1.
Vratislaus I, Duke of Bohemia
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Vratislaus I, a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 915 until his death. He was a son of Duke Bořivoj I of Bohemia by his wife Ludmila, around 906, he married Drahomíra, a Hevellian princess, to establish close ties with the Polabian Slavs. Vratislaus had at least two sons, Wenceslaus and Boleslaus, both of whom succeeded him as Bohemian dukes, some historians believe that Střezislava, the wife of the Bohemian nobleman Slavník, founder of the Slavník dynasty, was also the daughter of Vratislaus. The contemporary Annales Fuldenses report that already in 900 the Bavarian forces had attacked Prince Mojmir II of Moravia in alliance with the Bohemians, on the other hand, Duke Vratislaus offered the Hungarian invaders free passage and supported their 915 campaign against the Saxon duke Henry the Fowler. Vratislaus is credited with the establishment of St. Georges Basilica at Prague Castle and he died in battle against the Hungarians, possibly in 919, although 921 is more often conjectured
2.
Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia
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Wenceslaus I, Wenceslas I, Václav the Good or Saint Wenceslaus was the duke of Bohemia from 921 until his assassination in 935. His younger brother, Boleslaus the Cruel, was complicit in the murder and his martyrdom and the popularity of several biographies gave rise to a reputation for heroic goodness that resulted in his elevation to sainthood. He was posthumously declared to be a king and came to be seen as the saint of the Czech state. He is the subject of the well-known Good King Wenceslas, a carol for Saint Stephens Day, Wenceslas was the son of Vratislaus I, Duke of Bohemia from the Přemyslid dynasty. His grandfather, Bořivoj I of Bohemia, was converted to Christianity by Saints Cyril and his mother, Drahomíra, was the daughter of a pagan tribal chief of the Havelli, but was baptized at the time of her marriage. His paternal grandmother, Ludmila of Bohemia, oversaw his education, in 921, when Wenceslas was about thirteen, his father died and his grandmother became regent. Jealous of the influence that Ludmila wielded over Wenceslas, Drahomíra arranged to have her killed, Ludmila was at Tetín Castle near Beroun when assassins murdered her on September 15,921. She is said to have been strangled by them with her veil. She was at first buried in the church of St. Michael at Tetín, but her remains were removed, probably by Wenceslas, to the church of St. George in Prague. Drahomíra then assumed the role of regent and immediately initiated measures against the Christians, when Wenceslas came of age, he took control of the government. He placed the duchy under the protection of Germany, introduced German priests, and favoured the Latin rite instead of the old Slavic, to prevent disputes between him and his younger brother Boleslav, they divided the country between them, assigning to the latter a considerable territory. To withstand Saxon overlordship, Wenceslass father Vratislaus had forged an alliance with the Bavarian duke Arnulf, the alliance became worthless, however, when Arnulf and Henry reconciled at Regensburg in 921. In 924 or 925, at about the age of 18 and he then defeated a rebellious duke of Kouřim named Radslav. He also founded a rotunda consecrated to St. Vitus at Prague Castle in Prague, Henry had been forced to pay a huge tribute to the Magyars in 926 and needed the Bohemian tribute, which Wenceslas probably refused to pay after the reconciliation between Arnulf and Henry. Another possible reason for the attack was the formation of the alliance between Bohemia, the Polabian Slavs, and the Magyars. In September 935, a group of nobles allied with Wenceslass younger brother Boleslav plotted to kill him. After Boleslav invited Wenceslas to the feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Stará Boleslav, three of Boleslavs companions, Tira, Česta, and Hněvsa, fell on the duke, as the duke fell, Boleslav ran him through with a lance. According to Cosmas of Prague, in his Chronica Boëmorum of the early 12th century, because of the ominous circumstance of his birth, the infant was named Strachkvas, which means a dreadful feast
3.
John of Bohemia
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John the Blind was the Count of Luxembourg from 1309 and King of Bohemia from 1310 and titular King of Poland. He was the eldest son of the Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII and he is well known for having died while fighting in the Battle of Crécy at age 50, after having been blind for a decade. Raised in Paris, John was French by education, but deeply involved in the politics of Germany, in 1310 his father arranged the marriage of the 14-year-old to Elisabeth from the Přemyslid dynasty, sister of the deceased King Wenceslaus III of Bohemia. The Castle at Prague was uninhabitable so John made residence in one of the houses on the Old Town Square and he thereby became one of the seven prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire and – in succession of Wenceslaus III – claimant to the Polish and Hungarian throne. His attempts to follow his father as King of the Romans failed with the election of Louis IV of Wittelsbach in 1314. He later would support Louis in his rivalry with Frederick the Fair of Habsburg, culminating in the 1322 Battle of Mühldorf, like his predecessor Henry, he was disliked by much of the Czech nobility. John was considered to be a king and gave up the administration of Bohemia after a while. He parted ways with his wife and left the Czech country to be ruled by the barons while spending time in Luxembourg and his travels took him to Silesia, Poland, Lithuania, Tyrol, Northern Italy and Papal Avignon. A rival of King Władysław I the Elbow-high to the Polish crown and he also made several Silesian dukes swear an oath of allegiance to him. In 1335 in Congress of Visegrád, Władysławs successor King Casimir III the Great of Poland paid a significant amount of money in exchange for Johns giving up his claim to the Polish throne. John lost his eyesight at age 39 or 40 from ophthalmia in 1336, a treatment by the famous physician Guy de Chauliac had no positive effects. At the outbreak of the Hundred Years War in 1337 he allied with King Philip VI of France and was governor of Languedoc from 30 November 1338 to November 1340. At the Battle of Crécy in 1346 John controlled Phillips advanced guard along with controlling the large contingents of Charles II of Alençon and Louis I, John was killed at age 50 while fighting against the English during the battle. His men said, Sir, we cannot tell, we think he be fighting. Then he said, Sirs, ye are my men, my companions and friends in this journey, I require you bring me so far forward, the legend, which first appeared in 1614, has been proved to be false. John was succeeded as King of Bohemia by his eldest son Charles, in Luxembourg, he was succeeded by his son by his second wife, Wenceslaus. The manner of his death gave rise to the obsolescent idiom, to fight like King John of Bohemia, one of John of Luxembourg’s first steps as king was the re-establishment of authority and to secure peace within the country. Although the aristocracy was encouraged to raise armies when peace within the country was threatened, on the other hand, the king’s right to appoint a foreign official to office was abolished
4.
Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg
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Wenceslaus I was the first Duke of Luxembourg from 1354. He was the son of John the Blind, King of Bohemia, Beatrice of Bourbon, gave birth to her only child, Duke Wenceslaus I, on Feb.25,1337. He was born by way of Caesarian section, according to Dr. Antonin Parizek of Charles University in Prague, Beatrice is perhaps the earliest known case of a woman surviving a Caesarian section birth. In 1353 Charles IV King of Bohemia, Count of Luxembourg and elected Holy Roman King, entrusted the county, their fathers inheritance, in 1352, Wenceslaus married Joanna, daughter of John III, Duke of Brabant and Limburg, and Marie dÉvreux. In 1354 Charles raised Luxembourg to the status of a duchy, in 1355, Joanna inherited Brabant and Limburg. In order to guarantee the indivisibility of Brabant, Wenceslaus signed the Joyous Entry, but had to fight against his brother-in-law Louis II of Flanders, who asserted his share of the duchy. He failed to prevent the seizure of Brussels by the Flemings, thereafter, Wenceslaus had to face primarily internal disorders. In 1371, he overestimated his capacities and waged war with William II, Duke of Jülich, resulting in humiliating defeat at the Baesweiler, losing a part of his army. He was captured and suffered 11 months of captivity, Wenceslaus died in Luxembourg, leaving Joanna as sole ruler of Brabant, and was succeeded by Wenceslaus II as duke of Luxembourg. There are speculations that he might have died of leprosy and his last wish was his heart to be displaced from his dead body and sent to his wife. He is buried in a crypt at the now-ruined Abbaye dOrval in Belgium, Wenceslaus I of Luxembourg wrote the lyric poetry interpolated in Jean Froissarts Méliador, which was identified as his by Auguste Longnon in the 1890s. His lyric output comprises 79 poems
5.
Ottokar I of Bohemia
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He was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty. Ottokars parents were Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia, and Judith of Thuringia and his early years were passed amid the anarchy that prevailed everywhere in the country. After several military struggles, he was recognized as ruler of Bohemia by Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI in 1192 and he was, however, soon overthrown for joining a conspiracy of German princes to bring down the Hohenstaufen dynasty. In 1197, Ottokar forced his brother, Duke Vladislaus III Henry, to abandon Bohemia to him, taking advantage of the civil war in Germany 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, in 1199, Ottokar divorced his wife Adelheid of Meissen, a member of the Wettin dynasty, in order to marry Constance of Hungary, the young daughter of Hungarian King Béla III. In 1200, with Otto IV in the ascendancy, Ottokar abandoned his pact with Philip of Swabia, both Otto and Pope Innocent III subsequently accepted Ottokar as the hereditary King of Bohemia. Philips consequent invasion of Bohemia was successful, Ottokar, having been compelled to pay a fine, again ranged himself among Philips 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 and this document recognised Ottokar and his heirs as Kings of Bohemia. The king was no subject to appointment by the emperor and was only required to attend Diets close to the Bohemian border. Ottokars reign was notable for the start of German immigration into Bohemia. In 1226, Ottokar went to war against Duke Leopold VI of Austria after the latter wrecked a deal that would have seen Ottokars daughter married to Frederick IIs son Henry II of Sicily. Ottokar then planned for the daughter to marry Henry III of England, but this was vetoed by the emperor. The widowed emperor himself wanted to marry Agnes, but by then she did not want to play a role in an arranged marriage, with the help of the pope, she entered a convent. Ottokar was married first in 1178 to Adelheid of Meissen, who gave birth to the following children, markéta, married to King Valdemar II of Denmark. Božislava, married to Count Henry I of Ortenberg, in 1199, he married Constance of Hungary, who gave birth to the following children, Vratislav. Judith, married to Bernhard von Spanheim, Duke of Carinthia, anne, married to Henry II the Pious, Duke of Wrocław. Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, King of Bohemia, Přemyslid, Margrave of Moravia, married to Margaret of Andechs, daughter of Duke Otto I of Merania. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
6.
