Soběslav I (also ''Sobeslaus''; – 14 February 1140) was
Duke of Bohemia
The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in Golden Bull of Sicily, 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings and first gained the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of th ...
from 1125 until his death in 1140. He was 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 ...
, the youngest son of
Vratislaus II (d. 1092), by his third wife
Świętosława of Poland.
Life
Soběslav is first documented about 1107, when he and his elder brother Duke
Bořivoj II were expelled by their Přemyslid relative
Svatopluk of Olomouc and fled to the court of their maternal cousin Duke
Bolesław III Wrymouth
Bolesław III Wrymouth (; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between 1107 and 1138. He was the onl ...
of
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 ...
. After Svatopluk was assassinated during the
Battle of Głogów in 1109, Bořivoj's attempts to regain the Bohemian throne failed. In the following fratricidal war that followed the battle, Bořivoj's younger brother
Vladislaus I prevailed, backed by King
Henry V of Germany. Later the brothers reconciled and Soběslav was vested with rule at
Brno
Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
and
Znojmo
Znojmo (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian Region. The hi ...
in
Moravia
Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The medieval and early ...
from 1115 until 1123, when tensions between the brothers rose again and Soběslav was once more expelled.
Nevertheless, as the last surviving son of Vratislaus II, he succeeded to the ducal throne after Duke Vladislaus' death in 1125. From the beginning, his rule was contested by
Otto II the Black, the younger brother of Svatopluk, who gained support not only from Vladislaus's widow
Richeza of Berg, but also from King
Lothair III of Germany. Soběslav therefore was an adversary of the German monarchy throughout his reign and began by using the divisiveness of the 1125
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
of King Lothair against rival Duke
Frederick II of Swabia
Frederick II (, 1090 – 6 April 1147), called the One-Eyed (), was Duke of Swabia from 1105 until his death, the second from the Hohenstaufen dynasty. His younger brother Conrad was elected King of the Romans in 1138.
Life Early career
Fr ...
to further Bohemian independence.
When Soběslav decided to dethrone Otto II from
Olomouc
Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region.
Located on the Morava (rive ...
, the despoiled prince recoursed to the German king. Lothair III declared that no one could succeed to the Bohemian throne without Imperial investiture and proceeded to invade on behalf of Otto II. This, however, was dangerous to the interests of the local nobility, and they rallied around Soběslav. On 18 February 1126, the German and Moravian troops under Lothair met the Bohemian forces at the
Battle of Chlumec, a frontier fortress at the border with the
March of Meissen
The Margravate or Margraviate of Meissen () was a medieval principality in the area of the modern German state of Saxony. It originally was a March (territory), frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire, created out of the vast ''Marca Geronis'' (Sa ...
. Soběslav routed and captured King Lothair, while Otto II was killed in battle. However, the relationship between the two countries returned to the former
vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...
-
suzerain
A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state (polity)">state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy and economic relations of another subordinate party or polity, but allows i ...
relationship, as King Lothair was released on condition of Soběslav's investiture with Bohemia.
Throughout his reign, Soběslav continued to possess the Olomouc duchy, but his rule in Bohemia was again undermined by his nephew Bretislaus, son of Soběslav's eldest brother Duke
Bretislaus II (d. 1100). Young Bretislaus referred to the principle of
agnatic seniority
Agnatic seniority is a patrilineality, 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 ...
and had the support of the Moravian dukes
Conrad II of Znojmo and Vratislaus II of Brno, as well as of the church party under Bishop Meinhard of
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 ...
. In June 1130, the conspiracy was discovered and thwarted with much bloodshed. The dukes survived and continued to rule, but Bretislaus was blinded. Upon the accession of his brother-in-law King
Bela II of Hungary in 1131, he became entangled in an armed conflict with Duke Bolesław III of Poland, who supported Bela's rival
Boris Kalamanos.
Conrad III of Hohenstaufen, elected
King of the Romans
King of the Romans (; ) was the title used by the king of East Francia following his election by the princes from the reign of Henry II (1002–1024) onward.
The title originally referred to any German king between his election and coronatio ...
in 1138, tried to amend relations between the thrones of Bohemia and Germany. At the
Reichstag of
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...
in the same year, he gave Soběslav the hereditary dignity of the
archcupbearer of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
and the promise to vest his eldest son Vladislaus with Bohemia upon his death. The duke's reign saw the foundation of many new
German colonies in Czech lands in the course of the ''
Ostsiedlung
(, ) is the term for the Early Middle Ages, early medieval and High Middle Ages, high medieval migration of Germanic peoples and Germanisation of the areas populated by Slavs, Slavic, Balts, Baltic and Uralic languages, Uralic peoples; the ...
'' (German eastward expansion}.
Soběslav died on 14 February 1140 at
Hostinné Castle. The succession intended for his son failed, as the Bohemian estates raised his nephew
Vladislaus II, the son of his elder brother and predecessor Duke Vladislaus, to the ducal dignity with the approval of Conrad III.
Marriage and issue
About 1123 Soběslav married
Adelaide
Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
, daughter of
Prince Álmos of
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
. The marriage produced at least five children:
# Vladislaus (d. 1165),
Duke at Olomouc, married an unnamed daughter of
Albert the Bear
Albert the Bear (; 1100 – 18 November 1170) was the first margrave of Brandenburg from 1157 to his death and was briefly duke of Saxony between 1138 and 1142.
Life
Albert was the only son of Otto, Count of Ballenstedt, and Eilika of Sa ...
#
Maria (1124/25-1172)
#
Soběslav II (~1128-1180), Duke of Bohemia
#
Udalrich II (1134–1177), Duke at Olomouc
#
Wenceslaus II (1137–1192), Duke of Bohemia
References
Sources
*
*Petr Sommer; Třeštík, Dušan; Žemlička, Josef, ''et al.'': Přemyslovci. Budování českého státu. Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, Praha 2009, , besonders S. 198–200.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sobeslav 01, Bohemia
1070s births
1140 deaths
12th-century monarchs of Bohemia
Roman Catholic monarchs
Dukes of Bohemia
Year of birth uncertain
Czech military leaders
Sons of kings