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 ...

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 ...

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