to the Luxembourgs

House of Luxembourg

The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.-History:...

 and later to the houses of Jagiello

Jagiellon dynasty

The Jagiellonian dynasty was a royal dynasty originating from the Lithuanian House of Gediminas dynasty that reigned in Central European countries between the 14th and 16th century...

, Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine

House of Lorraine

The House of Lorraine, the main and now only remaining line known as Habsburg-Lorraine, is one of the most important and was one of the longest-reigning royal houses in the history of Europe...

.

Arts

In addition to appearing in works named for Libuše, Přemysl is also a subject of the writings of Wenceslaus Hajek of Libočany published in 1541, a 1779 ballad by Johann Gottfried Herder

Johann Gottfried Herder

Johann Gottfried von Herder was a German philosopher, theologian, poet, and literary critic. He is associated with the periods of Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, and Weimar Classicism.-Biography:...

, fairy tales by Johann Karl August Musäus

Johann Karl August Musaus

Johann Karl August Musäus was a German author from Jena. He studied theology at the university of Jena, and would have become the pastor of a parish but for the resistance of some peasants, who objected that he had been known to dance.From 1760–62 Musäus published in three volumes his first...

, and Clemens Brentano

Clemens Brentano

Clemens Brentano, or Klemens Brentano was a German poet and novelist.-Overview:He was born in Ehrenbreitstein, near Koblenz, Germany. His sister was Bettina von Arnim, Goethe's correspondent. His father's family was of Italian descent. He studied in Halle and Jena, afterwards residing at...

's 1815 The Founding of Prague.