Frederick ( cs, Bedřich) ( – 25 March 1189), 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
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 1172 to 1173 and again from 1178 to his death.
Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
emperor Frederick Barbarossa, godfather and namesake of Frederick. His elevation expressed the emperor's gratitude for Vladislav's loyalty and faithful service; he thereby became the second Přemyslid king after his grandfather
Vratislav II
Vratislaus II (or Wratislaus II) ( cs, Vratislav II.) (c. 1032 – 14 January 1092), the son of Bretislaus I of Bohemia, Bretislaus I and Judith of Schweinfurt, was the first King of Bohemia as of 15 June 1085, his royal title granted as a lifeti ...
(d. 1092). His son Frederick ruled as a
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 m ...
n prince of
Olomouc
Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019).
Located on t ...
from 1164 onwards.
King Vladislav's relations with the emperor deteriorated when in 1172 he abdicated in favour of Frederick, trying to implement a line of succession in accordance to the principle of
agnatic seniority
Agnatic seniority is a patrilineal principle of inheritance where the order of succession to the throne prefers the monarch's younger brother over the monarch's own sons. A monarch's children (the next generation) succeed only after the males ...
, but without consulting Barbarossa. While the
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
throne was claimed by Vladislav's cousins, sons of the late Duke Soběslav I, Frederick was unable to hold on to his duchy, as his tenancy was approved by neither the Bohemian
diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
nor the emperor. Father and son were eventually declared deposed in September 1173 by the emperor at an Imperial Diet in Hermsdorf (Erbendorf). In agreement with the Bohemian nobility, Barbarossa offered the throne to Vladislav's cousin Oldřich. However, Oldřich declined the honour and renounced the rule over Bohemia in favour to his elder brother Soběslav II, who was sympathetic to the peasantry.
While aged Vladislav II left Bohemia and retired to the
Thuringian
Thuringian is an East Central German dialect group spoken in much of the modern German Free State of Thuringia north of the Rennsteig ridge, southwestern Saxony-Anhalt and adjacent territories of Hesse and Bavaria. It is close to Upper Saxon sp ...
estates of his second wife Judith, Frederick had to serve at the Imperial court. Nevertheless, Soběslav II turned out antagonistic to both the Bohemian nobles and the emperor. He was reluctant to support Barbarossa on his
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
campaign against the Lombard League, where the Imperial forces suffered a major defeat in the 1176 Battle of Legnano. Moreover, Duke Soběslav campaigned the Babenberg lands of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
in the south, whereby Duke
Henry Jasomirgott
Henry II (german: Heinrich; 1107 – 13 January 1177), called Jasomirgott, a member of the House of Babenberg,Lingelbach 1913, pp. 91–92. was Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1140 to 1141, Duke of Bavaria (as ''Henry XI'') and Margrave of Austria ...
, Barbarossa's uncle, was killed in an accident. While Soběslav ignored a summons to appear at the Imperial court, Frederick was able to forge an alliance with the Moravian prince Conrad III Otto of Znojmo and the Babenberg duke Leopold V of Austria. Backed by Emperor Barbarossa, they marched against Prague where Frederick was elected duke in 1178. First attacked and defeated by Soběslav's forces at the Battle of Loděnice, he finally prevailed in a decisive victory outside the Prague city walls, in the area of present-day Nové Město, on 27 January 1179. Soběslav was removed and died in exile the following year.
The emperor now recognised Frederick as an
Imperial prince
Prince of the Holy Roman Empire ( la, princeps imperii, german: Reichsfürst, cf. '' Fürst'') was a title attributed to a hereditary ruler, nobleman or prelate recognised as such by the Holy Roman Emperor.
Definition
Originally, possessors ...
. The duke confirmed the drawing of the Bohemian-Austrian border and also maintained peace with his Polish, Meissen and Hungarian neighbours. In 1184 he came to
Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...
to join the
Diet of Pentecost
The ''Mainzer Hoffest'' (literally "Mainz court festival") or Diet of Pentecost was a ''Hoftag'' (imperial diet) of the Holy Roman Empire started in Mainz on 20 May 1184.accolade of the emperor's sons Henry VI and Frederick of Swabia. However, his reign remained overshadowed by the internal struggles of the Přemyslid dynasty: when he tried to assert the rule of his younger half-brother Ottokar over Moravia, his former ally Prince Conrad of Znojmo turned against him and temporarily drove him out of Prague. Though re-instated by Barbarossa in 1182, Frederick had to face the elevation of Moravia to an Imperial margraviate under Conrad's rule. The emperor also raised the Prague bishop, Frederick's Přemyslid cousin Henry Bretislaus, to
princely
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
status, and thus divided the Bohemian lands into three parts all dependent on him.
After years of wrangling, Duke Frederick, weakened by the internal struggles, was practically a puppet of the emperor. When Margrave Conrad was defeated by the forces of Frederick's half brother Ottokar in a bloody battle at Loděnice, the Bohemian and Moravian Přemyslids finally met at Knín in 1186. To settle the dispute, Conrad acknowledged Frederick's overlordship, while the duke confirmed Conrad's rights and his succession to the Bohemian throne. Frederick died in 1189, while he prepared to follow the emperor on the
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
. According to the Knín agreement, he was succeeded by Conrad (as Duke Conrad II) who once again united Bohemia and Moravia under his rule.
Marriage and children
Frederick married
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
, a daughter of the
Árpád
Árpád (; 845 – 907) was the head of the confederation of the Magyar tribes at the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries. He might have been either the sacred ruler or '' kende'' of the Hungarians, or their military leader or '' g ...
king
Géza II of Hungary
Géza II ( hu, II. Géza; hr, Gejza II; sk, Gejza II; 113031 May 1162) was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1141 to 1162. He was the oldest son of Béla the Blind and his wife, Helena of Serbia. When his father died, Géza was still a child a ...
and his consort Euphrosyne of Kiev. They had the following issue:
*Helena (born 1158), affianced to Peter, son of Manuel I Komnenos, in 1164
*Sophia (died 25 May 1185), married Albert, Margrave of Meissen
* Ludmilla (died 14 August 1240), married Count Albert III of Bogen in 1184, and then Louis I, Duke of Bavaria, in 1204
*Vratislaus (died 1180)
*Olga (fl. c.1163)
*Margaret (died 28 August 1167)