Bretislaus II, Duke of Bohemia

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Bretislaus II (Czech: Břetislav II.) (c. 1060 – 22 December 1100) was the Duke of Bohemia from 14 September 1092 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Vratislaus II and Adelaide, daughter of Andrew I of Hungary. He was a major enemy of paganism.

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: the eldest prince of the reigning family would hold Bohemia as sovereign over the entire state while the younger scions of the dynasty ruled as territorial dukes over the regions of Moravia. This was to the benefit of his half-brother Bořivoj II. He invested Bořivoj as duke of Brno 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 on 19 April 1099. Bretislaus was assassinated by his adversaries at the hunting lodge of Zbecno in western Bohemia on 22 December 1100.

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

• Bretislaus, rebelled against Soběslav I and was killed on 8 March 1130.

Ancestry

Family of Bretislaus II, Duke of Bohemia

16. Boleslaus II of Bohemia               8. Oldřich of Bohemia                       17. Emma of Mělník               4. Bretislaus I of Bohemia                             18. Křesina               9. Božena                       2. Vratislaus II of Bohemia                                   20. Berthold               10. Henry of Schweinfurt                       21. Eilika of Walbeck               5. Judith of Schweinfurt                             22. Otto II of Henneberg               11. Gerberga of Henneberg                       1. Bretislaus II, Duke of Bohemia                                         24. Mihály               12. Vazul                       25. Adelajda of Poland               6. Andrew I of Hungary                             3. Adelaide of Hungary                                   28. Vladimir the Great               14. Yaroslav the Wise                       29. Rogneda of Polotsk               7. Anastasia of Kiev                             30. Olof Skötkonung               15. Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden                       31. Estrid of the Obotrites

Preceded by Conrad I

Duke of Bohemia 1092–1100

Succeeded by Bořivoj II