Božena (Křesinová) (died after 1052) was the second wife (and probably earlier the

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...

) of Duke Oldřich of Bohemia and mother of

Bretislaus I of Bohemia Bretislav I ( cs, Břetislav I.; 1002/1005 – 10 January 1055), known as the "Bohemian Achilles", of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1034 until his death. Youth Bretislav was the son of Duke Oldřich and his low-born concubine ...

Meeting of Oldřich and Božena

The historian

Cosmas of Prague Cosmas of Prague ( cs, Kosmas Pražský; la, Cosmas Decanus; – October 21, 1125) was a priest, writer and historian. Life Between 1075 and 1081, he studied in Liège. After his return to Bohemia, he married Božetěcha, with whom he had a s ...

recorded the legend of Oldřich and Božena, in his ''Chronica Boëmorum'' ("Chronicle of the Bohemians"). According to the legend, the young (and married) Oldřich set out on a hunt and travelled to

Peruc Peruc (german: Perutz) is a market town in Louny District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,300 inhabitants. Administrative parts The villages of Černochov, Hřivčice, Chrastín, Pátek, Radonice nad Ohří, St ...

. There, he spied a beautiful

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

girl, Božena, by a well known today as Božena's Spring and was immediately entranced by her. Oldřich abandoned his hunt and took Božena back to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, where she eventually gave birth to his illegitimate son Bretislaus. In the legend, Oldřich's first meeting with Božena took place in sight of the

Oldřich Oak The Oldřich Oak ( cs, Oldřichův dub), also known as the Prince Oldřich Oak, is a pedunculate oak (''Quercus robur'') tree in Peruc in the Czech Republic that is estimated to be about 1,000 years old. The tree has a height of and a trunk (bota ...

. Božena was indeed the savior of the Czech House of Přemysl. Oldřich had two brothers, but one of them, Jaromír, had been castrated by the eldest sibling, Boleslaus III. Boleslaus III himself was imprisoned in Poland, possibly having only a daughter. Thus Oldřich was the one Přemyslid able to have a son and heir. His first wife is thought to have borne no children. Božena's low birth is alluded to in the chronicle of Cosmas, which states that Oldřich first met her "riding through the village". The illegitimate birth of her son Bretislaus to a low-born mother is believed to have made it necessary for him to resort to abduction when he later sought to marry a noble bride (

Judith of Schweinfurt Judith of Schweinfurt ( cs, Jitka ze Schweinfurtu / in old Czech: Jitka ze Svinibrodu; before 1003 – 2 August 1058) was Duchess consort of Bohemia from 1034 until 1055, by her marriage with the Přemyslid duke Bretislav I.Herwig Wolfram, ''Co ...

). At any rate, she was held to be a peasant woman already by the author of the early 14th-century

Chronicle of Dalimil The ''Chronicle of Dalimil'' ( cs, Dalimilova kronika; Kronika tak řečeného Dalimila) is the first chronicle written in the Old Czech language. It was composed in Poetry, verse by an unknown author at the beginning of the 14th century. The Chr ...

Meeting of Oldřich and Božena

References

Further reading