Vratislaus I of Bohemia
Encyclopedia
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:...
, was Duke 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...
from 915 to 921.
He was the son of Duke Borivoj I of Bohemia by his wife Ludmila, and the younger brother of Duke Spytihnev I.
By his wife Drahomíra
Drahomíra
Drahomíra was a Bohemian duchess, wife of Vratislav I and mother of Saint Wenceslas and Boleslaus I of Bohemia.-Life:Drahomíra's homeland was around Brandenburg, a castle near present-day Berlin. She was princess of Havolans....
, a Hevellian princess, Vratislaus had at least two sons, Wenceslaus
Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia
Wenceslaus I , or Wenceslas I, was the duke of Bohemia from 921 until his assassination in 935, purportedly in a plot by his own brother, Boleslav the Cruel....
and Boleslaus (also called Boleslaw I), who both succeeded him as Bohemian dukes. Střezislava
Strezislava
Střezislava was the wife of Slavník, a Bohemian nobleman and founder of Slavník dynasty. Some historians suppose that she might have been a member of the Přemyslid house , possibly a daughter of Vratislaus I or of some historically unknown member of that dynasty.Střezislava had several children...
, the wife of the Bohemian nobleman Slavnik
Slavnik
At high, Slavnik is the highest peak of the Slovenian Istria. It is part of the Čičarija landscape....
, founder of Slavnik's dynasty
Slavník's dynasty
The Slavniks/Slavníks or Slavnikids was a powerful dynasty in Bohemia during the 10th century. It governed Zličané, one of the oldest Czech tribes. The center of the principality was the gord of Libice located at the confluence of the rivers Cidlina and Elbe...
, is also by some historians supposed to be a daughter of Vratislaus.
Upon the death of his elder brother Spytihnev in 915, Vratislaus became Bohemian duke at a time when his duchy had already turned away from Great Moravia
Great Moravia
Great Moravia was a Slavic state that existed in Central Europe and lasted for nearly seventy years in the 9th century whose creators were the ancestors of the Czechs and Slovaks. It was a vassal state of the Germanic Frankish kingdom and paid an annual tribute to it. There is some controversy as...
and had fallen under East Frankish, especially Bavarian
History of Bavaria
The history of Bavaria stretches from its earliest settlement and its formation as a stem duchy in the 6th century through its inclusion in the Holy Roman Empires to its status as an independent kingdom and, finally, as a large and significant Bundesland of the modern Federal Republic of...
influence. The Annales Fuldenses
Annales Fuldenses
The Annales Fuldenses or Annals of Fulda are East Frankish chronicles that cover independently the period from the last years of Louis the Pious to shortly after the end of effective Carolingian rule in East Francia with the accession of the child-king, Louis III, in 900...
report that in 900 the Bavarians had attacked Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
in alliance with the Bohemians. On the other hand Vratislaus supported the Magyars
Kingdom of Hungary in the Middle Ages
The Kingdom of Hungary was formed from the previous Principality of Hungarywith the coronation of Stephen I in AD 1000. This was a result of the conversion of Géza of Hungary to the Western Church in the 970s....
on their 915 campaign against the Duchy of Saxony
Duchy of Saxony
The medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy" covering the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Saxony-Anhalt and most of Schleswig-Holstein...
under Duke Henry the Fowler.
Vratislaus is credited with the donation of St. George's Basilica at Prague Castle
Prague Castle
Prague Castle is a castle in Prague where the Kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman Emperors and presidents of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic have had their offices. The Czech Crown Jewels are kept here...
and also with the foundation of the Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
n city of Wrocław (Vratislavia). He died (possibly in 919, although 921 is more often conjectured) in battle against the Magyars.
Sources
- Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis; Line 244-7
- The Plantagenet Ancestry by William Henry Turton, Page 85
- Royal Highness, Ancestry of the Royal Child by Sir Iain Moncreiffe, Pages 64–65