Ottokar II of Bohemia
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Ottokar II, the Iron and Golden King, was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty who reigned as King of Bohemia from 1253 until 1278. He also held the titles of a Margrave of Moravia from 1247, Duke of Austria from 1251, Duke of Styria from 1260, as well as Duke of Carinthia, with Ottokars rule, the Přemyslids reached the peak of their power in the Holy Roman Empire. His expectations of imperial crown, however, were never fulfilled, Ottokar was the second son of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia. He was possibly educated by the Bohemian chancellor Philip of Spanheim, when his brother Vladislaus died in 1247, Ottokar suddenly became the heir to the Bohemian throne. According to popular tradition, he was profoundly shocked by his brothers death and did not involve himself in politics. As new heir, his father appointed him Margrave of Moravia and Ottokar took his residence in Brno, in 1248 he was enticed by discontented nobles to lead a rebellion against his father King Wenceslaus. During this rebellion he was elected the younger King on 31 July 1248, Přemysl Ottokar II held the title of King of Bohemia until November 1249. However, he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent IV, whereafter Wenceslaus finally managed to defeat the rebels, King Wenceslaus had initially attempted to acquire Austria by marrying his heir, Vladislav, to the last dukes niece Gertrude of Babenberg. That match had been cut short by Vladislavs death and Gertrudes remarriage to the Zähringen margrave Herman VI of Baden, the latter was rejected by the Austrian nobility and could not establish his rule. Wenceslaus used this as pretext to invade Austria when Herman died in 1250 — according to some sources, Wenceslaus released Přemysl Ottokar very soon and in 1251 again made him Margrave of Moravia and installed him, with the approval of the Austrian nobles, as governor of Austria. The same year Ottokar entered Austria, where the estates acclaimed him as Duke, to legitimize his position, Přemysl Ottokar married the late Duke Frederick IIs sister Margaret of Babenberg, who was his senior by 30 years and the widow of the Hohenstaufen king Henry of Germany. Their marriage took place on 11 February 1252 at Hainburg, in 1253, King Wenceslaus died and Přemysl Ottokar succeeded his father as King of Bohemia. After the death of the German King Konrad IV in 1254 while his son Conradin was still a minor, however, his election bid was unsuccessful and Count William II of Holland, the German anti-king since 1247, was generally recognised. Feeling threatened by Ottokars growing regional power beyond the Leitha River, the conflict was quelled through papal mediation, it was agreed that Ottokar was to yield large parts of Styria to Béla in exchange for recognition of his right to the remainder of Austria. During the following peace phase, King Ottokar II led two expeditions against the pagan Old Prussians. Königsberg, founded in 1255 by the Teutonic Order, was named in his honour, however, after a few years the conflict resumed and Ottokar defeated the Hungarians in July 1260 at the Battle of Kressenbrunn, ending years of disputes over Styria with Béla IV. Béla now ceded Styria back to Ottokar, and his claim to those territories was formally recognized by Richard of Cornwall, then king of Germany and this peace agreement was also sealed by a royal marriage. Ottokar ended his marriage to Margaret and married Bélas young granddaughter Kunigunda of Halych, the youngest of them became his only legitimate son, Wenceslaus II
7.
Kingdom of Bohemia
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The Kingdom of Bohemia, sometimes in English literature referred to as the Czech Kingdom, was a medieval and early modern monarchy in Central Europe, the predecessor of the modern Czech Republic. It was an Imperial State in the Holy Roman Empire, the kings of Bohemia, besides Bohemia ruled also the Lands of the Bohemian Crown, which at various times included Moravia, Silesia and parts of Saxony, Brandenburg and Bavaria. Numerous kings of Bohemia were also elected Holy Roman Emperors and the capital Prague was the seat in the late 14th century. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, the became part of the Habsburg Austrian Empire. The Czech language was the language of the Diet and the nobility until 1627. German was then formally made equal with Czech and eventually prevailed as the language of the Diet until the Czech national revival in the 19th century. German was also used as the language of administration in many towns after Germans immigrated and populated some areas of the country in the 13th century. The royal court used the Czech, Latin, and German languages, depending on the ruler, following the defeat of the Central Powers in World War I, both the Kingdom and Empire were dissolved. Bohemia became the part of the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic. In 1204 Ottokars royal status was accepted by Otto IV as well as by Pope Innocent III and it was officially recognized in 1212 by the Golden Bull of Sicily issued by Emperor Frederick II, elevating the Duchy of Bohemia to Kingdom status. Under these terms, the Czech king was to be exempt from all obligations to the Holy Roman Empire except for participation in the imperial councils. The imperial prerogative to ratify each Bohemian ruler and to appoint the bishop of Prague was revoked, the kings successor was his son Wenceslaus I, from his second marriage. Corresponding with the Pope, she established the Knights of the Cross with the Red Star in 1233, four other military orders were present in Bohemia, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem from c. 1160, the Order of Saint Lazarus from the late 12th century, 1200–1421, and the Knights Templar from 1232–1312. The 13th century was the most dynamic period of the Přemyslid reign over Bohemia, at the same time, the Mongol invasions absorbed the attention of Bohemias eastern neighbors, Hungary and Poland. Přemysl Ottokar II married a German princess, Margaret of Babenberg and he thereby acquired Upper Austria, Lower Austria, and part of Styria. He conquered the rest of Styria, most of Carinthia, and he was called the king of iron and gold. He campaigned as far as Prussia, where he defeated the natives and in 1256, founded a city he named Královec in Czech
8.
Kunigunde of Hohenstaufen
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Kunigunde of Hohenstaufen or Kunigunde of Swabia was the third daughter of Philip, Duke of Swabia and his wife, Irene Angelina. She and her three sisters were orphaned in 1208, that year, her father was murdered, and a few months later her mother died following the birth of a fifth daughter, kunigunge soon moved to Prague, where her fiancé Wenceslaus lived. He was the eldest surviving son of Ottokar I of Bohemia, in 1230, Wenceslaus succeeded his father as King of Bohemia, with Kunigunde as his queen consort. However, Queen Kunigunde seems to be not important in politics and they had five children, Vladislaus, Margrave of Moravia. Beatrice of Bohemia, married Otto III, Margrave of Brandenburg, Agnes of Bohemia, married Henry III, Margrave of Meissen. An unnamed daughter, who died young, when Wenceslaus childless brother Přemysl, Margrave of Moravia died in 1239, the sons of Wenceslaus and Kunigunde were the only chances for the survival of the House of Přemysl. The first-born son Vladislaus died in 1247 and his mother probably mourned for him less than his father, who was heartbroken. In 1248, the younger son Přemysl was enticed by discontented nobles to lead a rebellion against his father, Queen Kunigunde stayed in Prague, but died during this revolt on 13 September 1248. Neither husband nor son attended her funeral and she was buried in the Agnes nunnery. The rebellion was defeated and Ottokar was imprisoned by his father, cawley, Charles, Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
9.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
10.
Constance of Hungary
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Constance of Hungary was the second Queen consort of Ottokar I of Bohemia. Constance was a daughter of Béla III of Hungary and his first wife Agnes of Antioch and her older siblings included Emeric, King of Hungary, Margaret of Hungary and Andrew II of Hungary. In 1199, Ottokar I divorced his first wife, Adelheid of Meissen and he married Constance later in the same year. Together with Ottokar, she had nine children, Constance is regularly noted as a co-donator with her husband in various documents of his reign. Her petitions to her husband for various donations are also recorded and she is considered to have sold the city Boleráz to her nephew Béla IV of Hungary. In 1247, Béla conferred said city to the nuns of Trnava, an epistle by which Constance supposedly grants freedom to the cities of Břeclav and Olomouc is considered a false document. The same epistle grants lands in Ostrovany to the monastery of St. Stephen of Hradište, another epistle has Constance settling honorable Teutonic men in the city of Hodonín and is also considered a forgery. In 1230, Ottokar I died and their son Wenceslaus succeeded him, Constance survived her husband by a decade. In 1231, Pope Gregory IX set Constance and her dowry possessions under the protection of the Holy See and his letter to Constance clarifies said possessions to include the provinces of Břeclav, Pribyslavice, Dolni Kunice, Godens, Bzenec and Budějovice. In 1232, Constance founded Cloister Porta Coeli near Tišnov and retired to it as a nun, married Bernhard von Spanheim, Duke of Carinthia Anna of Bohemia. Married Henry II the Pious, Duke of Wrocław Agnes of Bohemia and his wife was a daughter of Otto I, Duke of Merania and Beatrice II, Countess of Burgundy. Mother Superior of the Franciscan Poor Clares nuns of Prague, in 1989, Agnes was canonized as a saint by Pope John Paul II. Womens Biography, Constance of Hungary, contains several letters sent and received by Constance
11.
Czech language
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Czech, historically also Bohemian, is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group. It is spoken by over 10 million people and is the language of the Czech Republic. Czech is closely related to Slovak, to the point of being intelligible to a very high degree. In the later 18th to mid-19th century, the written standard was codified in the context of the Czech National Revival. The main vernacular, known as Common Czech, is based on the vernacular of Prague, the Moravian dialects spoken in the eastern part of the country are mostly also counted as Czech, although some of their eastern variants are closer to Slovak. The Czech phoneme inventory is moderate in size, comprising five vowels, words may contain uncommon consonant clusters, including one consonant represented by the grapheme ř, or lack vowels altogether. Czech orthography is simple, and has used as a model by phonologists. Czech is classified as a member of the West Slavic sub-branch of the Slavic branch of the Indo-European language family and this branch includes Polish, Kashubian, Upper and Lower Sorbian and Slovak. Slovak is by far the closest genetic neighbor of Czech, the West Slavic languages are spoken in an area classified as part of Central Europe. Around the 7th century, the Slavic expansion reached Central Europe, the West Slavic polity of Great Moravia formed by the 9th century. The Christianization of Bohemia took place during the 9th and 10th centuries, the Bohemian language is first recorded in writing in glosses and short notes during the 12th to 13th centuries. Literary works written in Czech appear in the early 14th century, the first complete Bible translation also dates to this period. Old Czech texts, including poetry and cookbooks, were produced outside the university as well, literary activity becomes widespread in the early 15th century in the context of the Bohemian Reformation. There was no standardization distinguishing between Czech and Slovak prior to the 15th century, the publication of the Kralice Bible between 1579 and 1593 became very important for standardization of the Czech language in the following centuries. In 1615, the Bohemian diet tried to declare Czech to be the official language of the kingdom. After the Bohemian Revolt which was defeated by the Habsburgs in 1620 and this emigration together with other consequences of the Thirty Years War had a negative impact on the further use of the Czech language. In 1627, Czech and German became official languages of the Kingdom of Bohemia and in the 18th century German became dominant in Bohemia and Moravia, the modern standard Czech language originates in standardization efforts of the 18th century. Changes include the shift of í to ej and é to í and the merging of í
12.
