Boleslaus II the Pious ( ; 932 – 7 February 999), a member of the

Přemyslid dynasty The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemysl (, , ) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–1306), as well as in parts of Poland (including Silesia ...

, was Duke of Bohemia from 972 until his death in 999.

Life and reign

Boleslaus was an elder son of Duke Boleslaus I the Cruel and brother of the three other children of his father who survived to adulthood: Strachkvas, Doubravka (the wife of Duke Mieszko I of Poland) and the abbess Mlada. His mother may have been Biagota, a mysterious figure known only from her coins. According to some historians, she was the wife of Boleslaus I.Sobiesiak, pp. 236–237.

Alliances

Boleslaus II took over the rule of the Duchy of Bohemia as ''kníže'' (a title that may be translated either as duke or prince) on his father's death in 972. Like his father, Boleslaus II initially quarrelled with the Ottonian kings of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 974, he and Duke

Mieszko I of Poland Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...

supported the rebellious Duke Henry II of Bavaria in his civil war against the rule of Emperor Otto II. In 976, Henry was defeated and fled to Boleslaus' court at Prague Castle, after which Otto's forces campaigned in the Bohemian lands. Finally in 978, Boleslaus solemnly pledged allegiance to the emperor at the Easter festivities in Quedlinburg. In turn, relations with

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

deteriorated from about 980 onwards. When Emperor Otto II died in 983 and was succeeded by his minor son Otto III, the Bohemian alliance with Poland was discarded, as Boleslaus again allied with the insurgent Bavarian Duke Henry, while Mieszko I took the side of the young king. Moreover, when Boleslaus occupied the Saxon Margravate of Meissen, he thwarted the plans of Mieszko's son Bolesław, who had married a daughter of Margrave Ricdag. In 987, Boleslaus had to retire from Meissen, and from about 990, he sparked a long-lasting conflict with Poland around the lands of

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

and

Lesser Poland Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...

(the Polish-Bohemian War). In 992, he approached King Otto III and participated in an unsuccessful campaign against the Lutici tribes in the wake of the

Great Slav Rising In the Slavic revolt of 983, Polabian Slavs, Wends, Lutici and Obotrite tribes, that lived east of the Elbe River in modern north-east Germany overthrew an assumed Ottonian rule over the Slavic lands and rejected Christianization under Empero ...

of 983.

Unification of the Bohemian lands

Boleslaus's reign is most notable for the foundation of the Diocese of Prague in 973, which earned him the epithet "The Pious" by the medieval chronicler Cosmas of Prague. Nevertheless, the Bohemian diocese was placed at that time within the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Mainz, and Emperor Otto II enforced the appointment of the Saxon monk Thietmar (''Dětmar'') as first bishop. Meanwhile, the struggle with the rival Slavník dynasty flared up again from 981 onwards, when Prince Soběslav of the Slavník dynasty began to forge alliances with the Polish and

Saxons The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

. Upon Bishop Dětmar's death in 982, Soběslav's brother Adalbert (later known as Saint Adalbert of Prague) was appointed his successor until he abandoned his primacy to lead a mission to the Old Prussians in 994. On 28 September 995, Boleslaus' forces and the confederate Vršovci clan stormed Libice Castle in southern Bohemia and massacred the members of the Slavník dynasty that were found there. Boleslaus's brutal triumph ensured the unity of Bohemia under a single ruler.

Marriages and issue

Boleslaus's first wife Adiva may have been a daughter of the English king Edward the Elder (the daughter known to English historians as "Ælfgifu" who married a prince "near the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

"), though the evidence for this is weak. His second wife was

Emma of Mělník Emma (Hemma) (bef. 950 – 1005/06) was a Bohemian duchess consort as the second wife of Boleslaus II of Bohemia. Her origins are uncertain. Historian Gelasius Dobner (1719–90) thought she was a princess of Kingdom of Burgundy, Burgundy, a ...

. It is certain that Boleslaus's oldest son was born by Adiva, but the mother of the others cannot be established with certainty: * Boleslaus III (c. 965 – 1037), his eldest son and successor * Wenceslaus, died as an infant * Jaromír (c. 975 - 1035), became Duke of Bohemia in 1003 * Oldřich (c. 975 – 1034), became Duke of Bohemia in 1012. Soon after his father's death, Boleslaus III entered into conflict with his brothers and was deposed in 1002. The internal struggles of the Přemyslid dynasty shook the Bohemian duchy until Duke Oldřich's efforts stabilised the country.

References

Bibliography

* *Joanna A. Sobiesiak: Bolesław II Przemyślida (†999): Dynasta i jego państwo. Kraków: Avalon, 2006 {{Authority control 930s births 999 deaths 10th-century dukes in Europe 10th-century monarchs of Bohemia Dukes of Bohemia Christian monarchs Year of birth uncertain Burials at St. George's Basilica, Prague