Kunigunda of Slavonia

Kunigunda Rostislavna (1245 – September 9 1285) [Czech: "Kunhuta"] was Queen consort of Bohemia and its regent from 1278 until her death. She was a member of the House of Chernigov, and a daughter of the ruler of Slavonia.

She was presumably born in Russia, in the domains of her paternal grandfather Michael of Chernigov, Grand Prince of Kiev, to Rostislav Mihailovich, future ruler of Belgrade and Slavonia, and his wife Anna of Hungary. After the death of her father's father, Kunigunda's family relocated to Hungary, where her mother's father, Bela IV of Hungary, made her father governor of certain Serbian-speaking regions in the Danube Valley. Her father proclaimed himself King of Bulgaria in 1256 but did not stay there to defend his kingship.

Kunigunda was married to King Premysl Otakar II of Bohemia (ca. 1233 – 1278) in Bratislava on October 25 1261, following his divorce from Margaret, Duchess of Austria (ca. 1204 – 1266) who was elderly and barren, and unable to provide heirs for the King. Kunigunda, 41 years Margaret's junior, bore Otakar several children, the youngest being his only legitimate son Wenceslaus (Vaclav, 1271-1305).

Life as Queen

Genuine heirs of the Babenberg asserted their rights against King Otakar in Austria. The young Kunigunda's grandfather Bela IV had been Otakar's rival.

The Czech king Otakar tried in 1278 to recover his lands lost to Rudolph I of Germany. He made allies and collected a large army, but he was defeated by Rudolph and killed at the Battle of Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen on the March on August 26 1278.

Moravia was subdued and its government entrusted to Rudolph's representatives, leaving Kunigunda, now Queen Regent of Bohemia in control of only the province surrounding Prague, while the young Wenceslaus was betrothed and married to one of Rudolph's daughters, Judith.

Later life

Kunigunda married secondly a Bohemian magnate, Zavish, Lord of Falkenstejn and Rozmberk in Prague June 2, 1284. Zavish survived her, married again, and was executed on August 24, 1290.

Kunigunda's son Wenceslaus II kept the kingdom of Bohemia, and also succeeded in obtaining Poland and Hungary although not very sustainably. Ultimately she is one of the pivotal ancestresses of the Luxembourg and the Habsburg.

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