Bohemia
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Bohemia is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech lands in the present-day Czech Republic. Bohemia was a duchy of Great Moravia, later an independent principality, a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire, and subsequently a part of the Habsburg Monarchy, after World War I and the establishment of an independent Czechoslovak state, Bohemia became a part of Czechoslovakia. Between 1938 and 1945, border regions with sizeable German-speaking minorities of all three Czech lands were joined to Nazi Germany as the Sudetenland, in 1990, the name was changed to the Czech Republic, which become a separate state in 1993 with the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Until 1948, Bohemia was a unit of Czechoslovakia as one of its lands. Bohemia was bordered in the south by Upper and Lower Austria, in the west by Bavaria and in the north by Saxony and Lusatia, in the northeast by Silesia, and in the east by Moravia. In the 2nd century BC, the Romans were competing for dominance in northern Italy, the Romans defeated the Boii at the Battle of Placentia and the Battle of Mutina. After this, many of the Boii retreated north across the Alps, much later Roman authors refer to the area they had once occupied as Boiohaemum. The earliest mention was by Tacitus Germania 28, and later mentions of the name are in Strabo. The name appears to include the tribal name Boi- plus the Germanic element *haimaz home and this Boiohaemum was apparently isolated to the area where King Marobods kingdom was centred, within the Hercynian forest. The Czech name Čechy is derived from the name of the Slavic ethnic group, the Czechs, Bohemia, like neighbouring Bavaria, is named after the Boii, who were a large Celtic nation known to the Romans for their migrations and settlement in northern Italy and other places. Another part of the nation moved west with the Helvetii into southern France, to the south, over the Danube, the Romans extended their empire, and to the southeast in Hungaria, were Sarmatian peoples. In the area of modern Bohemia the Marcomanni and other Suebic groups were led by their king Marobodus and he took advantage of the natural defenses provided by its mountains and forests. In late classical times and the early Middle Ages, two new Suebic groupings appeared to the west of Bohemia in southern Germany, the Alemanni, many Suebic tribes from the Bohemian region took part in such movements westwards, even settling as far away as Spain and Portugal. With them were also tribes who had pushed from the east, such as the Vandals, other groups pushed southwards towards Pannonia. These are precursors of todays Czechs, though the amount of Slavic immigration is a subject of debate. The Slavic influx was divided into two or three waves, the first wave came from the southeast and east, when the Germanic Lombards left Bohemia. Soon after, from the 630s to 660s, the territory was taken by Samos tribal confederation and his death marked the end of the old Slavonic confederation, the second attempt to establish such a Slavonic union after Carantania in Carinthia. Other sources divide the population of Bohemia at this time into the Merehani, Marharaii, Beheimare, Christianity first appeared in the early 9th century, but only became dominant much later, in the 10th or 11th century
13.
Philip of Swabia
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Philip of Swabia was a prince of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Germany from 1198 to 1208. In the long-time struggle for the German throne upon the death of Emperor Henry VI between the Hohenstaufen and Welf dynasties, he was the first German king to be assassinated. Philips great uncle Conrad III was the first scion of the Swabian Hohenstaufen dynasty to be elected King of the Romans in 1138, the newborn was probably named after Fredericks valued ally and confidant Archbishop Philip of Cologne. In 1190 or 1191 Philip was elected Prince-bishop of Würzburg, though without being consecrated and his brother Henry had expanded the Hohenstaufen domains by marrying Queen Constance of Sicily in 1186, suspiciously eyed by the Roman Curia. In his retinue in Italy was the Minnesinger Bernger von Horheim, on 26 December 1194, Queen Constance finally gave birth to a son, the later Emperor Frederick II. To secure his succession, his father Henry had the two-year-old elected King of the Romans before he prepared for the Crusade of 1197, in early 1195, Philip was made Duke of Tuscany and received the disputed Matildine lands. His rule there earned him the enmity of Pope Celestine III, in 1196 his brother Conrad died and he succeeded him as Duke of Swabia. His marriage to Irene took place in 1197 near Augsburg, Philip enjoyed his brothers confidence to a very great extent, and appears to have been designated as guardian of Henrys minor son Frederick II, in case of his fathers early death. In September 1197 he had set out to fetch Frederick from Apulia for his coronation as German king, while staying in Montefiascone, he heard of the emperors sudden death in Messina and returned at once to Germany. He appears to have desired to protect the interests of his nephew and to quell the disorder which arose on Henrys death, but was overtaken by events. The hostility to the kingship of a child was growing, nevertheless, he knew that he had to settle the conflict with Otto and his supporters. A first attempt to mediate by the Mainz archbishop Conrad of Wittelsbach in 1199 was rejected by the Welf, both sides strived for the coronation as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent III. The pope himself acted tactically, trying to wrest the affirmation of the sovereignty of his Papal States, the pope began to work energetically in favour of Otto, who beforehand had solemnly renounced any intentions to affiliate the Sicilian kingdom with the Holy Roman Empire. The festival was rendered in a poem by Walther von der Vogelweide in order to spread the reputation of King Philip as a capable ruler. Again in Magdeburg Cathedral, Philip celebrated the elevation of Saint Cunigunde of Luxembourg on 9 September 1201, also in 1201, Philip was visited by his cousin Boniface of Montferrat, the leader of the Fourth Crusade. Although Bonifaces exact reasons for meeting with Philip are unknown, while at Philips court he also met Alexius Angelus, the two succeeding years were still more unfavourable to Philip. The Přemyslid ruler Ottokar I, though he had received the hereditary Bohemian regality, another former ally, Landgrave Hermann of Thuringia, drove him from northern Germany, thus compelling him to seek by abject concessions, but without success, reconciliation with Innocent. Philip was soon joined by Archbishop Adolph of Cologne, though against the will of the Cologne citizens, by Duke Henry of Brabant and even by Ottos brother Count Palatine Henry V
14.
Irene Angelina
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Irene Angelina, was a Byzantine princess member of the Angelos dynasty and by her two marriages Queen of Sicily in 1193 and Queen of Germany from 1198 to 1208. She was the daughter of Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelos and his first wife. Who became nun with the name Irene, Irene was born in Constantinople, her father Isaac II inaugurated his reign with a decisive victory over the Norman invaders on the Balkans in the 1185 Battle of Demetritzes. In 1193 he and King Tancred of Sicily arranged Irenes marriage with Tancreds eldest son, Roger was declared co-king, but died on 24 December 1193, shortly before his fathers death on 20 February 1194. Sicily was claimed by Tancreds aunt Constance and her husband, Emperor Henry VI, after he had conquered the Sicilian kingdom, Irene was captured on 29 December 1194 and was married on 25 May 1197 to Henrys younger brother, Duke Philip of Swabia. In Germany, she was renamed Maria, after the Emperor had died on September 28, Philip was elected King of the Romans in Mühlhausen on 8 March 1198. She thus had an influence on the eventual diversion of the Crusade to Constantinople in 1204. Rivalled by the Welf scion Otto IV, Philip was able to stable his rule over the German kingdom, on 21 June 1208, he was killed by the Bavarian Count Palatine Otto VIII of Wittelsbach, leaving Irene widowed a second time. After the murder of her husband, Irene - who was pregnant at the time - retired to Hohenstaufen Castle, there, two months later on 27 August, she gave birth to another daughter. Both mother and child died shortly afterwards and she was buried in the family mausoleum in the Staufen proprietary monastery of Lorch Abbey, along with her daughter and sons. Her grave was destroyed and cannot be reconstructed, Philip and Irene had seven children, two sons who died in infancy and four daughters, Beatrix, married her fathers rival Emperor Otto IV in 1212 and died three weeks later without issue. Maria, married Duke Henry, Hereditary Prince of Brabant, by whom she had issue, kunigunde, married King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, by whom she had issue. Elisabeth, married King Ferdinand III of Castile, by whom she had issue, in his poem on King Philips Magdeburg Christmas celebrations, the minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweide described Irene as rose ane dorn, ein tube sunder gallen. O city of Byzantium, annals of Niketas Choniates tr, bruno W. Häuptli, IRENE von Byzanz, in, Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon, vol. 28, Bautz, Nordhausen 2007, ISBN 978-3-88309-413-7, pp. 858–862, Irene Angelina at Find a Grave Bibliography about Irene Angelina in OPAC Regesta Imperii
15.
