Kunigunda Rostislavna (1245 – 9 September 1285; Czech: ''Kunhuta Uherská'' or ''Kunhuta Haličská'') was Queen consort of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

and its

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

from 1278 until her death. She was a member of the House of Chernigov, and a daughter of Rostislav Mikhailovich.

Family

She was presumably born in

Ruthenia Ruthenia or , uk, Рутенія, translit=Rutenia or uk, Русь, translit=Rus, label=none, pl, Ruś, be, Рутэнія, Русь, russian: Рутения, Русь is an exonym, originally used in Medieval Latin as one of several terms ...

, in the domains of her paternal grandfather Michael of Chernigov. Her grandfather was the last Grand Prince of Kiev, who was deposed not by a more powerful prince but by the

Mongol Empire The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...

. Her parents were Rostislav Mikhailovich, future ruler of Belgrade and Slavonia, and his wife Anna of Hungary. After the death of her father's father, Kunigunda's family relocated to Hungary, where her mother's father,

Béla IV of Hungary Béla IV (1206 – 3 May 1270) was King of Hungary and Croatia between 1235 and 1270, and Duke of Styria from 1254 to 1258. As the oldest son of King Andrew II, he was crowned upon the initiative of a group of influential noblemen in his fath ...

, made her father governor of certain Serbian-speaking regions in the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

Valley. Her father proclaimed himself

Emperor of Bulgaria The monarchs of Bulgaria ruled the country during three periods of Bulgaria's history as an independent country: from the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire in 681 to the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria in 1018; from the Uprising of Asen ...

in 1256 but did not stay there to defend his title.

Marriage

Kunigunda was married – as a token of alliance from her maternal grandfather Béla – to King

Ottokar II of Bohemia Ottokar II ( cs, Přemysl Otakar II.; , in Městec Králové, Bohemia – 26 August 1278, in Dürnkrut, Lower Austria), the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until his dea ...

(ca. 1233 – 1278) in

Pressburg Bratislava (, also ; ; german: Preßburg/Pressburg ; hu, Pozsony) is the capital and largest city of Slovakia. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, it is estimated to be more than 660,000 — approximately 140% of ...

(now Bratislava) on 25 October 1261. Ottokar was paternally 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–1 ...

whose marriage to

Margaret, Duchess of Austria Margaret of Austria (german: Margarethe von Österreich; – 29 October 1266), a member of the House of Babenberg, was German queen from 1225 until 1235, by her first marriage with King Henry (VII), and Queen of Bohemia from 1253 to 1260, ...

(ca. 1204 – 1266) was annulled. Kunigunda, 41 years Margaret's junior, bore Ottokar several children including: * Kunigunde of Bohemia (January, 1265 – 27 November 1321). Married Boleslaus II of Masovia. * Agnes of Bohemia (5 September 1269 – 17 May 1296). Married

Rudolf II, Duke of Austria Rudolf II ( – 10 May 1290), a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria and Styria from 1282 to 1283, jointly with his elder brother Albert I, who succeeded him. Biography Rudolf II was born in Rheinfelden, Swabia, the young ...

. *

Wenceslaus II of Bohemia Wenceslaus II Přemyslid ( cs, Václav II.; pl, Wacław II Czeski; 27 SeptemberK. Charvátová, ''Václav II. Král český a polský'', Prague 2007, p. 18. 1271 – 21 June 1305) was King of Bohemia (1278–1305), Duke of Cracow (1291–1 ...

(17 September 1271 – 21 June 1305).

Queen and regent of Bohemia

However, the peace between Bohemia and Hungary ended after 10 years, when Kunigunda's uncle Stephen came to power as the King of Hungary. In 1278, King Ottokar tried to recover his lands lost to

Rudolph I of Germany Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum whic ...

in 1276. He made allies and collected a large army, but he was defeated by Rudolph and killed at the

Battle of Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen The Battle on the Marchfeld (''i.e. Morava Field''; german: Schlacht auf dem Marchfeld; cs, Bitva na Moravském poli; hu, Morvamezei csata) at Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen took place on 26 August 1278 and was a decisive event for the history o ...

on the

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March ...

on 26 August 1278.

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 ...

was subdued and its government entrusted to Rudolph's representatives, leaving Kunigunda, now Queen Regent of Bohemia in control of only the province surrounding

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 ...

, while the young Wenceslaus was betrothed and married to one of Rudolph's daughters, Judith. Kunigunda married secondly a Bohemian magnate Záviš, Lord of Falkenštejn, in Prague in 1285. However, she died only a few months later. Záviš survived her and married again to the Hungarian Princess Elisabeth. He was executed on behalf of the King on 24 August 1290. Kunigunda's son Wenceslaus II kept the Kingdom of Bohemia, and also succeeded in obtaining Poland and Hungary although not very sustainably. Ultimately, she is one of the pivotal ancestresses of both the

House of Luxembourg The House of Luxembourg ( lb, D'Lëtzebuerger Haus; french: Maison de Luxembourg; german: Haus Luxemburg) or Luxembourg dynasty was a royal family of the Holy Roman Empire in the Late Middle Ages, whose members between 1308 and 1437 ruled as kin ...

and the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

Ancestors

Literature

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kunigunda, Queen Consort of Bohemia 1245 births 1285 deaths People from Galicia–Volhynia 13th-century Hungarian people 13th-century Croatian people 13th-century Bohemian people Olgovichi family Bohemian queens consort Hungarian people of Ukrainian descent Hungarian people of Russian descent Czech people of Ukrainian descent Czech people of Russian descent Czech people of Hungarian descent 13th-century women rulers Kievan Rus' princesses Ottokar II of Bohemia Remarried royal consorts 13th-century Bohemian women 13th-century Hungarian women 13th-century Croatian women 13th-century Rus' people 13th-century Rus' women Queen mothers