Božena (Křesinová) (died after 1052) was the second wife (and probably earlier the mistress) of Duke Oldřich of Bohemia and mother of

Bretislaus I of Bohemia Bretislav I (; 1002/1005 – 10 January 1055), known as the "Bohemian Achilles", of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1034 until his death in 1055. Youth Bretislav was the son of Duke Oldřich and his low-born concubine Božena. ...

Meeting of Oldřich and Božena

The historian

Cosmas of Prague Cosmas of Prague (; ; – 21 October 1125) was a Czech priest, writer and historian. Life Between 1075 and 1081, he studied in Liège. After his return to Bohemia, he married Božetěcha with whom he had a son, named Jindřich Zdík, and remai ...

recorded the legend of Oldřich and Božena, in his ''Chronica Boëmorum'' ("Chronicle of the Bohemians"). According to the legend, the young (and married) Oldřich set out on a hunt and travelled to Peruc. There, he spied a beautiful

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

girl, Božena, by a well known today as Božena's Spring and was immediately entranced by her. Oldřich abandoned his hunt and took Božena back to

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, where she eventually gave birth to his illegitimate son Bretislaus. In the legend, Oldřich's first meeting with Božena took place in sight of the Oldřich Oak. Božena was indeed the savior of the Czech House of Přemysl. Oldřich had two brothers, but one of them, Jaromír, had been castrated by the eldest sibling, Boleslaus III. Boleslaus III himself was imprisoned in Poland, possibly having only a daughter. Thus Oldřich was the one Přemyslid able to have a son and heir. His first wife is thought to have borne no children. Božena's low birth is alluded to in the chronicle of Cosmas, which states that Oldřich first met her "riding through the village". The illegitimate birth of her son Bretislaus to a low-born mother is believed to have made it necessary for him to resort to abduction when he later sought to marry a noble bride (

Judith of Schweinfurt Judith of Schweinfurt (; before 1003 – 2 August 1058) was List of Bohemian consorts, Duchess consort of Bohemia from 1034 until 1055, by her marriage with the Přemyslid dynasty, Přemyslid duke Bretislav I.Herwig Wolfram, ''Conrad II, 990-1039 ...

). At any rate, she was held to be a peasant woman already by the author of the early 14th-century Chronicle of Dalimil.

Meeting of Oldřich and Božena

References

Further reading