Bretislaus II (; – 22 December 1100) was the

duke of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in Golden Bull of Sicily, 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings and first gained the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of th ...

from 14 September 1092 until his death in 1100. He was the eldest son of King Vratislaus II and

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, daughter of

Andrew I of Hungary Andrew I the White or the Catholic ( or ; 1015 – before 6 December 1060) was King of Hungary from 1046 to 1060. He descended from a younger branch of the Árpád dynasty. After he spent fifteen years in exile, an extensive revolt by the paga ...

. He was a major enemy of

paganism Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

Life

He succeeded his uncle Conrad I and worked for the destruction of the old Slavic culture. In 1097, he expelled the Slavonic monks of the monastery in Sazava founded in 1033 by Procopius. Bretislaus also wished to end the elective principle of succession and replace it with a type of seniorate as conceptualised by

Bretislaus I Bretislav I (; 1002/1005 – 10 January 1055), known as the "Bohemian Achilles", of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1034 until his death in 1055. Youth Bretislav was the son of Duke Oldřich and his low-born concubine Božena. ...

: the eldest prince of the reigning family would hold

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

as sovereign over the entire state while the younger scions of the dynasty would rule as territorial dukes over the regions of

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

. This was to the benefit of his half-brother Bořivoj II. He invested Bořivoj as duke of

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

in 1097, thus removing the sons of Conrad I from the succession. Bretislaus also succeeded in receiving a long-desired imperial investiture at the Diet of

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

on 19 April 1099. Bretislaus was assassinated by his adversaries at the hunting lodge of Zbecno in western

on 22 December 1100.

Marriage

In 1094 Bretislaus married Luitgard of Windberg, with whom he had one son: Bretislaus, who rebelled against

Soběslav I Soběslav (; ) is a town in Tábor District in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,100 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, ur ...

and was killed on 8 March 1130.

Sources

* 1060s births 1100 deaths 11th-century monarchs of Bohemia 11th-century murdered monarchs Roman Catholic monarchs Dukes of Bohemia Czech military leaders Czech murder victims Sons of kings {{Europe-royal-stub