Vladislaus II of Bohemia

Vladislaus II of Bohemia

: "For other monarchs with similar names, please see Ladislaus II (disambiguation)"

Vladislaus II ( _cs. Vladislav) (c.1110–18 January 1174) was the second king of Bohemia from 1158. Before that he had been duke of Bohemia from 1140. He abdicated in 1172, the royal title was not yet hereditary. In 1212 the Emperor Frederick made it hereditary.

Vladislav was the son of Vladislav I and Richeza of Berg. He was married twice, first to Gertrude of Babenberg, second to Judith of Thuringia.

He was an adventurous youth and, having no possibility of reaching the throne during the reign of his uncle Sobeslav I, he moved to Bavaria. He returned at the death of Sobeslav in 1140 and, with the help of his brother-in-law, the king of Germany, Conrad III, he was elected prince of Bohemia.

At first, he had to contend with the claims of his cousin, the son of Sobeslav, also named Vladislav. By Sobeslav's request, the Emperor Lothair II had recognised the rights of his son at the Diet of Bamberg in May 1138, then, in June, the nobility affirmed them at Sadska. Another diet at Bamberg confirmed the succession of the son of Vladislav, however, in April 1140. The local dukes, Conrad II of Znojmo, Vratislaus II of Brno, and Otto III of Olomouc, gave him trouble. They were excommunicated by Henry Zdik, bishop of Olomouc, who was then driven out of his diocese. The territorial dukes then defeated Vladislav through treason at Vyoska on 22 April 1142, but their siege of Prague failed. Vladislav kept his throne through the help of Conrad III of Germany, whose half-sister Gertrude of Babenberg he married.

In 1147, he accompanied the king on the Second Crusade, but halted his march at Constantinople. On his way back to Bohemia he passed through Kiev and Kraków. Thanks to his friendship with Conrad's successor, the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Vladislav was elected king of Bohemia on 11 January 1158, becoming the second Bohemian prince to boast such an imperial title after Vratislaus II. He was also invested with Upper Lusatia at Regensburg and his coronation was celebrated in a second ceremony at Milan on 8 September. Vladislav was a firm ally of Barbarossa. He duly accompanied him to Milan in 1158. During the Italian expeditions of 1161, 1162, and 1167, Vladislav entrusted the command of the Czech contingent to his brother Duke Děpold I of Jamnitz and his son Frederick.

After the revolt of the Moravian dukes, Vladislav gradually took the control of the strongholds of Moravia: "Brünn" Brno with the death of Vratislaus II in 1156, "Olmütz" Olomouc with the death of Otto III (in spite of the claims of Sobeslav, the son of Duke Sobeslav, who was imprisoned), and finally Znojmo with the death of Conrad II. Vladislav also intervened in Hungary in 1163 on behalf of the emperor. He married his second son, Sviatopluk, to a Hungarian princess and had diplomatic contact with Manuel I Comnenus. In 1164, he even married his six-year-old daughter Helena to Peter, son of Manuel.

In 1167, Daniel I, bishop of Prague since 1148 and Vladislav's greatest advisor, died. As a result, relations between the kings of Bohemia and Germany were strained. When his son (Vojtech) Adalbert III became archbishop of Salzburg in 1169, the emperor suspected him of supporting Pope Alexander III.

Eager to impose his son Frederick on the throne of the still-elective duchy of Bohemia, he abdicated without either the consensus of the Bohemian noblemen or the Emperor's permission. Frederick kept the throne for less than one year, before yielding the place to Sobeslav II, the elder son of Sobeslav I.

Vladislav lived in Thuringia in the lands of his second wife, where he died in January 1174. He was buried in the Cathedral of Meissen. His reign was marked by the founding of numerous Premonstratensian and Cistercian abbeys in Bohemia, as well as the construction of a stone bridge across Vltava in Prague: the construct was named Judith Bridge in honour of Vladislav's second wife.

Family and children

By his first wife, Gertrude of Babenberg (died 4 August 1150), he had the following issue:
*Frederick, successor
*Sviatopluk, married a daughter of Geza II of Hungary
*Vojtech, archbishop of Salzburg as Adalbert III
*Agnes (died 7 June 1228), abbess of St George of Prague

By his second wife, Judith of Thuringia (married 1155), daughter of Louis I, Landgrave of Thuringia, he had the following issue:
*Ottokar, later king of Bohemia, first of a hereditary line
*Ladislaus, later duke of Bohemia as Ladislaus III
*Richeza (died 19 April 1182), married Henry II, Duke of Austria

-


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Vladislaus III of Bohemia — Vladislaus III Henry ( cs. Vladislav Jindřich) (died August 12, 1222) was the youngest son of Vladislaus II and younger brother of Ottokar I. On June 22, 1197, he was elected Duke of Bohemia. Faced with an uprising in favour of Ottokar,… …   Wikipedia

  • Vladislaus II of Hungary — This article refers to the 15th century Jagiellon monarch. For his grandfather who founded the dynasty, see Władysław II Jagiełło. For other monarchs with similar names, see Ladislaus Jagiello (disambiguation) or Ladislaus (disambiguation)… …   Wikipedia

  • Vladislaus I, Duke of Bohemia — Vladislaus I ( cs. Vladislav; 1065 ndash;1125), duke of Bohemia from 1109 to 1117 and from 1120 ndash;April 12, 1125.Vladislav I was a son of Duke, later King, Vratislav II of Bohemia by his second wife Swatawa, a daughter of Casimir I of Poland …   Wikipedia

  • Vladislaus, Margrave of Moravia — Vladislaus (1227 1247), was Margrave of Moravia and heir to the Bohemian Kingdom of the Přemyslid dynasty.Vladislaus was born as the eldest son to Wenceslaus I, King of Bohemia, and his wife Kunigunde of Hohenstaufen, daughter of Philip of Swabia …   Wikipedia

  • Wenceslaus I of Bohemia — For the earlier duke of Bohemia, see Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. Wenceslaus I of Bohemia King of Bohemia Seal of Wenceslaus I Reign 1230–1253 Coronation …   Wikipedia

  • List of rulers of Bohemia — Monarchy of Bohemia Former Monarchy Co …   Wikipedia

  • Ottokar I of Bohemia — Duke and King of Bohemia Tombstone of Ottokar I. Reign I. 1192 1193 II. 1197 1230 …   Wikipedia

  • Ottokar II of Bohemia — King of Bohemia Ottokar II (Zbraslavská kronika). Reign 1253–1278 Coronation 1261, Prag …   Wikipedia

  • Świętosława I of Bohemia — [ Jan Matejko, 1886.] Świętosława I of Bohemia or Świętosława of Poland ( cz. Svatava Polská (c. 1046 1048 1 September 1126)) was the third wife of Duke and later King Vratislaus II of Bohemia and since 1085 the first Queen of… …   Wikipedia

  • Anna of Bohemia and Hungary — Anna, Queen of Bohemia and Hungary, also sometimes known as Anna Jagellonica (Buda (now Budapest), Hungary, July 23, 1503 ndash; Prague, Bohemia, January 27, 1547) was, by marriage to Ferdinand I, King of the Romans and later Holy Roman Emperor,… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”