Richeza of Berg ( cs, Richenza z Bergu; – 27 September 1125) was Duchess of Bohemia from 1111 to 1117 and again from 1120 until 1125, by her marriage with the Přemyslid duke Vladislav I. She was the daughter of Swabian, Henry I, Count of Berg (d. 1116) and his wife Adelheid of Mochental (d. 1127), a daughter of the Bavarian margrave Diepold II of Vohburg. Adelheid's elder brother, Margrave Diepold III, was a loyal follower of Emperor Henry V; his daughter Adelaide married the Hohenstaufen duke (and later Emperor)

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...

in 1147. Richinza was named after her maternal great-grandmother Richwara, wife of Duke

Berthold I of Zähringen Berthold II, Duke of Carinthia (c. 1000 – 6 November 1078), also known as Berthold I of Zähringen, was a progenitor of the Swabian House of Zähringen. From 1061 until 1077, he was the Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona. Life He was poss ...

. About 1110/1111 Richeza married Vladislav, who ruled the Duchy of Bohemia since 1109; her sister Sophia married another Přemyslid prince, Otto II the Black, in 1114. The third sister, Salomea of Berg (d. 1144), married the Piast duke of Poland, Bolesław III Wrymouth, in 1115. Richeza and Salomea ensured peace between their Bohemian and Polish husbands. The ducal couple founded the Benedictine monastery of Kladruby in 1115; Richeza also made several donations to Zwiefalten Abbey in her Swabian homelands. Through the intercession of his wife, in 1125 the dying Duke Vladislav I chose his cousin Prince Otto II the Black as his successor. Only the intervention of his mother, the aged queen dowager

Świętosława Świętosława was a Polish princess, the daughter of Mieszko I of Poland and sister of Bolesław I of Poland. According to German chroniclers, this princess, whose name is not given, was married first to Eric the Victorious of Sweden and then t ...

(Svatava), changed his mind and Vladislav reconciled with his younger brother Soběslav.KAREŠOVÁ, Z.; PRAŽÁK, J. ''Královny a kněžny české''. Prague : X-Egem, 1996. While Soběslav became duke upon Vladislav's death, the disappointed Richeza had to flee from Bohemia. She wished to retire to Zwiefalten Abbey, however, she died on the way on 27 September 1125. She is buried in Reichenbach Abbey in Bavaria. Her eldest son Vladislav II succeeded to the Prague throne after Duke Soběslav's death in 1140.

Issue

* Svatava (Luitgarda; died after 1146) * Vladislav II ( – 18 January 1174), Duke of Bohemia from 1140, Bohemian king from 1158 *

Děpold I of Jamnitz Děpold I (also ''Děpolt'', modern English ''Theobald'') was the second son of Duke Vladislav I of Bohemia and brother of Duke and later King of Bohemia Vladislav II. In 1145, he joined the other territorial dukes of Bohemia, Conrad II of Znoj ...

(died August 1167) * Jindřich (Henry; died after 1169), father of Duke

Bretislav III Henry Bretislav (latinized as ''Bretislaus'', cs, Jindřich Břetislav; died 15 or 19 June 1197), a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Bishop of Prague from 1182, then Duke of Bohemia as "Bretislav III" from 1193 to his death. Ecclesiastica ...

Literature

*KAREŠOVÁ, Z.; PRAŽÁK, J. ''Královny a kněžny české''. Prague : X-Egem, 1996.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richeza of Berg Duchesses of Bohemia Year of birth uncertain 1090s births 1125 deaths 12th-century Bohemian people 12th-century Bohemian women 11th-century Bohemian people 11th-century Bohemian women