14.9. 1092 Břetislav II became a Czech prince

The beginning of the reign of Svatopluk's cousin Břetislav II, who became the Prince of Prague on 14 September 1092, was relatively peaceful. He continued the political line of his father, King Vratislav.

Prince Břetislav II was an energetic ruler who continued the efforts of his father, King Vratislav I. He was elected to the throne of Prague when he was about thirty-five years old. "The beginning of the reign of Svatopluk's cousin, Břetislav II, who became Prince of Prague on 14 September 1092, was relatively quiet. Břetislav II continued the political line of his father, King Vratislav. He sided with Emperor Henry IV and waited to see what results his policy would achieve. He also tried to win King Ladislav of Hungary and Margrave Litold of Austria to his cause," says the Moravian Historical Collection.

Of Břetislav's actions, it is undoubtedly worth mentioning that in 1093 he ordered the destruction of all pagan customs and superstitions, and the destruction of groves and trees that people worshipped and revered. "And also to banish all sorcerers, witch doctors, sorcerers, spell casters, dwarves," writes Stanislava Jarolímková in her book What is not in the textbooks.

He ordered those who remained to drown in the river and burn with fire. In 1096 or 1097 he also expelled the Slavic monks from the monastery of Sázava, which marked the end of this liturgical trend, which was briefly revived only by Charles IV.

Břetislav II attempted to abolish the Old Elders' Law introduced by Břetislav I, and promote his younger half-brother Borivoj as his successor. He apparently married at the age of thirty-seven, in September 1094. His wife, Luitgarda of Bogen, bore one son.

Břetislav II died in 1100. He was then spending the pre-Christmas time at the court in Zbečná on the Berounka River, and on the evening of 20 December he was attacked and suffered a severe wound, to which he succumbed two days later. The murderer was immediately killed, so it is not actually known who captured him. There were many possibilities, and the revenge of the Vršov family is considered one of them.

"According to Kosmas, people cried at the funeral of Břetislav II because they loved him. The end of the reign of this Premyslid became the beginning of another long period of unrest and too frequent changes of Czech rulers. Břetislav I. The seniority established by Bretzl I was replaced by a struggle for the throne, in which predatory and military power was decisive, and in which, in addition to the Prague Přemyslids, their Moravian relatives were also involved," Jarolímková writes.

Břetislav II was succeeded by Bořivoj II. He is said to have been a gentle, good-hearted, unnecessarily trusting man and a weakling as a ruler. During his reign, the existing peace and order in the country began to relax and the country's foreign prestige declined.

Sources:
Stanislava Jarolímková, What is not in the textbooks
Moravian Historical Collection
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