Germans
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Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe, who share a common German ancestry, culture and history. German is the mother tongue of a substantial majority of ethnic Germans. The English term Germans has historically referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages, before the collapse of communism and the reunification of Germany in 1990, Germans constituted the largest divided nation in Europe by far. Ever since the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation within the Holy Roman Empire, of approximately 100 million native speakers of German in the world, roughly 80 million consider themselves Germans. Thus, the number of Germans lies somewhere between 100 and more than 150 million, depending on the criteria applied. Today, people from countries with German-speaking majorities most often subscribe to their own national identities, the German term Deutsche originates from the Old High German word diutisc, referring to the Germanic language of the people. It is not clear how commonly, if at all, the word was used as an ethnonym in Old High German, used as a noun, ein diutscher in the sense of a German emerges in Middle High German, attested from the second half of the 12th century. The Old French term alemans is taken from the name of the Alamanni and it was loaned into Middle English as almains in the early 14th century. The word Dutch is attested in English from the 14th century, denoting continental West Germanic dialects, while in most Romance languages the Germans have been named from the Alamanni, the Old Norse, Finnish and Estonian names for the Germans were taken from that of the Saxons. In Slavic languages, the Germans were given the name of němьci, originally with a meaning foreigner, the English term Germans is only attested from the mid-16th century, based on the classical Latin term Germani used by Julius Caesar and later Tacitus. It gradually replaced Dutch and Almains, the latter becoming mostly obsolete by the early 18th century, the Germans are a Germanic people, who as an ethnicity emerged during the Middle Ages. Originally part of the Holy Roman Empire, around 300 independent German states emerged during its decline after the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 ending the Thirty Years War and these states eventually formed into modern Germany in the 19th century. The concept of a German ethnicity is linked to Germanic tribes of antiquity in central Europe, the early Germans originated on the North German Plain as well as southern Scandinavia. By the 2nd century BC, the number of Germans was significantly increasing and they began expanding into eastern Europe, during antiquity these Germanic tribes remained separate from each other and did not have writing systems at that time. In the European Iron Age the area that is now Germany was divided into the La Tène horizon in Southern Germany and the Jastorf culture in Northern Germany. By 55 BC, the Germans had reached the Danube river and had either assimilated or otherwise driven out the Celts who had lived there, and had spread west into what is now Belgium and France. Conflict between the Germanic tribes and the forces of Rome under Julius Caesar forced major Germanic tribes to retreat to the east bank of the Rhine, in Roman-held territories with Germanic populations, the Germanic and Roman peoples intermarried, and Roman, Germanic, and Christian traditions intermingled. The adoption of Christianity would later become an influence in the development of a common German identity
16.
Moravia
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Moravia is a historical country in the Czech Republic and one of the historical Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. Moravia has an area of over 22,348.87 km2 and about 3 million inhabitants, the statistics from 1921 states, that the whole area of Moravia including the enclaves in Silesia covers 22,623.41 km2. The people are historically named Moravians, a subgroup of Czechs, the land takes its name from the Morava river, which rises in the northern tip of the region and flows southward to the opposite end, being its major stream. Moravias largest city and historical capital is Brno, however before being sacked by the Swedish army during the Thirty Years War, though officially abolished by an administrative reform in 1949, Moravia is still commonly acknowledged as a specific land in the Czech Republic. Moravian people are aware of their Moravian identity and there is some rivalry between them and the Czechs from Bohemia. Moravia occupies most of the part of the Czech Republic. Moravian territory is naturally strongly determined, in fact, as the Morava river basin, with effect of mountains in the west and partly in the east. Moravia occupies a position in Central Europe. All the highlands in the west and east of part of Europe run west-east. Moravia borders Bohemia in the west, Lower Austria in the south, Slovakia in the southeast, Poland very shortly in the north and its natural boundary is formed by the Sudetes mountains in the north, the Carpathians in the east and the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands in the west. The Thaya river meanders along the border with Austria and the tripoint of Moravia, Austria and Slovakia is at the confluence of the Thaya, the northeast border with Silesia runs partly along the Moravice, Oder and Ostravice rivers. Between 1782–1850, Moravia also included a portion of the former province of Silesia – the Austrian Silesia. Geologically, Moravia covers an area between the Bohemian Massif and the Carpathians, and between the Danube basin and the North European Plain. Its core geomorphological features are three wide vales, namely the Dyje-Svratka Vale, the Upper Morava Vale and the Lower Morava Vale, the former two form the westernmost part of the Subcarpathia, the latter one is the northernmost part of the Vienna Basin. The vales surround the low range of Central Moravian Carpathians, the highest mountains of Moravia are situated on its northern border in Hrubý Jeseník, the highest peak is Praděd. Second highest are the Moravian-Silesian Beskids at the very east, with Smrk, the White Carpathians along the southeastern border rise up to 970 m at Velká Javořina. The spacious, but moderate Bohemian-Moravian Highlands on the west reach 837 m at Devět skal. The fluvial system of Moravia is very cohesive, as the border is similar to the watershed of the Morava river
17.
Otto III, Margrave of Brandenburg
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Otto III, nicknamed the pious was Margrave of Brandenburg jointly with his elder brother John I until John died in 1266. Otto III then ruled alone, until his death, the following year and they consolidated the position of Brandenburg within the Holy Roman Empire, which was reflected in the fact that in 1256, Otto III was a candidate to be elected King of the Germans. They founded several cities and developed the cities of Cölln. They expanded the Ascanian castle in nearby Spandau and made it their preferred residence, before their death, they divided the Margraviate in a Johannine and an Ottonian part. The Ascanians were traditionally buried in the Lehnin Abbey in the Ottonian part of the country, in 1258, they founded a Cistercian monastery named Mariensee, where members of the Johannine line could be buried. In 1266, they changed their mind and founded a second monastery, John was initially buried at Mariensee, his body was moved to Chorin in 1273. After the Ottonian line died out in 1317, John Is grandson Waldemar reunited the Margraviate. Otto was the son of Albert II of the Brandenburg line of the House of Ascania and Mechthild of Lusatia, daughter of Count Conrad II of Lusatia. Since both Otto and his older brother John I were minors when their father died in 1220. The guardianship was taken up by the childrens first cousin once removed, Count Henry I of Anhalt, the brother of Duke Albert I of Saxony. As the sons of Duke Bernard III of Saxony, they were the closest relatives, in 1221, their mother, Countess Matilda, purchased the regency from the Archbishop of Magdeburg for 1900 silver Marks and then ruled jointly with Hernry I. The Archbishop of Magdeburg then traveled to Italy, to visit Emperor Frederick II and Duke Albert I of Saxony attempted to power in Brandenburg. The Saxon attack presented an opportunity for Count Palatine Henry V to get involved, Emperor Frederick II managed to prevent a feud, urging them to keep the peace. After Matilda died in 1225, the brothers ruled the Margraviate of Brandenburg jointly, John I was about twelve years old at the time, and Otto III was ten. They were knighted on 11 May 1231 in Brandenburg an der Havel, in 1229, there was a feud with former regent Archbishop Albert, which ended peacefully. Like their former opponents and defenders, they appeared at the Diet of Mainz in 1235, after the dispute over the kingship between Conrad IV and Henry Raspe the brothers recognized William II of Holland as king in 1251. They first exercised Brandenburgs electoral privilege in 1257, when they voted for king Alfonso X of Castile. Although Alfonso was not elected, the fact that they were able to vote illustrates the importance of Brandenburg
18.
Henry III, Margrave of Meissen
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Henry III, called Henry the Illustrious from the House of Wettin was Margrave of Meissen and last Margrave of Lusatia from 1221 until his death, from 1242 also Landgrave of Thuringia. Born probably at the Albrechtsburg residence in Meissen, Henry was the youngest son of Margrave Theodoric I, Margrave of Meissen and his wife Jutta, in 1230 he was legally proclaimed an adult. Henry had his first combat experience in sometime around 1234, while on crusade in Prussia and his pilgrimage and company is well-documented by Peter of Dusburg, and it resulted in the construction of Balga castle, an important administrative centre for the Teutonic Knights. In 1245 after many years of conflict with the Ascanian margraves of Brandenburg, he was forced to cede the fortresses of Köpenick, Teltow and Mittenwalde north of Lower Lusatia. In 1249 however, the Silesian duke Bolesław II the Bald granted him the area around Schiedlo Castle at the Oder river. In the struggle between the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX, Henry took the side of the Emperor, in consideration, Frederick II in 1242 promised him the heritage of Henry Raspe as Landgrave of Thuringia and Count palatine of Saxony. In 1243 the Emperor also betrothed his daughter Margaret of Sicily to Henrys son Albert II, Henry remained a loyal supporter of the Hohenstaufens and not before the departure of Fredericks son Conrad IV from Germany did he recognise the antiking William of Holland. From 1273 Henry was an important support to the newly elected Rex Romanorum Rudolph of Habsburg in his struggle against rivaling King Ottokar II of Bohemia, Henry was patron of many tournaments and singing competitions, in which he also took part himself, and commissioned the famous Christherre-Chronik. He set to music hymns to be sung in the churches, in 1234 Henry married Constance of Babenberg, the daughter of Duke Leopold VI of Austria. For his younger son Theodoric, Henry had created – though without imperial consent – the smaller Margraviate of Landsberg in the part of the Lusatian lands around Leipzig. Henry kept for only the Margraviate of Meissen, the remaining Lower Lusatian lands. Only domestic disorders, caused by the unworthiness of his son Albert, clouded the later years of his reign and indeed, long after his death in 1288, led to the loss of Lusatia and Thuringia
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Frederick II, Duke of Austria
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Frederick II, known as Frederick the Quarrelsome, was Duke of Austria and Styria from 1230 until his death. He was the fifth and last Austrian duke from the House of Babenberg and he was killed in the Battle of the Leitha River, leaving no male heirs. Born in Wiener Neustadt, Frederick was the surviving son of the Babenberg duke Leopold VI of Austria and Theodora Angelina. The death of his elder brother Henry in 1228 made him the heir to the Austrian and Styrian duchies. His first spouse was Byzantine princess Sophia Laskarina, probably a daughter of Theodore I Laskaris and his first wife Anna Komnene Angelina, who died in 1222. Frederick secondly married Agnes of Merania in 1229, a member of the noble House of Andechs whose dowry included large possessions in Carniola, from 1232 Frederick called himself Dominus Carniolae, however, the couple divorced due to childlessness in 1243. Frederick succeeded his father in 1230, proud of his Byzantine descent, the young duke soon was known as the Quarrelsome because of his harsh rule and frequent wars against his neighbors, primarily with Hungary, Bavaria and Bohemia. Even the Austrian Kuenring ministeriales, which had so far been faithful to the ruling house, started an insurgency as soon as his reign began. According to the Weltchronik of Jans der Enikel, Frederick had gone to the court of Emperor Frederick II by his summon, when he approached the Emperor, he was enthusiastically invited—by both command and request of Emperor Frederick—to eat bread with him. The Duke refused, stating he brought his own gold, but the Emperor insisted without prevailing. Thus instead he ordered that no one in the sell the Duke firewood for his kitchen. Duke Frederick instead sought a house to buy and when the Emperor learned of this, Duke Frederick then instructed his marshal to go out late at night and buy some nuts so that his food could be prepared. Duke Frederick had impressed the Emperor so much that he allowed him the sale of firewood, afterwards, the Duke asked to be shown the Emperors assassins, which he was allowed. They moved onto the tower, which stood 50 cubics tall. The Emperor then told one to jump down and without a thought, immediately, Duke Frederick was impressed by the sheer loyalty of these men and the Emperor stopped the other man from jumping. The experience convinced the Duke of the Emperors power, most dangerous were his disputes with the Hohenstaufen Emperor Frederick II in the course of the rebellion of the emperors son Henry, husband of Fredericks sister Margaret. When he again refused to attend the 1235 diet in Mainz, Emperor Frederick II finally ostracized him, however, the expelled duke managed to maintain his position as the ruler of an Austrian rump state at his Wiener Neustadt residence. In the same year, Frederick enacted the Landrecht Law, which required all subjects to defend the country in the case of invasion, in 1239, in a spectacular change in imperial politics, Duke Frederick became one of the emperors most important allies
20.
