Conrad II Otto (; /1140 – 9 September 1191), a member of

Přemyslid dynasty The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemysl (, , ) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–1306), as well as in parts of Poland (including Silesia ...

, was the first

margrave of Moravia The Margraviate of Moravia (; ) was one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire and then Austria-Hungary, existing from 1182 to 1918. It was officially administered by a margrave in cooperation with a provincial diet. I ...

from 1182 to 1189 and

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 1189 until his death.

Family history

Conrad was the son of count

Conrad II of Znojmo Conrad II of Znojmo (; d. 1161), a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was a Bohemian prince who ruled in the Moravian principality of Znojmo from 1123 to 1128 and again from 1134 until his death. Life Conrad II was the son of Prince Luitpold of Zn ...

and

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

, a daughter of Grand Prince Uroš I of Serbia. Conrad was the grandson of Luitpold, the first ruler of the Přemyslid appanage of

Znojmo Znojmo (; ) is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 34,000 inhabitants. Znojmo is the historical and cultural centre of southwestern Moravia and the second most populated town in the South Moravian Region. The hi ...

in southern Moravia. Conrad's sister

Helen of Znojmo Helena of Znojmo (; ; c. 1141–1202/1206), was a Bohemian princess, a member of the Přemyslid dynasty. She was the daughter of Duke Conrad II of Znojmo and his Serbian wife Maria (daughter of Uroš I). Helena was probably named after her materna ...

became a Polish duchess by her marriage to High Duke

Casimir II the Just Casimir II the Just (; 28 October 1138 – 5 May 1194) was a Lesser Polish Duke of Wiślica from 1166 to 1173, and of Sandomierz after 1173. He became ruler over the Polish Seniorate Province at Kraków and thereby High Duke of Poland in 1177; a ...

Rule over Znojmo

After the death of his father in 1161, he assumed the rule over the Znojmo principality. In 1173 he occupied the lands 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 ...

, which controlled more than the half of the Moravian territory (except for

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

) at that time. When in summer 1176 he also invaded the region north of the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

that belonged to Duke Soběslav II of Bohemia, he became entangled in the duke's conflict with his nephew

Frederick Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Given name Nobility = Anhalt-Harzgerode = * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) = Austria = * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria fro ...

(''Bedřich''). Conrad attacked churches and monasteries and was excommunicated by

Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a Papal election, ...

. After Frederick had again obtained the support of Emperor

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...

, Conrad and Duke Leopold V of Austria joined him on his campaign into Moravia and the occupation of

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

in 1178. Frederick was re-installed as Bohemian duke and Conrad expected to be rewarded with Olomouc, however, his hopes were dashed.

Margrave of Moravia

Conrad took a chance on revenge when he rose against the unpopular Frederick in 1182. The duke fled from Prague and only with the emperor's consent was able to retain the Bohemian throne. At the same time, Frederick Barbarossa aimed at weakening his rule: he summoned the adversaries to the Imperial Diet at

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 ...

, where he appointed Conrad ruler of the united principalities of Znojmo, Brno and Olomouc, elevated to the

Margraviate of Moravia The Margraviate of Moravia (; ) was one of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown within the Holy Roman Empire and then Austria-Hungary, existing from 1182 to 1918. It was officially administered by a margrave in cooperation with a provincial diet. I ...

. Deliberately or not, these measures only fuelled the internal Přemyslid quarrels. The conflict between the Bohemian and the Moravian branches culminated in a bloody battle at Loděnice on 10 December 1185, after which both sides chose to enter into peace negotiations. Conrad and Frederick met at Knín, where the margrave recognised Frederick's suzerainty and was acknowledged in turn as ruler of Moravia by the duke and as his successor upon his death.

Duke of Bohemia

When Frederick died on 25 March 1189, Conrad was made duke with the unanimous support of the Bohemian nobility. He renounced his margravial title in order to unite the Bohemian and Moravian lands under his rule. In May of that year, he received the formal affirmation of the emperor. Conrad assumed an active role in Imperial politics, arbitrating in the conflict around the disputed succession of Margrave

Otto II of Meissen Otto II, the Rich (; 1125 – 18 February 1190), a member of the House of Wettin, was List of margraves of Meissen, Margrave of Meissen from 1156 until his death. Life He was the eldest surviving son of Conrad, Margrave of Meissen and March of Lu ...

. During his short reign in Bohemia, Duke Conrad was beholden to the nobles. He was forced to concede them a set of privileges by the ''iura Conradi'' (Czech: ''Statuta Konrádova''), the first Bohemian

codex The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...

issued at

Sadská Sadská () is a town in Nymburk District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,300 inhabitants. Geography Sadská is located about southwest of Nymburk and east of Prague. It lies in the Central Elbe Table lowland ...

in 1189. Among the concessions were these: *freemen guaranteed against the abuses of the duke or the provincial courts under his

župan Župan is a noble and administrative title used in several states in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe between the 7th century and the 21st century. It was (and in Croatia still is) the leader of the administrat ...

s *extension of the right of inheritance to the daughters and brothers of deceased lords *confiscation of property only after a long legal procedure conforming to local custom. In 1190, Conrad and his mother Maria founded the

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

Louka Abbey in Znojmo. Released from the obligation of participating in the

Third Crusade The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt led by King Philip II of France, King Richard I of England and Emperor Frederick Barbarossa to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by the Ayyubid sultan Saladin in 1187. F ...

, Conrad accompanied Henry VI, the emperor's son, to

Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...

as part of his attempt to conquer the

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...

from

Tancred Tancred or Tankred is a masculine given name of Germanic origin that comes from ''thank-'' (thought) and ''-rath'' (counsel), meaning "well-thought advice". It was used in the High Middle Ages mainly by the Normans (see French Tancrède) and espec ...

in right of Henry's wife

Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...

. On the campaign, Conrad died of the plague in an Imperial military camp near besieged

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. First buried in

Monte Cassino The Abbey of Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a Catholic Church, Catholic, Benedictines, Benedictine monastery on a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Valle Latina, Latin Valley. Located on the site of the ancient ...

Abbey, his mortal remains were later transferred to

. Conrad's marriage with

Hellicha of Wittelsbach Hellicha of Wittelsbach (, ; – 13 August 1198), was List of Bohemian consorts, Duchess consort of Bohemia from 1189 to 1198, married to Duke Conrad II, Duke of Bohemia, Conrad II. Life She was born in Duchy of Bavaria, Bavaria, the daughter of ...

remained childless. He was succeeded by

Wenceslaus II Wenceslaus II Přemyslid (; ; 27 SeptemberK. Charvátová, ''Václav II. Král český a polský'', Prague 2007, p. 18. 1271 – 21 June 1305) was King of Bohemia (1278–1305), Duke of Cracow (1291–1305), and King of Poland (1296–1305 ...

, a younger brother of late Duke Soběslav II of Bohemia.

References

Sources

* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Conrad Ii, Duke Of Bohemia 1130s births 1191 deaths 12th-century monarchs of Bohemia 12th-century deaths from plague (disease) 12th-century people from Bohemia Dukes of Bohemia Year of birth uncertain People excommunicated by the Catholic Church Roman Catholic monarchs Czech people of Serbian descent