Czech Republic - History
On the territory of today’s Czech Republic and other states, there were German tribes[1] up to the 5th century AD. Then the Slavonic tribes started coming from the east and reached the area of the Czech Republic in the 6th century.
In the 7th century Sámo’s empire arose. Sámo was a Franc merchant who became the ruler of the Slavonic tribes. After his death his empire fell apart.
Famous Czech princes, like Přemysl and Libuše, lived and ruled between the 7th and the 9th century.
Prince Mojmír I. established a new empire called Velká Morava in 830. Mojmír’s nephew[2] Rostislav ruled after him. He invited the evangelists Konstantin (Cyril) and Metoděj in 863. They evangelised the people, translated the Bible and invented characters for the Slavonic script called Hlaholice. During the reign of Mojmír II. Velká Morava was destroyed by Hungarians.
The Czech state formed by Bořivoj I. at the end of the 9th century became the successor of Velkomoravská říše (the Big Moravian Empire). Bořivoj was the first ruler of the Přemysl dynasty.
He and his wife Ludmila converted to Christianity. The next ruler, Václav, was very educated and peaceful. He founded the church of Saint Vitus and paid duty to king Jindřich I. Ptáčník so that there would be no war between them. But the Czech nobility and Václav’s brother Boleslav didn’t agree with it. So Boleslav murdered Václav and became prince. At the time of the rule of Boleslav II. a bishopric was founded in Prague. He also killed the Slavníkovci clan with the exception of the bishop Vojtěch. After Boleslav’s death several candidates fought for the Czech throne. The winner was Břetislav I. He established the law which stated that the oldest man of the Přemysl dynasty would automatically become prince. Vratislav II. founded the bishopric in Olomouc. He helped the Emperor Jindřich IV. and therefore was given the title of king. He was the first Czech ruler who became king, but the title was only for him. It was not hereditary so his son was prince again. Vladislav II. sent the Emperor Fridrich I. Barbarosa military help when he fought in Italy. In return for this help Vratislav II. got the title of king in Regensburg but again this title was not hereditary[3]. In 1197 Přemysl Otakar I. became prince. He introduced the primogeniture system in the Czech state. It meant that the next ruler would be the son of actual ruler. Přemysl Otakar I. was the first Czech ruler who acquired the hereditary title of king. It was signed in the document called Sicilian Golden Bull in 1212. After Přemysl Otakar I. died, his son Václav became king. Under Václav’s rule the Czech state rose economically. Přemysl Otakar II. was called the golden and iron king because he was a very good warrior so he gained a lot of land and the Czech country became rich. He died in the battle of Moravian Field in 1278. His son Václav II. became king when he was 12 years old. Under his rule the Czech state still expanded. He introduced a new coin called groš. In 1306 his son Václav III. was murdered when he was still very young and therefore had no children. That was the end of the rule of the Přemysl dynasty.
[1] kmeny
[2] synovec
[3] dědičný
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