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Frederick II was a Holy Roman Emperor and King of Sicily in the Middle Ages, a member of the House of Hohenstaufen. His political and cultural ambitions, based in Sicily and stretching through Italy to Germany, however, his enemies, especially the popes, prevailed, and his dynasty collapsed soon after his death. As such, he was King of Germany, of Italy, at the age of three, he was crowned King of Sicily as a co-ruler with his mother, Constance of Hauteville, the daughter of Roger II of Sicily. His other royal title was King of Jerusalem by virtue of marriage, Pope Gregory IX went so far as to call him an Antichrist. Speaking six languages, Frederick was a patron of science. He played a role in promoting literature through the Sicilian School of poetry. His Sicilian royal court in Palermo, from around 1220 to his death, saw the first use of a form of an Italo-Romance language. The poetry that emanated from the school had a significant influence on literature and he was also the first king who explicitly outlawed trials by ordeal as they were considered irrational. After his death, his line died out and the House of Hohenstaufen came to an end. Born in Iesi, near Ancona, Italy, Frederick was the son of the emperor Henry VI and he was known as the puer Apuliae. Some chronicles say that his mother, the forty-year-old Constance, gave birth to him in a square in order to forestall any doubt about his origin. In 1196 at Frankfurt am Main the infant Frederick was elected King of the Germans and his rights in Germany were disputed by Henrys brother Philip of Swabia and Otto of Brunswick. At the death of his father in 1197, Frederick was in Italy travelling towards Germany when the bad news reached his guardian, Conrad of Spoleto. Frederick was hastily brought back to his mother Constance in Palermo, Sicily, Constance of Sicily was in her own right queen of Sicily, and she established herself as regent. Upon Constances death in 1198, Pope Innocent III succeeded as Fredericks guardian, Fredericks tutor during this period was Cencio, who would become Pope Honorius III. However, Markward of Annweiler, with the support of Henrys brother, Philip of Swabia, reclaimed the regency for himself, in 1200, with the help of Genoese ships, he landed in Sicily and one year later seized the young Frederick. He thus ruled Sicily until 1202, when he was succeeded by another German captain, William of Capparone, Frederick was subsequently under tutor Walter of Palearia, until, in 1208, he was declared of age. His first task was to reassert his power over Sicily and southern Italy, Otto of Brunswick had been crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Innocent III in 1209
21.
Lombard League
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At its apex, it included most of the cities of Northern Italy, but its membership changed with time. With the death of the third and last Hohenstaufen emperor, Frederick II, in 1250 and it was backed by Pope Alexander III, who also wished to see Fredericks power in Italy decline. Though not a declared separatist movement, the League openly challenged the claim to power. Frederick I strived against the cities, especially Milan, which already had been occupied and devastated in 1162 and he nevertheless was no longer able to play off the cities against each other. At the Battle of Legnano on 29 May 1176, the army finally was defeated. Among the Leagues members, Milan, now favoured by the emperor, began to take a special position, in 1226 Frederick, sole king since 1218 and emperor since 1220, aimed to convene the Princes in Italy in order to prepare the Sixth Crusade. The efforts of Emperor Frederick II to gain power in Italy were aborted by the cities. The emperors measures included the taking of Vicenza and his victory in the 1237 Battle of Cortenuova which established the reputation of the Emperor as a skillful strategist, nevertheless, he misjudged his strength, rejecting all Milanese peace overtures and insisting on unconditional surrender. It was a moment of historic importance, when Fredericks hatred coloured his judgment. Milan and five other cities withstood his attacks, and in October 1238 he had to raise the siege of Brescia. The Lombard League once again receiving papal support by Pope Gregory IX, who excommunicated Frederick II in 1239, during the 1248 Siege of Parma, the Imperial camp was assaulted and taken, and in the ensuing battle the Imperial side was routed. Frederick II lost the Imperial treasure and with it any hope of maintaining the impetus of his struggle against the rebellious communes, the League was dissolved in 1250 when Frederick II died. Under his later successors the Empire exerted much influence on Italian politics. Guelphs and Ghibellines Old Swiss Confederacy Lusatian League Décapole Hanseatic League Ariberto da Intimiano Gianluca Raccagni, The Lombard League, G. Fasoli, La Lega Lombarda --Antecedenti, formazione, struttura, Problema des 12. Jahrhunderts, Vortraege und Forchungegen,12, 1965–67, pp. 143–160
22.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
23.
Archduchy of Austria
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The Archduchy of Austria was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empires southeastern periphery, the Archduchy developed out of the Bavarian Margraviate of Austria, elevated to the Duchy of Austria according to the 1156 Privilegium Minus by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The House of Habsburg came to the Austrian throne in Vienna in 1282 and in 1453 Emperor Frederick III, also Austrian ruler, the Archduchys history as an Imperial State ended with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. It was replaced with the Lower and Upper Austria crown lands of the Austrian Empire, located in the Danube basin, Austria bordered on the Kingdom of Hungary beyond the March and Leitha rivers in the east. In the west, the Upper Austrian part bordered on the Bavarian stem duchy, in the course of the German mediatisation in 1803, the Austrian archdukes also acquired the rule over the Electorate of Salzburg and the Berchtesgaden Provostry. After Austria was detached from Bavaria and established as an Imperial estate in 1156, in 1358/59 the Habsburg duke Rudolf IV, in response of the Golden Bull of 1356, already claimed the archducal title by forging the Privilegium Maius. By the 1379 Treaty of Neuberg, his heirs divided the Habsburg lands, on Epiphany 1453 Emperor Frederick III, regent of Austria for his minor Albertinian cousin Ladislaus the Posthumous, finally acknowledged the archducal title. It was then conferred to all Habsburg emperors and rulers, as well as to the princes of the dynasty, however. Frederick further promoted the rise of the Habsburg dynasty into European dimensions with the arrangement of the marriage between his son Maximilian I and Mary the Rich, heiress of Burgundy in 1477. After Maximilians son Philip the Handsome in 1496 had married Joanna the Mad, Queen of Castile, by marrying Princess Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, Ferdinand inherited both kingdoms in 1526. The Archduchy of Austria continued to exist as a constituent crown land within the empire, history of Austria List of rulers of Austria
24.
Ban (law)
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A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a political territory. Some see this as an act and others see it as maintaining the status quo. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes, ban is also used as a verb similar in meaning to to prohibit. In current English usage, ban is mostly synonymous with prohibition, historically, Old English bann is a derivation from the verb bannan to summon, command, proclaim from an earlier Common Germanic *bannan to command, forbid, banish, curse. The modern sense to prohibit is influenced by the cognate Old Norse banna to curse, to prohibit and also from Old French ban, ultimately a loan from Old Frankish, meaning outlawry, the Indo-European etymology of the Germanic term is from a root *bha- meaning to speak. Its original meaning was magical, referring to utterances that carried a power to curse, in many countries political parties or groups are banned. Germany, for instance, has a history behind its modern practice of banning political parties. For much of the 1800s and 1900s there were bans on marriage between people of different races in many of the United States, historically child marriage was common, but is now banned in many countries. The imperial ban was a form of outlawry in the Holy Roman Empire, at different times, it could be declared by the Holy Roman Emperor, by courts including the League of the Holy Court and the Reichskammergericht, or by the Imperial Diet. People under imperial ban lost all their rights and possessions, and anyone had the right to rob, the imperial ban automatically followed the excommunication of a person, and extended to anyone offering help to a person under the imperial ban. Existing publications may be banned, and new publications prohibited from discussing certain topics or taking certain viewpoints, censorship is the enacting and enforcing of such bans. Bans in various jurisdictions on possession of weapons, smoking
25.
Vienna
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Vienna is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austrias primary city, with a population of about 1.8 million, and its cultural, economic and it is the 7th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union. Today, it has the second largest number of German speakers after Berlin, Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city is located in the part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region, along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, apart from being regarded as the City of Music because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be The City of Dreams because it was home to the worlds first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud. The citys roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city and it is well known for having played an essential role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque castles and gardens, Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first for the worlds most liveable cities, between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne, Australia. Monocles 2015 Quality of Life Survey ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world to make a base within, the UN-Habitat has classified Vienna as being the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the worlds number-one destination for international congresses and it attracts over 3.7 million tourists a year. The English name Vienna is borrowed from the homonymous Italian version of the name or the French Vienne. The etymology of the name is still subject to scholarly dispute. Some claim that the name comes from Vedunia, meaning forest stream, which produced the Old High German Uuenia. A variant of this Celtic name could be preserved in the Czech and Slovak names of the city, the name of the city in Hungarian, Serbo-Croatian and Ottoman Turkish has a different, probably Slavonic origin, and originally referred to an Avar fort in the area. Slovene-speakers call the city Dunaj, which in other Central European Slavic languages means the Danube River, evidence has been found of continuous habitation since 500 BC, when the site of Vienna on the Danube River was settled by the Celts. In 15 BC, the Romans fortified the city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north
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Wiener Neustadt
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Wiener Neustadt is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in north-east Austria. It is a city and the seat of the district administration of Wiener Neustadt-Land. The area once belonged to the County of Pitten, which had inherited by Margrave Ottokar III of Styria in 1158. After the dynasty of the Otakars became extinct with the death of his son Ottokar IV, in 1241, a small Mongol squadron raided Neustadt during the Mongol invasion of Europe but was later repulsed by Duke Friederich and his knights. Wiener Neustadt, meaning more or less New Vienna, gained important privileges given to the city in order to enable it to prosper. It remained a part of Styria, which after the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld fell to the House of Habsburg and in 1379 became a constituent duchy of Inner Austria. In the 15th century, Wiener Neustadt experienced a population boom and his wife, Eleanor of Portugal, died in Wiener Neustadt in 1467. The Wappenwand at the castle displays the coats of arms of his possessions in the middle. His son Maximilian I maintained his court in Wiener Neustadt and is buried here at St. Georges Cathedral. The town then also had a significant Jewish commune with Rabbi Israel Isserlin as its most notable member, habsburgs long-time rival King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary conquered the city in August 1487 after having laid siege to it for two years. According to legend he dedicated the magnificent Corvinus Cup to the inhabitants after his victory, Maximilian I managed to reconquer his native city in 1490. During the 16th century, Wiener Neustadt lost its status as imperial residence, however, it still fulfilled its function as bulwark against the Turks and the Kuruc. In 1751 the city received attention when Empress Maria Theresa of Austria decided to dedicate the First Military Academy. In 1752, the Theresian Military Academy took up its operations, in 1768, Wiener Neustadt was destroyed by an earthquake that damaged the castle, which was rebuilt using plans made by the architect Nicolò Pacassi. In 1785, Emperor Joseph II of Habsburg transferred the see of the Wiener Neustadt diocese to Sankt Pölten, in the 19th century the city became an industrial town, especially after the opening of the Austrian Southern Railway in 1841. In 1909, the first official Austrian airfield was inaugurated north of the city and it served as a training ground for the flight pioneers Igo Etrich, Karl Illner and Adolf Warchalowski, who conducted their tests there. Bombing operations such as Operation Pointblank left only 18 of 4,000 buildings undamaged, the average monthly temperatures are generally cool, with summer months reaching 21–26 °C and winter months reaching a few degrees above freezing in the daytime. The Late-Romanesque Dom, consecrated in 1279 and cathedral from 1469 to 1785, the choir and transept, in Gothic style, are from the 14th century
27.
Duchy of Styria
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The Duchy of Styria was a duchy located in modern-day southern Austria and northern Slovenia. It was a part of the Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, margrave Ottokar IV thereby became the first Duke of Styria and also the last of the ancient Otakar dynasty. Upon his death in 1192, Styria as stipulated fell to the Babenberg duke Leopold V of Austria, the Austrian Babenbergs became extinct in 1246, when Duke Frederick II the Quarrelsome was killed in battle against King Béla IV of Hungary. It passed quickly through the hands of Hungary in 1254, until the Bohemian king Ottokar II Přemysl conquered it, rudolph finally defeated Ottokar at the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld, seized Austria and Styria and granted them to his sons Albert I and Rudolf II. The House of Habsburg provided Styria with dukes of their lineage ever since, in 1456 they could significantly enlarge the Styrian territory by acquisition of the comital Celje estates in Lower Styria. Both duchies were ruled in personal union, when Leopolds grandson Frederick V inherited Austria in 1457. In 1496 Fredericks son Maximilian I signed an order expelling all Jews from Styria, in 1512 the duchy joined the Empires Austrian Circle. A second Inner Austrian cadet branch of the Habsburgs ruled over Styria from 1564, the Protestant population was expelled, including the astronomer Johannes Kepler in 1600. Meanwhile, at the time of the Ottoman invasions in the 16th and 17th centuries after the 1526 Battle of Mohács, Styria remained a part of the Habsburg Monarchy and from 1804 belonged to the Austrian Empire. He also forwarded the construction of the Semmering railway to Mürzzuschlag and the Austrian Southern Railway line from Vienna to Trieste completed in 1857, history of Styria Map of the Balkans, 1815–59, showing the Duchy of Styria
28.
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamberg
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The Archdiocese of Bamberg is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria and is one of 27 Roman Catholic dioceses in Germany. About a third of the population is Catholic, with 15. 6% this diocese has one of higher numbers of worshippers on Sunday in Germany. It comprises the majority of the regions of Upper Franconia and Middle Franconia, as well as a small part of Lower Franconia. The dioceses of Speyer, Eichstätt, and Würzburg are subordinate to it, the Diocese was founded in 1007 out of parts of the dioceses of Eichstätt and Würzburg. In 1817, the diocese was raised to an archdiocese, at 1 November 1007 a synod was held in Frankfurt. Eight archbishops and twenty-seven bishops were present at the synod as well as the German King Henry II, Henry II intended to create a new diocese that would aid in the final conquest of paganism in the area around Bamberg. The consent of Pope John XVII was obtained for this arrangement, but the elevation of Würzburg to an archbishopric proved impracticable, at the synod Henry obtained permission for the foundation of the diocese of Bamberg from parts of the dioceses of Würzburg and Eichstätt. Bamberg was made subordinate to Rome. It was also decided that Eberhard, the chancellor, would be ordained by the archbishop of Mainz, Willigis. The new diocese had expensive gifts at the synod confirmed by documents, the next seven bishops were named by the emperors, after which free canonical election was the rule. Eberhards immediate successor, Suidger of Morsleben, became pope in 1046 as Clement II and he was the only pope to be interred north of the Alps in the Bamberg Cathedral. In the thirteenth century the diocese became a territorial principality. At the Peace of Westphalia, the bishops recovered their possessions, but these were overrun by the French revolutionary armies, and in 1802 annexed to Bavaria. From 1808 to 1817 the diocese was vacant, but by the Bavarian Concordat of the year it was made an archbishopric, with Würzburg, Speyer. For a list of archbishops, see Archbishop of Bamberg, prince-Bishopric of Bamberg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. Bamberg, Bishopric of. New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, london and New York, Funk and Wagnalls. Official German Catholic Church Statistics website Official site
29.
Danube
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The Danube is Europes second-longest river, after the Volga River, and also the longest river in the European Union region. It is located in Central and Eastern Europe, the Danube was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire, and today flows through 10 countries, more than any other river in the world. Its drainage basin extends into nine more countries, the Latin name Dānuvius is one of a number of Old European river names derived from a Proto-Indo-European *dānu. Other river names from the root include the Dunajec, Dzvina/Daugava, Don, Donets, Dnieper, Dniestr. In Rigvedic Sanskrit, dānu means fluid, drop, in Avestan, in the Rigveda, Dānu once appears as the mother of Vrtra. Known to the ancient Greeks as the Istros a borrowing from a Daco-Thracian name meaning strong, in Latin, the Danube was variously known as Danubius, Danuvius or as Ister. The Dacian/Thracian name was Donaris for the upper Danube and Istros for the lower Danube, the Thraco-Phrygian name was Matoas, the bringer of luck. The Latin name is masculine, as are all its Slavic names, the German Donau is feminine, as it has been re-interpreted as containing the suffix -ouwe wetland. Classified as a waterway, it originates in the town of Donaueschingen, in the Black Forest of Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Brigach. The Danube then flows southeast for about 2,800 km, passing through four capital cities before emptying into the Black Sea via the Danube Delta in Romania and its drainage basin extends into nine more. The highest point of the basin is the summit of Piz Bernina at the Italy–Switzerland border. The land drained by the Danube extends into other countries. Many Danubian tributaries are important rivers in their own right, navigable by barges, from its source to its outlet into the Black Sea, its main tributaries are, The Danube flows through many cities, including four national capitals, more than any other river in the world. Danube remains a mountain river until Passau, with average bottom gradient 0. 0012%. Middle Section, From Devín Gate to Iron Gate, at the border of Serbia and Romania, the riverbed widens and the average bottom gradient becomes only 0. 00006%. Lower Section, From Iron Gate to Sulina, with average gradient as little as 0. 00003%, about 60 of its tributaries are also navigable. In 1994 the Danube was declared one of ten Pan-European transport corridors, routes in Central, the amount of goods transported on the Danube increased to about 100 million tons in 1987. In 1999, transport on the river was difficult by the NATO bombing of three bridges in Serbia during the Kosovo War
30.
Otto II, Duke of Bavaria
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Otto II of Bavaria known as Otto the Illustrious was the Duke of Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine. He was a son of Louis I and Ludmilla of Bohemia, at the age of sixteen, he was married to Agnes of the Palatinate, a granddaughter of Duke Henry the Lion and Conrad of Hohenstaufen. With this marriage, the Wittelsbach inherited Palatinate and kept it as a Wittelsbach possession until 1918, since that time also the lion has become a heraldic symbol in the coat of arms for Bavaria and the Palatinate. He was knighted in 1228 and given the Palatine County of the Rhine by his father, with the murder of his father in 1231 Otto also became Duke of Bavaria. There were rumors that the murderer had been bribed by the Hohenstaufen so Otto had a relationship with Emperor Frederick II. His first years of government fulfilled disputes and feuds with the bishops of the country, during his conflict with Frederick II, Duke of Austria Otto occupied Wels in 1233. This caused the hostility of King Henry who was in rebellion against his father Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, Otto had to extradite his son Louis as a hostage. But the incident improved his relationship to the emperor who fearing the discontent of the German princes ordered to release Louis, but only in 1241 after a dispute with emperor Frederick II was finally ended, Otto joined the Hohenstaufen party. The previously unsteady Otto then remained true to the Emperor, reasons were also the threat of the Mongol invasion of Europe and increaseing frictions with Wenceslaus I of Bohemia after the death of Frederick of Austria and suspiciousness against Henry Raspe. Ottos daughter, Elizabeth, was married to Fredericks son Conrad IV in 1246, because of this, Otto was excommunicated by the pope. He was convinced by Bertold of Regensburg to repent in 1250, but when Otto died in Landshut in 1253 only 12 years later, at the request of the widow and the sons, his body was given an ecclesiastical burial. Pope Clemens declared that the Duke had given signs of repentance. Like his forefathers, Otto was buried in the crypt of Scheyern Abbey, Otto acquired the rich regions of Bogen in 1240, and Andechs and Ortenburg in 1248 as possessions for the Wittelsbach and extended his power base in Bavaria this way. With the county of Bogen the Wittelsbach acquired also the white, Otto married Agnes, the daughter of Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine and Agnes of Hohenstaufen, in Worms in 1222. Their children were, Louis I, Duke of Upper Bavaria, Henry I, Duke of Lower Bavaria (19 November 1235, Landshut –3 February 1290, Burghausen. Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Germany, married to,1246 in Vohburg to Conrad IV of Germany,1259 in Munich to Count Meinhard II of Gorizia-Tyrol, sophie, married 1258 to Count Gerhard IV of Sulzbach and Hirschberg
31.
Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)
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The Imperial Diet was the deliberative and legislative body of the Holy Roman Empire. Its members were the Imperial Estates, divided into three colleges, the diet as a permanent, regularized institution evolved from the Hoftage of the Middle Ages. From 1663 until the end of the empire in 1806, it was in permanent session at Regensburg, the Imperial Estates had, according to feudal law, no authority above them besides the Holy Roman Emperor himself. The holding of an Imperial Estate entitled one to a vote in the diet, thus, an individual member might have multiple votes and votes in different colleges. In general, members did not attend the permanent diet at Regensburg, the late imperial diet was in effect a permanent meeting of ambassadors between the Estates. Initially, there was neither a fixed time nor location for the Diet, the Golden Bull of 1356 cemented the concept of territorial rule, the largely independent rule of the dukes over their respective territories, and also limited the number of electors to seven. The Pope, contrary to myth, was never involved in the electoral process. However, until the late 15th century, the Diet was not actually formalized as an institution, instead, the dukes and other princes would irregularly convene at the court of the Emperor, these assemblies were usually referred to as Hoftage. Only beginning in 1489 was the Diet called the Reichstag, initially, the two colleges were that of the prince-electors and that of the other dukes and princes. Several attempts to reform the Empire and end its slow disintegration, notably starting with the Diet of 1495, from then to its end in 1806, the Empire was not much more than a collection of largely independent states. Only with the introduction of the Perpetual Diet of Regensburg in 1663 did the Diet permanently convene in a fixed location. The Imperial Diet of Constance opened on 27 April 1507, it recognized the unity of the Holy Roman Empire and founded the Imperial Chamber, the empire’s supreme court. Since 1489, the Diet comprised three colleges, The Electoral college, led by the Prince-Archbishop of Mainz in his capacity as Archchancellor of Germany, in 1692 the Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg became the ninth Prince-elector as Archbannerbearer during the Nine Years War. In the War of the Bavarian Succession, the dignities of the Palatinate. The college of Imperial Princes incorporated the Imperial Counts as well as lords, Prince-Bishops. Strong in members, though often discordant, the second college tried to preserve its interests against the dominance of the Prince-electors, the House of Princes was again subdivided into an ecclesiastical and a secular bench. Remarkably, the bench was headed by the—secular—Archduke of Austria. As the Austrian House of Habsburg had failed to assume the leadership of the secular bench, the ecclesiastical bench also comprised the Grand Master and Deutschmeister of the Teutonic Knights, as well as the Grand Prior of the Monastic State of the Knights Hospitaller at Heitersheim
32.
Eger
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Eger is the county seat of Heves, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary. Eger is best known for its castle, thermal baths, historic buildings, dishes and its population according to the census of 2011 makes it the 19th largest centre of population in Hungary and the 2nd largest in Northern Hungary. The town is located on the Eger Stream, on the hills of the Bükk Mountains, the origin of its name is still unknown. One suggestion is that the place was named after the elder which grew so abundantly along the banks of the Eger Stream, the German name of the town, Erlau=Erlen-au also speaks in favour of this supposition. And there is another theory says that Egers name comes from the Latin word. This theory comes from more recent researchers who think that during the 11th and 12th centuries settlers with a Walloon origin moved to this territory, the shield of Eger developed from the shield of Bishop György Fenesy after an agreement which was made with him in 1694. The bastion with the three gates on it refers to the existence of the fortress, the rampant unicorn between the two bastions on the side of the shield came from the bishops shield. The sword in the fore-feet of the unicorn symbolises the power of life. The snake twisting on the stands for the defeat of treachery. The star and the sun symbolise the alternation of days and nights, and finally, the eagle with a gospel in its clutches refers to apostle and evangelist Saint John who is the patron saint of the Archdiocese of Eger. Eger has been inhabited since the Stone Age, todays Eger was formed in the 10th century by St. Stephen, the first Christian king of Hungary, who founded an episcopal see in Eger. The first cathedral of Eger was built on Castle Hill, within the present site of Eger Castle, Eger grew around this cathedral, and remains an important religious centre in Hungary. This settlement took up an important place among the Hungarian towns even in the early Middle Ages, the natural fundamentals of the surroundings made it possible to establish economic and cultural relations between the different parts of the country. During the 11th and 12th centuries, Walloon settlers came from the areas beyond the Rhine and they settled with the kings permission, bringing western culture to this region and acclimating the viticulture. The development of the town accelerated with their presence and this development was blocked for a short time by the Mongol invasion in 1241, when the town was ransacked and burned down during the episcopacy of Kilit the Second. After the withdrawal of the Mongols, Eger began to flourish all over again, lambert, the bishop of Eger, received a permit from Béla IV for the building a stone fortress. So the nearly destroyed town revived and reached the peak of its development in the l4th and 15th centuries. During this period the forests which spread to the limits of the town were cleared for the most part, more and more town-houses were built in the settlement
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Excommunication
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The word excommunication means putting a specific individual or group out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group, Excommunication may involve banishment, shunning, and shaming, depending on the religion, the offense that caused excommunication, or the rules or norms of the religious community. 1 Corinthians 5, 1-8 directs the church at Corinth to excommunicate a man for sexual immorality, in 2 Corinthians 2, 5-11, the man, having repented and suffered the punishment by the majority is restored to the church. In Romans 16,17, Paul writes to mark those who cause divisions contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned and avoid them. Also, in 2 John 1, 10-11, the writer advises believers that whosoever transgresseth and he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed, within the Catholic Church, there are differences between the discipline of the majority Latin Church regarding excommunication and that of the Eastern Catholic Churches. Excommunication can be either latae sententiae or ferendae sententiae, according to Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki, excommunication does not expel the person from the Catholic Church, but simply forbids the excommunicated person from engaging in certain activities. g. A thus excommunicated bishop cannot validly invest a priest as pastor of a vacant parish and they are urged to retain a relationship with the Church, as the goal is to encourage them to repent and return to active participation in its life. These are the effects for those who have incurred a latae sententiae excommunication. Since excommunication excludes from reception of the sacraments, absolution from excommunication is required before absolution can be given from the sin that led to the censure, in many cases, the whole process takes place on a single occasion in the privacy of the confessional. For some more serious wrongdoings, absolution from excommunication is reserved to a bishop, another ordinary and these can delegate a priest to act on their behalf. Such ceremonies are not held today, and instead are simply announced by the bishop, interdict is a censure similar to excommunication. It too excludes from ministerial functions in public worship and from reception of the sacraments, in the Eastern Catholic Churches, excommunications is imposed only by decree, never incurred automatically by latae sententiae excommunication. A distinction is made between minor and major excommunication and those on whom minor excommunication has been imposed are excluded from receiving the Eucharist and can also be excluded from participating in the Divine Liturgy. They can even be excluded from entering a church when divine worship is being celebrated there, the decree of excommunication must indicate the precise effect of the excommunication and, if required, its duration. They are to be removed from participation in the Divine Liturgy, and they are deprived of the right to vote or to be elected. Minor excommunication is roughly equivalent to the interdict in Western law, under current law, an excommunicate is never vitandus. Persons belonging to an Eastern Catholic Church are never subject to a latae sententiae punishment, according to the Code of Canon Law of 1917, the excommunications reserved to the Apostolic See were grouped in three categories, those reserved 1
34.
Anti-king
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An anti-king, anti king or antiking is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch. The term is used in a European historical context where it relates to elective monarchies rather than hereditary ones. In hereditary monarchies such figures are frequently referred to as pretenders or claimants. Anti-kings are most commonly referred to in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire, before the Golden Bull of 1356 issued by Emperor Charles IV defined the provisions of the Imperial election, other nations with elective monarchies that produced anti-kings included Bohemia and Hungary. Several anti-kings succeeded in vindicating their claims to power, and were recognized as kings, for example, King Conrad III of Germany, Emperor Frederick II. The status of others as anti-kings is still disputed, e. g. in the case of Duke Henry II of Bavaria, ihre Rechtsgrundlagen bis zur goldenen Bulle, 2nd expanded edition, Rohrer, Brünn, Munich, Vienna,1944, pp.113 ff. Vom Frankenreich bis zur Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands, 5th revised edition, expanded with a table of chronology, in, Handwörterbuch zur deutschen Rechtsgeschichte, 2nd, fully revised and expanded edition. Published by Albrecht Cordes, Heiner Lück, Dieter Werkmüller and Ruth Schmidt-Wiegand as philological advisor, edited by, Falk Hess and Andreas Karg, Vol. I, Aachen-Geistliche Bank, Erich Schmidt Verlag, Berlin
35.
Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia
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Henry Raspe succeeded his nephew Hermann II as Landgrave of Thuringia in central Germany in 1241, he later was elected anti-king in 1246–1247 in opposition to Conrad IV of Germany. In 1226, Henrys brother Louis IV, Landgrave of Thuringia, died en route to the Sixth Crusade, and Henry became regent for his under-age nephew Hermann II, Landgrave of Thuringia. He managed to expel his nephew and the young mother, St. Elisabeth of Hungary, from the line of succession. In 1242 Henry, together with King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia, was selected by Emperor Frederick II to be administrator of Germany for Fredericks under-age son Conrad. After the papal ban on Frederick imposed by Pope Innocent IV in 1245, Raspe changed sides, the strong papal prodding that led to his election earned Raspe the derogatory moniker of Pfaffenkönig. Henry defeated Conrad in the Battle of Nidda in southern Hesse in August 1246, having suffered a mortal wound, he died February 1247 in Wartburg Castle near Eisenach in Thuringia. In 1228, he married Elisabeth, the daughter of Albert II, after her death, he married Gertrude, the daughter of Leopold VI, Duke of Austria. After her death, he married Beatrix, the daughter of Henry II, all three of his marriages were childless. After his death, the Emperor enfeoffed Thuringia to Henry III, Geschichte Thüringens Zur Zeit Des Ersten Landgrafenhauses. Galletti, Johann Georg A. Geschichte Thüringens, thüringen im Mittelalter 1130-1310 Von den Ludowingern zu den Wettinern
36.
