Vladivoj ( – January 1003) was
Duke of Bohemia
The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings beforehand, first gaining the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman ...
from 1002 until his death.
Life
He was probably a member of the
Piast dynasty, maybe the second son of
Doubravka, daughter of Duke
Boleslaus I of Bohemia, and her husband Duke
Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was the first ruler of Poland and the founder of the first independent Polish state, the Duchy of Poland. His reign stretched from 960 to his death and he was a member of the Piast dynasty, a son of Siemomysł and a ...
, or a distant relative. When Duke
Boleslaus III was dethroned during a revolt by the Czech
Vršovci
The Vršovci (also Vrshovici; singular: Vršovec) were a Czech noble family in the Duchy of Bohemia.
History
In Bohemia
First noted in the power struggles of the 10th–12th centuries in Bohemia. The Vršovci were the third most powerful politi ...
clan, the
Bohemian nobles declared Vladivoj, who had earlier fled to
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
, duke in 1002. The Czech historian
Dušan Třeštík
Dušan Třeštík (1 August 1933 – 23 August 2007) was a Czech historian. He specialized in medieval history ( Dark Ages (500–1000)) of the Czech lands and theory of history.
Třeštík was born in 1933 in Sobědruhy, now a part of the city ...
writes that Vladivoj assumed the Bohemian throne with the support of the Polish duke
Bolesław I the Brave. In November, he also obtained the support by the German king
Henry II who enfeoffed him with the Bohemian duchy.
After Vladivoj died in 1003, Bolesław the Brave invaded Bohemia and restored Boleslaus III who had many Bohemian noblemen murdered. It is said that Vladivoj was an
alcoholic
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...
, and drinking was a possible contributor to his death. A massacre of the Vršovci clan at Vyšehrad ordered by Boleslaus III led to his deposition and the succession of his younger brother
Jaromír.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vladivoj
Dukes of Bohemia
980s births
1003 deaths
11th-century rulers in Europe
Christian monarchs