Spytihněv I.

Spytihněv I.

Spytihněv I. (* around 875, † 915 ) was a Duke of Bohemia from the Přemyslid family .

Life

Spytihněv was the son of Duke Bořivoj I and his wife Ludmilla . When his father died around 889, he was about 13 years old and therefore incapable of governing. The rule in Bohemia was taken over by the Moravian Knjas Svatopluk I. Only after his death in 894 Spytihněv succeeded his father as duke. As early as 895 he distanced himself from the Moravian Empire, under whose rule Bohemia had been until then, and swore allegiance to the Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia . During his reign there were probably agreements with the nomadic Hungarians , which saved Bohemia from their invasions and made it possible to consolidate rule in the region around Prague . The principality thus succeeded Great Moravia as the most important power in Bohemia.

On the border of his dominion he built new castles, which were administered directly by the Přemyslid family. In the north it was Mělník , in the north-west Libušín , to the south-west it was Tetín , in the south-east it was Lštění and finally in the north-east Boleslav . The ruler's seat of Hradschin was also provided with fortress walls, and the city of Prague grew around the castle . These fortifications not only served as protection against invasions by foreign peoples, but also had a political and economic function. They were the origin of the administrative area, which Boleslav I later expanded. At some castles administrators were appointed who then also collected the taxes and administered the church organization. The churches in the castles are the oldest sacred buildings in the country. Spytihněv and his brother and successor Vratislav I contented themselves with this area and did not show any further ideas of expansion themselves. They ruled Central Bohemia, where there were, however, other royal houses that had their own castles, but no government. But that number also fell. While 14 princes were still known in 845, the number of important families decreased to two by 895, according to current historiography a testament to the centralization in Bohemia at the end of the 9th century.

Spytihněv ruled until 915. Although there is hardly any information about him in historical writings, modern historical research assumes that he was the founder of the Přemyslid state in Central Bohemia. Spytihněvs was succeeded by his younger brother, Vratislav I .

literature

• Jiří Sláma: Střední Čechy v raném středověku .

Remarks

1. ↑ XIIII ex ducibus Boemanorum (Magnae Moraviae fontes historici I)

predecessor	Office	successor
Svatopluk I.	Duke of Bohemia 894–915	Vratislav I.