Boleslav I of Bohemia
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Boleslaus I ( cs, Boleslav I. Ukrutný) (915 – 972), a member of the
Přemyslid dynasty The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemyslid ( cs, Přemyslovci, german: Premysliden, pl, Przemyślidzi) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–130 ...
, was ruler ('' kníže'', "duke") of the Duchy of Bohemia from 935 to his death. He is notorious for the murder of his elder brother Wenceslaus, through which he became duke. Despite his complicity in this fratricide, Boleslaus is generally respected by Czech historians as an energetic ruler who significantly strengthened the Bohemian state and expanded its territory. His accomplishments include significant economic development due to an expansion in trade, the introduction of silver mining and the minting of the first local coinage, the Prague denarius.


Early life

Boleslaus was the son of Duke
Vratislaus I of Bohemia Vratislaus (or Wratislaus) I ( cs, Vratislav I.; – 13 February 921), a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 915 until his death. Life He was a son of Duke Bořivoj I of Bohemia by his wife Ludmila and the younger brothe ...
(d. 921) by his marriage with Drahomíra (d. 934), probably a
Hevelli The Hevelli or Hevellians/ Navellasîni (sometimes ''Havolane''; german: Heveller or ''Stodoranen''; pl, Hawelanie or ''Stodoranie''; cs, Havolané or ''Stodorané'') were a tribe of the Polabian Slavs, who settled around the middle Havel river ...
an princess. His father took over the rule in
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 ...
around the time of Boleslav's birth, during which he had to deal with both the exertion of influence by the
East Frankish East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire, empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided t ...
dukes of
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
and
Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
and the Magyar incursions. Boleslaus and his elder brother Wenceslaus were taught the Christian faith and to read the
Psalms The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
by their grandmother Ludmila. There is evidence that Boleslaus's pagan mother might have influenced him against his brother and Christianity, though he later repented. In no way did he impede the growth of
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
during his reign in Bohemia, and, in fact, he actually sent his daughter
Mlada ''Mlada'' (russian: Млада, italic=yes, the name of a main character) was a project conceived in 1870 by Stepan Gedeonov (1816–1878), director of the Saint Petersburg Imperial Theatres, originally envisioned as a ballet to be composed by ...
, a nun, to
Pope John XIII Pope John XIII ( la, Ioannes XIII; died 6 September 972) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 October 965 to his death. His pontificate was caught up in the continuing conflict between the Holy Roman emperor, Otto I, and t ...
in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
to ask permission to make Prague a bishopric. Upon his death, Vratislaus was succeeded by his eldest son Wenceslaus. While the external situation worsened with the alliance between Duke
Arnulf of Bavaria Arnulf II (birth unknown; died 14 July 937), also known as the Bad (german: der Schlimme), the Evil (''der Böse'') or the Wicked, a member of the Luitpoldings, Luitpolding dynasty, held the title of Duke of Bavaria from about 907 until his dea ...
and the Saxon duke
Henry the Fowler Henry the Fowler (german: Heinrich der Vogler or '; la, Henricus Auceps) (c. 876 – 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non-Frankish king of East Francia, he ...
, King of East Francia from 919, Wenceslaus could only maintain his independence by entering an agreement to pay an annual tribute to the East Frankish (
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
) ruler. Shortly afterwards, in 935 (or in 929, according to other sources), Wenceslaus was murdered at Stará Boleslav after accepting an invitation from Boleslaus to celebrate the feast of
Saints Cosmas and Damian Cosmas and Damian ( ar, قُزما ودميان, translit=Qozma wa Demyaan; grc-gre, Κοσμᾶς καὶ Δαμιανός, translit=Kosmás kai Damianós; la, Cosmas et Damianus; AD) were two Arab physicians in the town Cyrrhus, and were r ...
with him there. According to tradition, a son of Boleslaus was born at exactly the same time. The child was given the strange name " Strachkvas", which means "a dreadful feast". Remorseful for what he had done, Boleslaus promised to have his son educated as a clergyman and devote his life to religion.


