Duchy of Bohemia

Duchy of Bohemia
*Češské kniežěstvie* (Old Czech)
*Ducatus Bohemiæ* (Latin)
*Herzogtuom Bēheim* (Middle High German)
Duchy of Bohemia Češské kniežěstvie (Old Czech); Ducatus Bohemiæ (Latin); Herzogtuom Bēheim (Middle High German)
c. 870–1198
	Banner of arms Arms of the Přemyslid dynasty
	Duchy of Bohemia within the Holy Roman Empire, 11th century
	Duchy of Bohemia and the Holy Roman Empire after 1029
Status	Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire; (from 1002)
Capital	Prague
Common languages	Old Czech, Latin
Religion	Roman Catholicism; Eastern Orthodoxy; Slavic paganism; Judaism (Jews);
Government	Feudal monarchy (duchy)
Duke
• c. 875–888/9	Bořivoj I (first duke)
• 1192–93, 1197–98	Ottokar I (last duke, king to 1230)
History
• Duchy established	c. 870
• Bořivoj I moved seat to Prague Castle	875
• State of the Holy Roman Empire	1002
• Raised to Kingdom	1198
• Confirmed by Golden Bull of Sicily	1212
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Bohemian tribes
	Great Moravia
Czech lands
∟ Kingdom of Bohemia
∟ Margraviate of Moravia

The Duchy of Bohemia, also later referred to in English as the Czech Duchy,^[1]^[2] (Old Czech: Češské kniežěstvie) was a monarchy and a principality of the Holy Roman Empire in Central Europe during the Early and High Middle Ages. It was formed around 870 by Czechs as part of the Great Moravian realm. Bohemia separated from disintegrating Great Moravia after Duke Spytihněv swore fealty to the East Frankish king Arnulf in 895.

While the Bohemian dukes of the Přemyslid dynasty, at first ruling at Prague Castle and Levý Hradec, brought further estates under their control, the Christianization initiated by Saints Cyril and Methodius was continued by the Frankish bishops of Regensburg and Passau. In 973, the Diocese of Prague was founded through the joint efforts of Duke Boleslaus II and Emperor Otto I.^[3] Later Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, killed by his younger brother Boleslaus in September 935, became the land's patron saint.

While the lands were occupied by the Polish king Bolesław I and internal struggles shook the Přemyslid dynasty, Duke Vladivoj received Bohemia as a fief from the hands of the East Frankish king Henry II in 1002 and the duchy became an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire. The Duchy of Bohemia was raised to a hereditary Kingdom of Bohemia, when Duke Ottokar I ensured his elevation by the German king Philip of Swabia in 1198. The Přemyslids remained in power throughout the High Middle Ages, until the extinction of the male line with the death of King Wenceslaus III in 1306.

^ Bradshaw, George (1867). Bradshaw's illustrated hand-book to Germany. London. p. 223. Retrieved 12 July 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ Chotěbor, Petr (2005). Prague Castle : Detailed Guide (2nd complemente ed.). Prague: Prague Castle Administration. pp. 19, 27. ISBN 80-86161-61-7.
^ Bohemia to the Extinction of the Premyslids, Kamil Krofta, Cambridge Medieval History:Victory of the Papacy, Vol. VI, ed. J.R. Tanner, C.W. Previte-Orton and Z.N. Brooke, (Cambridge University Press, 1957), 432.

[brandshaw-1] Bradshaw, George (1867). Bradshaw's illustrated hand-book to Germany. London. p. 223. Retrieved 12 July 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

[castle-2] Chotěbor, Petr (2005). Prague Castle : Detailed Guide (2nd complemente ed.). Prague: Prague Castle Administration. pp. 19, 27. ISBN 80-86161-61-7.

[3] Bohemia to the Extinction of the Premyslids, Kamil Krofta, Cambridge Medieval History:Victory of the Papacy, Vol. VI, ed. J.R. Tanner, C.W. Previte-Orton and Z.N. Brooke, (Cambridge University Press, 1957), 432.

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