Everything about Ottokar I Of Bohemia totally explained
Otakar I (also spelled
Ottokar or
Přemysl I. Otakar) (c. 1155 –
December 15,
1230), king of
Bohemia (
1198 -
1230), was a younger son of King
Vladislav II (d. 1174) and a member of the
Přemyslid dynasty.
His early years were passed amid the anarchy which prevailed everywhere in the country, after several struggles, in which he took part, he was recognized as ruler of Bohemia by the emperor
Henry VI in 1192. He was, however, soon overthrown for joining a conspiracy of German princes to bring down the Hohenstaufen monarchy. In
1197 Otakar forced his brother, duke
Vladislav Jindřich, to abandon Bohemia to him and to content himself with
Moravia.
Taking advantage of the German civil war between the Hohenstaufen claimant
Philip of Swabia and the Welf candidate
Otto IV, Ottokar declared himself King of Bohemia. This title was supported by
Philip of Swabia who needed Czech military support against Otto (1198).
In
1199 he divorced his wife,
Adelheid of Meissen, a member of the
Wettin (dynasty) for a marriage with
Constance of Hungary, the young daughter of the Hungarian King
Bela III.
In 1200 - with Otto IV in the ascendancy, Otakar abandoned his pact with Philip and declared for the Welf faction. Both Otto and
Pope Innocent III subsequently accepted Otakar as hereditary King of Bohemia.
Philip's consequent invasion of Bohemia was successful. Otakar, having been compelled to pay a fine, again ranged himself among Philip's partisans and still later was among the supporters of the young king,
Frederick II. In
1212 Frederick granted the
Golden Bull of Sicily to Bohemia. This document recognised Otakar and his heirs as Kings of Bohemia. The King was no longer subject to appointment by the Emperor, and was only required to attend
Diets close to the Bohemian border. Although a subject of the Holy Roman Empire, the Bohemian King was to be the leading electoral prince of the empire and to furnish all subsequent Emperors with a bodyguard of 300 knights when they went to Rome for their coronation.
Otakar's reign was also notable for the start of German immigration into Bohemia and the growth of towns in what had until that point been forest lands. In
1226 Otakar went to war against
Frederick II of Austria after the latter wrecked a deal which would have seen Otakar's daughter (
Saint Agnes of Bohemia) married to Emperor Frederick II's son, Henry II of Sicily. Otakar then planned for the same daughter to marry
Henry III of England, but this was vetoed by the Emperor who knew Henry to be an opponent of the
Hohenstaufen dynasty. Then widowed Emperor himself wanted to marry Agnes, but by then she didn't want to play a role in an arranged marriage anymore. With the help of the pope, Agnes entered the convent.
Family
Ottokar was married first in
1178 to
Adelheid of Meissen (after
1160 -
February 2 1211), who gave birth to the following children:
In
1199, he married
Constance of Hungary (
1181 –
December 6 1240), who gave birth to the following children:
Vratislav (ca 1200 – ?)
Judith (- June 2 1230), married to Bernard of Carinthia, Duke of Carinthia
Anne (Anna Lehnická) (1204 - June 23 1265), married to Henry II the Pious, Duke of Wrocław
Anežka
Wenceslaus I of Bohemia (ca 1205 - September 23 1253), King of Bohemia
Vladislaus (Vratislav) (1207 - February 18 1227), Margrave of Moravia
Přemyslid (Přemysl) (1209 - October 16 1239), Margrave of Moravia, married to Margaret of Meran
Wilhelmina of Bohemia (Vilemína Česká, Guglielmina Boema) (1210 - October 24 1281)
Saint Agnes of Bohemia (January 20 1211 – March 6 1282)
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