Duke Krok is a legendary figure in Czech history, being the first judge, or duke, of the Czech people. He was also the father of Princess Libuše and her sisters Kazi and Teta.

The Cosmas Chronicle

Perhaps the earliest mention of the Duke (as "Crocco") is in the '' Chronica Boëmorum'', which was originally written in Latin.

Cosmas Cosmas or Kosmas is a Greek language, Greek name (), from Ancient Greek Κοσμᾶς (Kosmâs), associated with the noun κόσμος (kósmos), meaning "Cosmos, universe", and the verb κοσμέω (to order, govern, adorn) linked to propr ...

describes the manner of the first inhabitants of Bohemia, who at first lived very simply and did not know alcohol, marriages, private property or weapons. After a time, however, they fell into injustice and envy. And, according to Cosmas, the people had "neither the judge nor the prince". So, Krok rose amongst the people; he was described by Cosmas as "a man known for his age, absolutely perfect, rich and worldly in his judgements, and sophisticated. This wonderful man had no male heirs, but rather three daughters, whom nature had granted the treasures of wisdom". However, this is the last Cosmas says of Krok, except to describe his daughters and their own exploits. Later chroniclers would expand upon this, for example, Václav Hájek of Libočany, who writes about the death of Forefather Čech. He writes that when Čech died he tried to pass the leading of the Czech people to his brother Lech, who refused, and recommended Krok in his place. He also wrote that Krok transferred his seat to

Vyšehrad Vyšehrad (German: ''Wyschehrad,'' ''Prager Hochburg'', English: "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 1 ...

683 __NOTOC__ Year 683 (Roman numerals, DCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 683 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevale ...

History

František Palacký František Palacký (; 14 June 1798 – 26 May 1876) was a Czech historian and politician. He was the most influential person of the Czech National Revival, called "Father of the Nation". Life František Palacký was born on 14 June 1798, at ...

argued that the figure of Krok was influenced by the ruler Sámo; however, other authors, eager to prove a supposed Celtic origin of the Czech people, have been quick to say that the name Krok may have arisen from the Celtic name Crocco. Other theorists suggest a connection with

Krakus Krakus, Krak or Grakch was a legendary Polish prince, ruler of the Vistulans (a Lechitic tribe), and the presumed founder of Kraków. Krakus is also credited with building Wawel Castle and slaying the Wawel Dragon by feeding it a dead sheep f ...

(Krak), a mythical Polish prince and the presumed founder of

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. Another theory suggests the names of the Přemysl ancestors arose from a mistaken interpretation by Cosmas. According to postulation by Vladimír Karbusický, Cosmas likely contrived them when trying to read a lost

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

transcription of an old-Slavonic message. When the ancestral names are combined and reassessed, they can roughly cohere an assumed text: "''Krok‘ kazi tetha lubossa premisl nezamisl mna ta voj‘n ni zla kr‘z mis neklan gosti vit...''" In modern English, this may translate to: "''Halt your steps, Tetha, and rather think, I do not intend war or evil upon you, we do not bow to the cross, we welcome guests''..." The alleged message is speculated to be from the Czech princes to the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

, perhaps in relation to the Battle of Zásek c. 849 described in the

Annales Fuldenses The ''Annales Fuldenses'' or ''Annals of Fulda'' are East Francia, 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 Fran ...

References

{{Authority control Přemyslid dynasty Culture of the Czech Republic Czech mythology Fictional Czech people