Boleslav I (Bohemia)

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Boleslav I, the cruel

Boleslav I (* around 915; † 972, traditionally on July 15, 967) was also called Boleslav the Cruel and was a Bohemian prince and son of the Drahomíra of Stodor and Vratislavs I.

Life

The Bohemian State under Boleslav I and Boleslav II.

Boleslav came from the family of Přemyslid . After September 28, 929 or 935, after he had murdered his brother Wenceslaus of Bohemia , he became ruler of the principality around Prague, which dominated Bohemia . One reason for the murder of his brother was probably Boleslav's resistance to the recognition of the sovereignty of the king of Eastern Franconia , represented by Wenceslaus . Sun pushed Otto I also massive to Boleslav's resistance when he the successes of his father Henry I expand in Eastern Europe and wanted to integrate the local areas in the kingdom.

Unlike his predecessors, Boleslav clearly pursued the expansion of his country. His problem, however, was initially that he did not have a trained army, a consequence of the small population of Bohemia, which at that time numbered around half a million inhabitants, and the lack of financial resources.

Shortly after Wenceslas's death, Boleslav apparently succeeded in expanding his hegemony over the surrounding areas, in particular the strategically important city of Krakow , by liquidating princes who were not well-disposed to him, and thus finally making the principality of Prague the determining power of Bohemia. In the course of this process he also gained control of an important trade route between Central Europe and the Slavic East, for Boleslav was not only a successful warlord but also a trader. In its time, Prague was the slave trade metropolis in the region north of the Alps. The slaves at the beginning of the expansion were pagans, mostly prisoners from the occupied eastern Slavic territories. They were transported on the trade route at that time, which began in the Arab region of Spain and led via France and southern Germany, Regensburg and Prague to Krakow and Kiev and from there to China. About a thousand kilometers of this path led through the kingdom of the Přemyslids, who protected him with his castles and thus secured additional income for his army. His following grew into a significant armed force, and the control of the trade routes generated considerable income.

During his reign the first Bohemian denarii were minted in 955 .

Also at the beginning of his reign took Boleslav 936 military campaigns against neighboring Thuringia tribes, under the protection of Saxony, Otto I presented. An initial victory of Bohemia over a Saxon army formed the occasion for direct disputes between the German king and Boleslav, in the course of which Otto I finally gained the upper hand after tough fighting. In 946 Boleslav had to take hostages for the first time. In the summer of 950 he was finally forced to submit to Otto I's sovereignty. He freed himself for a short time, but was forced to pay homage to Otto again in 954, remained loyal to the later emperor and Christianity and fought against the Magyars in the battle of the Lechfeld (955) . His contingent of around a thousand men fought primarily against the enemy's auxiliary troops. Immediately afterwards he took part in Otto's campaign against the Elbe Slavs and fought in the Battle of the Raxa . Another version of historiography assumes that Otto wanted to weaken the Přemyslids in favor of the Slavnikids so that they eventually ruled two thirds of Bohemia.

With the Duke of the Polans Mieszko I , Boleslav was in conflict over various Lesser Poland territories, but this was defused by the marriage of Boleslav's daughter Dubrawka with Mieszko in 963 or 964. Shortly afterwards, even Bohemian fighters took part in Mieszko's campaigns against the Saxon Count Wichmann II the Younger. He is said to have lived largely in peace with the Hungarians until 955.

However, he lost the overview and influence in his great empire. Parts were therefore entrusted to his followers for administration.

With his wife Biagota he had four children: Doubravka (Dobrava, Bonna), Boleslav II. , Strachkvas (Kristián) and Mlada .

At the end of his life he tried to ensure the country's religious independence. However , he did not live to see the foundation of the Prague diocese . Cosmas of Prague names the date of Boleslav I's death as July 15, 967. The more recent research rejects this date as an obvious misinformation, arose from the intention of the chronicler to show the services to the diocese not to the fratricide Boleslav I, but to his son and successor Boleslav II can be attributed. According to later and more credible sources, Boleslav I died in 972 when negotiations with the Curia had already been concluded. The independent diocese for Bohemia and Moravia was founded one year after his death.

literature

Web links

Commons : Boleslav I.  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The year 938 is not to be assumed, since Boleslav already went to war against Otto I. in 936. So by this point he must have already ruled.
  2. ^ Josef Žemlička: Čechy v době knížecí.
  3. ^ Magnae Moraviae fontes historici
  4. ↑ Dušan Třeštík "Veliké město Slovanu jménem Praha". Státy a otroci ve střední Evropě v 10. století. In: Přemyslovský stát kolem roku 1000: na pamět knížete Boleslava II (7. února 999). Praha, Nakl. Lidové Noviny, 2000. ISBN 80-7106-272-3 , pp. 49-70
  5. ↑ Michal Lutovský, Miloslav Slabina, Vladimír Čtverák, Lubor Smejtek: Encyklopedie hradišť v Čechách ISBN 80-7277-173-6
  6. ^ Magnae Moraviae fontes historici
  7. ↑ Flodoard, Annales p. 403: Post hoc bellum pugnavit rex Otto cum duobus Sarmatarum regibus; et suffragante sibi Burislao rege, quem dudum sibi subdiderat, victoria potitus est.
  8. ↑ Michal Lutovský, Zdeněk Petráň: Slavníkovci ISBN 80-7277-291-0
  9. ^ Josef Žemlička: Přemyslovci
  10. ^ Josef Žemlička: Přemyslovci
  11. ^ Jiří Sláma: Slavníkovci ve středověkém písemnictví.
  12. ↑ Jiří Sláma: Český kníže Boleslav II., P. 9 and note 4. In: Přemyslovský stát kolem roku 1000: na pamět knížete Boleslav II (7. února 999). Praha, Nakl. Lidové Noviny, 2000. ISBN 80-7106-272-3
predecessor Office successor
Wenceslaus Duke of Bohemia
935–967 		Boleslav II
personal data
SURNAME Boleslav I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Boleslav the Cruel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION bohemian ruler
DATE OF BIRTH 9th century or 10th century
DATE OF DEATH 967 or 972