The Christianization of Bohemia refers to the spread of the

Christian religion Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popul ...

in the lands of medieval Bohemia. As in many other countries, Christianity was related to the establishment of a new state (first the

Duchy of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia, also later referred to in English as the Czech Duchy, ( cs, České knížectví) was a monarchy and a principality of the Holy Roman Empire in Central Europe during the Early and High Middle Ages. It was formed around 870 b ...

, later the

Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia ( cs, České království),; la, link=no, Regnum Bohemiae sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czec ...

), and was implemented from the top down. According to

Annales Fuldenses The ''Annales Fuldenses'' or ''Annals of Fulda'' are East Frankish chronicles that cover independently the period from the last years of Louis the Pious (died 840) to shortly after the end of effective Carolingian rule in East Francia with the a ...

14 Bohemian dukes were christianized in Regensburg in 845. The process continued with the conversion of

Bořivoj I, Duke of Bohemia Bořivoj I (, la, Borzivogius, c. 852 – c. 889) was the first historically documented Duke of Bohemia and progenitor of the Přemyslid dynasty. His reign over the Duchy of Bohemia is believed to have started about the year 870, but in this er ...

, the founder of the

Přemyslid dynasty The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemyslid ( cs, Přemyslovci, german: Premysliden, pl, Przemyślidzi) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–130 ...

, in 884. It was an outgrowth of the

Christianization of Moravia The Christianization of Moravia refers to the spread of the Christian religion in the lands of medieval Moravia ( Great Moravia). What modern historians designate as Great Moravia was a Slavic state that existed in Central Europe from around ...

, traditionally attributed to the Byzantine missionaries,

Saints Cyril and Methodius Cyril (born Constantine, 826–869) and Methodius (815–885) were two brothers and Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries. For their work evangelizing the Slavs, they are known as the "Apostles to the Slavs". They are credited wi ...

, in 863. At first, the Christian rite in Bohemia was the Slavic one of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

, but it was soon replaced by the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

rite, introduced due to Western influences, and also tensions between the Bohemians and the Moravians. In 895,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

became part of the

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Roman Catholic Diocese of Regensburg The Diocese of Regensburg ( la, Dioecesis Ratisbonensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory seated in Regensburg, Germany. Its district covers parts of northeastern Bavaria; it is subordinate to the archbishop of Munich and Freising. , ...

. In 973 a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

was established in Prague. By the 10th century, several native saints emerged in Bohemia: Saint

Ludmila of Bohemia Ludmila of Bohemia (c. 860 – 15 September 921) is a Czech saint and martyr venerated by the Orthodox and the Roman Catholics. She was born in Mělník as the daughter of the Sorbian prince Slavibor. Saint Ludmila was the grandmother ...

(wife of Bořivoj I), their grandson

Saint Wenceslas Wenceslaus I ( cs, Václav ; c. 907 – 28 September 935 or 929), Wenceslas I or ''Václav the Good'' was the Duke ('' kníže'') of Bohemia from 921 until his death, probably in 935. According to the legend, he was assassinated by his younger ...

and Saint Adalbert, Bishop of Prague. Saint Wenceslas is said to have completed the Christianization of Bohemia in the early 10th century, shortly before his assassination in 935 by his own brother,

Boleslav the Cruel Boleslaus I ( cs, Boleslav I. Ukrutný) (915 – 972), a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was ruler ('' kníže'', "duke") of the Duchy of Bohemia from 935 to his death. He is notorious for the murder of his elder brother Wenceslaus, through w ...

. Boleslav's daughter, Dobrawa of Bohemia, married Mieszko I of Poland, and became instrumental in converting him, his court, and Baptism of Poland, Poland itself to the Christian religion. By the early 11th century, Bohemia gained an upper hand over Moravia, which was annexed to Bohemia. Moravians were allowed to practice their Slavic Christianity, Slavic Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox rites, but eventually they were replaced by Franco-Latin Catholic practices. A parish network was created around the 13th century.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book, author=Nora Berend, title=Christianization and the Rise of Christian Monarchy: Scandinavia, Central Europe and Rus' C.900-1200, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UmFrVUb5DSwC&pg=PA251, access-date=14 June 2013, date=22 November 2007, publisher=Cambridge University Press, isbn=978-1-139-46836-7, page=251 {{cite book, author1=Laurence Cole, author2=Daniel L. Unowsky, title=The Limits of Loyalty: Imperial Symbolism, Popular Allegiances and State Patriotismin in the Late Habsburg Monarchy, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l_SOie5SJQwC&pg=PA19%7Caccessdate%3D14+June+2013%7Cyear%3D2007%7Cpublisher%3DBerghahn+Books%7Cisbn%3D978-1-84545-202-5%7Cpage%3D19%7D%7D%3C%2Fref%3E, access-date=14 June 2013, year=2007, publisher=Berghahn Books, isbn=978-1-84545-202-5, page=19 {{cite book, author=Halina Lerski, title=Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966–1945, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=luRry4Y5NIYC&pg=PA104, access-date=5 April 2012, date=30 January 1996, publisher=ABC-CLIO, isbn=978-0-313-03456-5, pages=104–105 {{cite book, author=Halina Lerski, title=Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966–1945, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=luRry4Y5NIYC&pg=PA27, access-date=5 April 2012, date=30 January 1996, publisher=ABC-CLIO, isbn=978-0-313-03456-5, page=27 {{cite book, author1=International Commission for a History of the Scientific and Cultural Development of Mankind, author2=Gaston Wiet, author2-link=Gaston Wiet, title=History of Mankind: The great medieval civilizations (2 v. in 4), url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VXs8AAAAIAAJ, access-date=14 June 2013, year=1975, publisher=George Allen and Unwin, page=193 {{cite book, author=James Minahan, title=One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NwvoM-ZFoAgC&pg=PA201, access-date=14 June 2013, date=1 January 2000, publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group, isbn=978-0-313-30984-7, page=201 {{cite book, author1=Carl Waldman, author2=Catherine Mason, title=Encyclopedia of European Peoples, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kfv6HKXErqAC&pg=PA200, access-date=14 June 2013, year=2006, publisher=Infobase Publishing, isbn=978-1-4381-2918-1, page=200 884 9th century in Bohemia 9th-century Christianity History of Christianity in the Czech Republic Christianization of Europe, Bohemia Duchy of Bohemia

See also

References