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Moravia, Bretislav, Denarius
(silver coin replica) 1019/20 - 1034
(1055)
OBV: Diademed bust facing BRACIZNVS around.
R: Doubled cross in field, + BRACISLAV around.
Bøetislav (b.
between 1005-1012, d. January
10, 1055)
of the house of Premyslids was a duke
of Bohemia
from 1035
till 1055.
Bøetislav was a son of
duke Oldøich,
then the protector of the Žatecko
province, and his would-be wife Božena. In 1019 at Schweinfurt
he kidnapped his future wife Judith of Schweinfurt (Jitka), a daughter
of a Bavarian margrave, Henry of Schweinfurt of Nordgau.
During his father’s
reign, in 1029,
he took back Moravia from Poland.
About 1031
Bøetislav invaded Hungary in order to prevent its expansion under king Stephen. The
partition of Bohemia between Oldøich and his brother Jaromir in 1034 was
probably the reason why Bøetislav fled beyond Bohemian border only to
come back to take the throne after Jaromir’s abdication.
In 1035 Bøetislav helped
Emperor Conrad
II in his war against the Lusatians. In 1038 he
invaded Little Poland, captured Krakow and Poznan and sacked the
capital, Gniezno,
bringing the relics of St Adalbert
back with him. On the way back he conquered part of Silesia including Wroc³aw.
His main goal was to set up an archbishopric see in Prague and create a large
state subject only to the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1041 the German King Henry III invaded Bohemia but was forced to
retreat by an ambush on his supply lines. However, Bretislav was aware
that he could not hold out indefinitely against the Germans and signed a
truce with Henry III. In the ensuing peace treaty Bretislav renounced
all of his conquests save for Moravia.
In 1047 Emperor Henry III
negotiated a peace treaty between Bretislav and the Poles. This pact
worked in Bretislav's favour as the Polish ruler swore never again to
attack Bohemia in return for an annual subsidy to Gniezno. In 1054
Bretislav issued the famous Seniority Law. For the first time this act
stated that Bohemia and Moravia would pass directly through the senior
line of the Premyslid dynasty. Younger members of the dynasty were
allowed to govern Moravia, but only at the Duke's discretion.
Bretislav was the author
of decrees concerning the rules of Christianization, which included a
ban on polygamy
or trade on holidays.
Bøetislav died at
Chudrim in 1055 during his preparation for another invasion of Hungary
and was succeeded by his son Spythinev II.
(Source: WIKIPEDIA) |