Reign

After having taken over the Prague throne, one of Boleslaus's major concerns was the tribute paid yearly to the East Frankish kings as stipulated in the peace treaty that Henry the Fowler had established with Boleslaus's brother Wenceslaus. He stopped the payment shortly after he ascended the throne, which led to a prolonged war with Henry's successor King
Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', ''Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fro ...
. In 935, Boleslaus attacked the Thuringian allies of the Saxons in the northwest and defeated two of Otto's armies (from Thuringia and
Merseburg Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...
). The war then deteriorated to border raids (the general pattern of warfare in this region at the time) and reached its conclusion in 950, when King Otto besieged a castle owned by Boleslaus's son. This prompted Boleslaus to sign a peace treaty with Otto. Although he remained undefeated, he promised to resume the payment of tribute. Five years later, the armies of the Czechs and Germans allied against the Magyars in the victorious Battle of Lechfeld on 10 August 955. After the battle, the remainder of the huge Magyar army turned to Bohemia, where it was crushed by Boleslaus. Shortly afterwards, in October, he also helped Otto to crush an uprising of Slavic tribes led by the Obotrite princes Nakon and Stojgněv on the Lower
Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...
river in the
Battle on the Raxa The Battle on the Raxa river (german: Schlacht an der Raxa) was fought on 16 October 955 over control of the Billung march (in present-day Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, northeast Germany) between the forces of Otto I of Germany allied with the Rani tr ...
. The defeat of invading Hungarians brought the same benefits to both Germans and Czechs. Less obvious is what Boleslaus expected to gain from his participation in Otto's war against the Obotrite princes in the far north. He probably wanted to ensure that his powerful German neighbors did not interfere with him in expanding the Bohemian territories to the east. As a result of the victory, Boleslaus freed the
Moravia Moravia ( , also , ; cs, Morava ; german: link=yes, Mähren ; pl, Morawy ; szl, Morawa; la, Moravia) is a historical region in the east of the Czech Republic and one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The me ...
n lands from Magyar raids and expanded his territory, which in turn was later conquered by
Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
dukes and became known as Upper Silesia and
Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a s ...
. By occupying the city of
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, he controlled important trade routes from Prague to
Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...
and
Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
. To defuse the Bohemian-Polish conflict, Duke Boleslav married his daughter
Doubravka Doubravka is a female given name of Slavic origin. It derives from the Slavic word ''doubrava'' meaning ''oak grove'' and is pronounced ''dow-brahf-kah'' in Czech. Nicknames * Czech: Doubra, Doubravuše, Doubruše, Duběnka, Doubí (''dow-bee'' ...
to the pagan Piast prince
Mieszko I 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 ...
in 963/964, and helped bring Christianity to Poland. He even allied with Mieszko in the campaign against the Saxon count
Wichmann the Younger Wichmann II the Younger (also spelled ''Wigmann'' or ''Wichman'') (about 930 – 22 September 967) was a member of the Saxon House of Billung. He was a son of Count Wichmann the Elder and his wife Frederuna, a niece of Queen Matilda. The cousin of ...
. According to the medieval chronicler Cosmas of Prague, Duke Boleslaus died on 15 July 967, a date questioned by recent research. He was succeeded by his eldest son Boleslaus the Pious.


Marriage and children

Boleslav's wife may have been
Biagota Biagota (born 920) was probably the wife of duke Boleslaus I of Bohemia. Michal Lutovský writes in his book ''Bratrovrah a tvůrce státu'' (Fratricide and country-maker) that only a few coins confirm the existence of Biagota. These coins are co ...
. It is unknown if she was the mother of all four of his adult children: *
Doubravka of Bohemia Doubravka of Bohemia, Dobrawa ( cs, Doubravka Přemyslovna, pl, Dobrawa, Dąbrówka; ca. 940/45 – 977) was a Bohemian princess of the Přemyslid dynasty and by marriage Duchess of the Polans. She was the daughter of Boleslaus I the Cruel, ...
, * Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia, * Strachkvas of Bohemia, * Mlada of Bohemia.


Sources

* Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis Weis; Line 244-7 * The Plantagenet Ancestry by William Henry Turton, Page 85 {{DEFAULTSORT:Boleslaus 01, Duke of Bohemia Dukes of Bohemia Christian monarchs Czech military leaders Czech murderers 10th-century births 10th-century deaths 10th-century Bohemian people 10th-century rulers in Europe Place of birth unknown Place of death unknown Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain