European Kingdoms

Bohemia & Moravia

Situated in the western two-thirds of the modern Czech Republic, Bohemia covered most of the western uplands, with the city of Prague at its core, while Moravia formed the eastern portion. Bohemia gained its name from the Celtic Boii tribe, who inhabited the region from around the fourth century BC. Rome later named the area they inhabited the Boiohæmum. The Boii were subjugated by Germanic tribes such as the Marcomanni, Buri, Gepids, Quadi, and Rugii, while the Slavs arrived in the sixth century AD.

The Bavarii confederation formed in this region towards the end of the fifth century AD before migrating southwards. Between then and the sixth century, the territory was settled by Slavs who filled the central European void left by the barbarian migrations and the rule of the Huns. These Slavs appear to have moved in as a new ruling elite, governing previous populations of Celts and Germans and creating an ethnic mixture that can still be seen today in Czechia. For a time the Slavs were governed by the Avars, until they were cleared by a short-lived Slav kingdom which covered parts of Carinthia, Hungary and Moravia. In the ninth and early tenth centuries, Bohemia was successively ruled by the Carolingian Franks, the Hungarians and the Holy Roman empire.

By the tenth century Bohemia-Moravia had fully emerged from its tribal Slavic origins and formed a state that was initially recognised as a (vassal) duchy (there are rulers before this time who claim the title of duke of Bohemia, but who perhaps weren't recognised as such. To make things more complicated, many Bohemian dukes were in fact siblings of reigning dukes, and almost certainly held no real power themselves. Nevertheless, the regnal numbering includes them, so they are shown here for reasons of completeness).

Bohemia was later elevated to a kingdom, but the exact date in which that occurred is a little confused, although Vratislav is the first ruler referred to as 'king'. This state, with Hungary and Poland, had at various times monarchs whose rules overlapped, and who sometimes ruled two or all three of the kingdoms at the same time.

(Additional information by Tomas Urban.)

454

The fall of the Huns allows the Heruli to rise up and free themselves. They set up a strong Roman foederati kingdom of their own in southern Moravia, near the rivers March and Theiss and covering later Brno and Vienna. They subdue all their neighbours, including the Langobards, turning them into vassals.

508

The Heruli and Gothic kingdom in southern Moravia is destroyed by the Langobards. Herulian fortunes wane after this disaster.

c.623 - 658

The local Slavs form a kingdom of their own with the intention of expelling the Avars. The Slav Kingdom achieves its aim, but is short lived.

658 - 830

The region dissolves into various Slavic territories without any overall control.

Kingdom of Great Moravia
AD 830 - 906

The Great Moravian Kingdom (or empire) was established along the River Morava by the Slavic leader Mojmír. Mojmír's successors expanded it to include today's Bohemia, Slovakia, southern Poland and western Hungary. The kingdom found itself at the crossroads between the Germanic people in the west and Byzantium in the east.

830 - 846

Mojmir I

846 - 870

Rastislav

c.867

Fearing Germanic influence and power, Rastislav requests the Byzantine emperor to send representatives in order to introduce Eastern Christianity into Moravia. Cyril (Constantine by birth) and Metodej (Methodius), two priors, arrive to establish the religion and convert the king's successor. They create the Slavonic script (the Cyrillic alphabet that is still in use in Russia and Bulgaria) and translated religious texts from Greek and Latin into the Old Slavonic language.

870 - 894

Sviatopluk

Converted to Byzantine Christianity.

885

After Methodius' death, the Roman Catholic religion is adopted and Cyrillic script is replaced by the Latin alphabet.

894 - 906

Mojmir II

Possibly struggled against his brothers for rule.

906

The Franks (perhaps remembering their defeat at the hands of Samo's Carinthian Slavs), urge the Magyars to attack Moravia. The Moravians are defeated and the kingdom falls. The emerging dukes of Bohemia annexe Moravia to their territory.

Duchy of Bohemia-Moravia (House of Przemysl)
AD 845 - 1212

Bohemia and Moravia were joined by Silesia and Upper and Lower Luzice (the two Luzice countries were located in Eastern Germany and were very small. Something of their culture and language survives into the modern age). Together, these lands formed an equivalent of the United Kingdom in that they were individual territories united under one ruler, and they were known as the Czech kingdom.

Boriwoj was not the first ruler of the duchy, but its origins, and the first four or five rulers, are shadowy, barely-known figures.

The Czech lands were never fully independent but were part of the Holy Roman empire with enough independence to govern themselves. They just provided troops and other services to the HRE when required.

845 - 895

Boriwoj I / Borivoi Przemysl

895 - 907

Spytihnev I

Son?

907 - 921

Vratislav / Wratislaw I

Son of Boriwoj.

921 - 929

Vaclav/St Wenceslas I/Ladislav/ Laszlo

Son. Annexed Moravia. Murdered by Boleslav.

929 - 967

Boleslav I Przemysl the Cruel

Brother.

967 - 999

Boleslav II the Pious

Son.

999 - 1002

Boleslav III the Blind

d.1003. Deposed.

1002 - 1003

Vladivoi

1003

Boleslav III the Blind

Restored.

1003 - 1012

Jaromir

1012 - 1034

Oldrich / Udalrich

Son of Boleslav II. d.1037?

1012 - 1034

Oldrich fights several border wars against the Germans to maintain nominal Czech independence, and so secures its survival until it is strong enough to form a kingdom.

1034 - 1055

Brestislav I Achilles

Son.

1038

During a period of anarchy in Poland, Duke Brestislav I captures, plunders and destroys the cities Gniezno and nearby Poznan in 1038. As a result, the Polish capital is moved to Krakow.

1055 - 1061

Spytihnev II

Son.

1061 - 1092

Vratislav / Wratislaw II

Brother. King of Bohemia (1082-1092).

1082 - 1092

A year after attempting to claim the Polish throne for himself, Vratislav wins the personal title of king, but it is not an hereditary one. His successors remain dukes until 1212.

1092

Konrad I Brnesky (of Brno)

Brother. Margraf of Moravia.

1092 - 1100

Brestislav II

Son of Vratislav II. Duke of Bohemia. No offspring. d.1110?

1101 - 1107

Borivoj II

Brother. Duke of Bohemia.

1107 - 1109

Svatopluk

1109 - 1117

Vladislav I

Brother. Duke of Bohemia.

1117 - 1120

Borivoj II

Restored. d.1124.

1120 - 1125

Vladislav I

Restored. d.1125.

1125 - 1140

Sobeslav I

Brother. Duke of Bohemia.

1140 - 1172

Vladislav II

Son of Vladislav I. Duke (1140-1156), then king. d.1174.

1158

The Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa, grants Vladislav the hereditary title of king of Bohemia, but then refuses to acknowledge his successors.

1172 - 1173

Bedrzich / Friedrich

Son of Vladislav II.

1173 - 1178

Sobeslav II

Son of Sobeslav I. No offspring. d.1180?

1178 - 1189

Bedrzich / Friedrich

Restored.

1189 - 1191

Konrad II Ota / Conrad Otto

1191 - 1192

Wenceslas II

Son of Sobeslav I. No offspring.

1192 - 1193

Ottokar I

Son of Vladislas II. First acknowledged King of Bohemia.

1193 - 1197

Jindrich Bretislav / Henry Bretislav

1197

Vladislav III

Brother of Ottokar.

1198 - 1212

Ottokar I

Restored. First acknowledged King of Bohemia in 1212.

Kings of Bohemia-Moravia (House of Przemysl)
AD 1212 - 1310

Bohemia achieved the status of a hereditary kingdom. With a series of tough warrior kings on the throne, the country became very successful - and feared - in Eastern Europe.

1212 - 1230

Przemysl I Ottokar

First acknowledged King of Bohemia.

1230 - 1253

Wenceslas I

Son.

1253 - 1278

Przemysl II Ottokar the Great

Son. Also Duke of Austria (1250-1278), Duke of Carinthia, Margrave of Slovenia, Margrave of Styria.

1253 - 1278

Ottokar II is also known as the Golden and the Iron, as he greatly enriches and strengthens the country. The Czechs destroy the gold market in Europe by oversupplying it with their own intensive mining. They also supply the silver coins which they call Tolar (from which the modern word dollar originates). Rudolf of Habsurg, who had wrested the duchy of Austria from Ottokar, kills the Przemysl king in battle on the Moravia Field, on the right bank of the River Morava in Austria.

1278 - 1283

Otto of Brandenburg

Appointed governor by Rudolf I of Austria.

1283 - 1305

Wenceslas II

Son of Ottokar II. Also king of Hungary & Poland.

1305 - 1306

Wenceslas III

Son. Also of Poland. Assassinated as a teenager. Last Przemysl.

1306

Jindrich / Heinrich VI of Kaernten / Tirol

Voted out by the nobility in favour of Heinrich.

1306 - 1307

Rudolf (III) of Habsburg

Uncrowned pretender to the HRE. Duke of Austria.

1307 - 1310

Jindrich / Heinrich VI of Kaernten / Tirol

Uncrowned pretender to the HRE.

1310

Once it has been weakened by a lack of strong leadership and internal conflict, Bohemia becomes integrated into the Holy Roman empire.

Kingdom of Bohemia (House of Luxembourg)
AD 1310 - 1437

1310 - 1346

Jan / Jean of Luxembourg 'the Blind'

Son of Henry VII, Holy Roman Emperor.

1347 - 1378

Karel IV / Charles / Karl of Luxembourg

Son. Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV.

1347

Karel is the son of Eliska of Przemysl, who herself was the daughter of Wenceslas II. He spends most of his childhood in Prague and is regarded as the true successor to the Czech crown.

1378 - 1419

Wenceslas IV of Luxembourg

Son. Holy Roman Emperor Wenzel.

1419 - 1437

Sigismund of Luxembourg

Holy Roman Emperor. King of Hungary (1387-1437).

1420

One of Pope Martin's most notable acts is to issue a bull excommunicating Hussites and Wycliffites, along with other heretics in Bohemia. He effectively initiates the Hussite Wars.

Kingdom of Bohemia (Non-Dynastic)
AD 1437 - 1564

1437 - 1439

Albert of Austria

Duke of Austria (1404-1439). King of Hungary (1437-1439).

1439 - 1457

Ladislas I Posthumus

Archduke of Austria & Ladislas V of Hungary (1444-1457).

1444 - 1449

Bernard VII of Lippe concludes a treaty with Duke Adolph I of Cleves-Mark in which he cedes to Adolph a fifty per cent share of the city of Lippstadt, which is already mortgaged to Cleves. At the same time, he joins an alliance that makes him part of the 'Feud of Soest' against his own great-uncle, Archbishop Dietrich II of Cologne. In 1447, Dietrich calls in a Bohemian army that devastates the countryside in Lippe and levels the town of Blomberg. The Bohemians also besiege the cities of Lippstadt and Soest, but are unsuccessful in taking them. Detmold also suffers severe damage during the conflict.

1459 - 1471

Jiri / George Podiebrad

Non-dynastic. Regent (1452-1457).

1471

The Lithuanian and Polish Jagiello dynasty gains control of Bohemia (Czechia) in the form of Ladislas II. His successor is a member of the same dynasty.

1471 - 1516

Ladislas II Vladimir Jagiello

Also became Ladislas VI of Hungary (1490-1516).

1490

Ladislas gains the throne of Hungary.

1516 - 1526

Louis

Louis II of Hungary (1516-1526). Killed by Turks at Mohács.

1526

Following a devastating defeat at the Battle of Mohács and the death of Louis, the Lithuanian Jagiellos lose Hungary and Bohemia to the Habsburgs.

1526 - 1564

Ferdinand of Austria

Holy Roman Emperor, King of Hungary (1526-1564).

1526 - 1540

[Jan Zapolsky]

Claimant.

1564

Control of Bohemia, Moravia and Hungary is taken fully by the Habsburgs in their guise of Holy Roman Emperors, although they still undergo a separate coronation to be confirmed as kings of Bohemia.

1564 - 1576

Maximilian II

HRE (1564-1576).

1576 - 1611

Rudolf II

HRE (1576-1612).

1611 - 1619

Matyas / Matthias

HRE (1612-1619).

1619 - 1620

Fridrich Falcky / Frederick Winter's King

Of Wittelsbach (RhinePfalz), d.1632.

1620 - 1621

Bethlen Gabor z Iktaru

1620

Bohemia is absorbed fully into the Holy Roman empire, where it remains until the empire's termination in its Austrian form in 1918-1919. From the ruins of the empire, the republic of Czechoslovakia is formed.

Elizabeth Stuart of England, wife of Frederick of the Palatinate, is also 'queen of Bohemia'.

Modern Czech Republic & Slovakia
AD 1918 - Present Day

The new state of Czechoslovakia was declared on 28 October 1918 from the merging of the former regions of Bohemia and Moravia, and the Hungarian Slovak territory at the end of the First World War, as the Austro-Hungarian empire collapsed. However, the new state was compromised by the integration of the Sudetenland into its western border, a German minority region which would form the basis for Adolf Hitler's 1938 invasion.

1918 - 1920

In touch with the provisional Czechoslovakian government, a force of 40,000 Czech former prisoners of war in Russian Ukraine organises itself to evacuate to France via Vladivostok, where it is hoped it will join the Allied forces on the Western Front. Although the force initially maintains neutrality between the Bolsheviks and the White Russians in the civil war, attempts by the Bolsheviks to disarm it leads to the Czech Legion taking command of the entire Trans-Siberian railway and cutting off Siberia and the Urals from Soviet control. This allows White Russian forces to assemble under Admiral Kolchak and to pose a severe threat to Moscow's authority. In the end, the Czech Legion is extracted by a joint American-Japanese bridgehead established at Vladivostok in 1920.

1938

Nazi Germany uses the excuse of 'protecting' the German Sudetenland minority from Czechoslovakians to invade the country.

1939 - 1945

Following Adolf Hitler's invasion of Prague, Nazi Germany creates the German Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia.

1945 - 1989

Soviet Russia creates the Communist Republic of Czechoslovakia.

1989 - 1993

Independence from Russia is achieved. The republic of Czechoslovakia now follows western ideals.

1993

The Czech and Slovak halves of the republic elect to split along traditional lines. The Czech Republic (Czechia to its populace) and the Slovak Republic continue independently of one another.