Conrad IV of Germany
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Conrad, a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was the only son of Emperor Frederick II from his second marriage with Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem. He inherited the title of a King of Jerusalem upon the death of his mother in childbed, appointed Duke of Swabia in 1235, his father had him elected King of Germany and crowned King of Italy in 1237. After the emperor was deposed and died in 1250, he ruled as King of Sicily until his death and he was the second but only surviving son of Emperor Frederick II and Isabella II, the queen regnant of Jerusalem. Born in Andria, in the South Italian Kingdom of Sicily, his mother died giving birth to him. By his father, Conrad was the grandson of the Hohenstaufen emperor Henry VI and he lived in Southern Italy until 1235, when he first visited the Kingdom of Germany. When Emperor Frederick II deposed his eldest son, Conrads rebellious half-brother King Henry, however, the emperor was not able to have him elected King of the Romans until the 1237 Imperial Diet in Vienna. This title, though not acknowledged by Pope Gregory IX, presumed his future as a Holy Roman Emperor, Conrad intervened directly in German politics from around 1240. However, when Pope Innocent IV imposed a ban on Frederick in 1245 and declared Conrad deposed. Henry Raspe defeated Conrad in the battle of Nidda in August 1246 and he was succeeded as anti-king by William of Holland. Also in 1246, Conrad married Elisabeth of Bavaria, a daughter of Otto II Wittelsbach and they had a son Conradin, in 1252. In 1250 Conrad settled momentarily the situation in Germany by defeating William of Holland, when Frederick II died in the same year, he passed Sicily and Germany, as well as the title of Jerusalem, to Conrad, but the struggle with the pope continued. Having been defeated by William in 1251, Conrad decided to invade Italy, hoping to regain the rich dominions of his father, in January 1252 he invaded Apulia with a Venetian fleet and successfully managed to restrain Manfred and to exercise control of the country. In October 1253 his troops conquered Naples, Conrad was however not able to subdue the popes supporters, and the pope in turn offered Sicily to Edmund Crouchback, son of Henry III of England. Conrad was excommunicated in 1254 and died of malaria in the year at Lavello in Basilicata. Manfred first, and later Conrads son Conradin, continued the struggle with the Papacy, Conrads widow Elisabeth remarried to Meinhard II, Count of Tirol, who in 1286 became Duke of Carinthia. Conrads death in 1254 began the Interregnum, during which no ruler managed to gain undisputed control of Germany, the Interregnum ended in 1273, with the election of Rudolph of Habsburg as King of the Romans. He was related to other king of Germany
37.
Gelnhausen Codex
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The Gelnhausen Codex is an early-15th-century manuscript compiled by John of Gelnhausen, city scribe of Iglau. It is preserved in the city archive of Jihlava, Czech Republic and it is an important source of 14th-century Czech history. Michael Simboeck, Der Codex Gelnhausen und seine Miniaturen, dietrich W. Poeck, Rituale der Ratswahl. Zeichen und Zeremoniell der Ratssetzung in Europa, zum Jubiläum des Codex Gelnhausen 1405-2005. Media related to Gelnhausen Codex at Wikimedia Commons Codex Gelnhausen online
38.
Batu Khan
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Batu Khan, also known as Sain Khan and Tsar Batu, was a Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde, division of the Mongol Empire. Batu was a son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan and his ulus was the chief state of the Golden Horde, which ruled Rus, Volga Bulgaria, Cumania, and the Caucasus for around 250 years, after also destroying the armies of Poland and Hungary. Batu or Bat literally means firm in the Mongolian language, after the deaths of Genghis Khans sons, he became the most respected prince called agha in the Mongol Empire. After his son Jochis death, Genghis Khan assigned Jochis appanages to his sons, but the Great Khan installed Batu as Khan of the Golden Horde. Jochis eldest son, Orda Khan, also agreed that Batu should succeed their father, Genghis Khans youngest brother Temüge attended the coronation ceremony as an official representative of Genghis. When Genghis Khan died in 1227, he left 4,000 Mongol men to Jochis family, Jochis lands were divided between Batu and his older brother Orda. Ordas White Horde ruled the lands roughly between the Volga river and Lake Balkhash, while Batus Horde ruled the lands west of the Volga, in 1229, Ögedei dispatched three tumens under Kukhdei and Sundei to conquer the tribes on the lower Ural River. Despite heavy resistance of their enemies, the Mongols conquered major cities of the Jurchens, at the kurultai in Mongolia after the end of the Mongol-Jin War, the Great Khan Ögedei ordered Batu to conquer western nations. In 1235 Batu, who earlier had directed the conquest of the Crimean Peninsula, was assigned an army of possibly 130,000 to oversee an invasion of Europe. His relatives and cousins Güyük, Büri, Möngke, Khulgen, Khadan, Baidar and notable Mongol generals Subutai, Borolday, the army, actually commanded by Subutai, crossed the Volga and invaded Volga Bulgaria in 1236. It took them a year to extinguish the resistance of the Volga Bulgarians, Kypchaks, in November 1237 Batu Khan sent his envoys to the court of Yuri II of Vladimir-Suzdal and demanded his allegiance. When Yuri refused to surrender the Mongols besieged Ryazan, after six days of bloody battle, the city was totally annihilated and never restored to its former glory. Alarmed by the news, Yuri II sent his sons to detain the horde, having burnt Kolomna and Moscow, the horde laid siege to the capital of Vladimir-Suzdal on February 4,1238. Three days later the city was taken and burnt to the ground, the royal family perished in the fire, while the grand prince hastily retreated northward. Crossing the Volga, he mustered a new army, which was exterminated by the Mongols on the Sit River on March 4. The most difficult to take was the town of Kozelsk, whose boy-prince Titus. As the story goes, at the news of Mongol approach, the city of Kitezh was submerged in a lake with all its inhabitants, Khadan and Buri stormed the city in three days after they joined Batu. Batu sent an envoy to his uncle Ögedei to complain of his cousins rude behavior, Ögedei got angry on hearing the news and recalled Buri and Güyük
39.
Subutai
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Subutai was an Uriankhai general, and the primary military strategist of Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan. He gained victory by means of imaginative and sophisticated strategies and routinely coordinated movements of armies that were hundreds of kilometers away from each other. He is also remembered for devising the campaign destroyed the armies of Hungary. Historians believe Subutai was born in the year 1175, probably just west of the upper Onon River in what is now Mongolia and he belonged to the Uriankhai clan. Subutais family had associated with the family of Temujin for many generations. Subutais great-great grandfather, Nerbi, was supposedly an ally of the Mongol Khan Tumbina Sechen, Jelme rescued a severely wounded Temujin in the process of unification of the Mongolian plateau. Another brother, Chaurkhan is mentioned in the Secret History of the Mongols, despite this close family association, Subutai may be considered proof that the Mongol Empire was a meritocracy. He was a commoner by birth, the son of Jarchigudai, within a decade he rose to become a general, in command of one of 4 tumens operating in the vanguard. In 1212 he took Huan by storm, the first major independent exploit mentioned in the sources, Genghis Khan is reported to have called him one of his dogs of war in The Secret History of the Mongols, They are the Four Dogs of Temujin. They have foreheads of brass, their jaws are like scissors, their tongues like piercing awls, their heads are iron, in the day of battle, they devour enemy flesh. Behold, they are now unleashed, and they slobber at the mouth with glee and these four dogs are Jebe, and Kublai, Jelme, and Subotai. Mongol histories say that Subutai said to Genghis Khan, I will ward off your enemies as felt cloth protects one from the wind, Subutai was one of the first Mongol generals, alongside Genghis Khan, who realized the value of engineers in siege warfare. Even in field battles he made use of engines, much as Chinese armies had in their own wars. In the Battle of Mohi, the Hungarian crossbowmen repelled a night bridge crossing by the Mongols, Subutai ordered huge stonethrowers to clear the bank of Hungarian crossbowmen and open the way for his light cavalry to cross the river without further losses. This use of weapons was one of the first recorded uses in the West of artillery outside of siege warfare. While the stonethrowers were clearing the path to cross the main bridge, Subutai was also well known for incorporating conquered peoples who brought specialized skills into his forces, especially engineers. He was skilled at gathering and planning his campaigns well in advance. For instance, he used spies to gather information on the Russian principalities, the Poles, and he tailored his strategy to match the enemy, adjusting his tactics according to the opponents, the terrain, and the weather as required
40.
Mongol Empire
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The Mongol Empire existed during the 13th and 14th centuries and was the largest contiguous land empire in history. The Mongol Empire emerged from the unification of tribes in the Mongol homeland under the leadership of Genghis Khan. The empire grew rapidly under the rule of him and his descendants, the Toluids prevailed after a bloody purge of Ögedeid and Chagataid factions, but disputes continued even among the descendants of Tolui. Kublai successfully took power, but civil war ensued as Kublai sought unsuccessfully to control of the Chagatayid and Ögedeid families. The Battle of Ain Jalut in 1260 marked the point of the Mongol conquests and was the first time a Mongol advance had ever been beaten back in direct combat on the battlefield. In 1304, the three western khanates briefly accepted the suzerainty of the Yuan dynasty, but it was later taken by the Han Chinese Ming dynasty in 1368. What is referred to in English as the Mongol Empire was called the Ikh Mongol Uls, in the 1240s, one of Genghiss descendants, Güyük Khan, wrote a letter to Pope Innocent IV which used the preamble Dalai Khagan of the great Mongolian state. After the succession war between Kublai Khan and his brother Ariq Böke, Ariq limited Kublais power to the part of the empire. Kublai officially issued an edict on December 18,1271 to name the country Great Yuan to establish the Yuan dynasty. Some sources state that the full Mongolian name was Dai Ön Yehe Monggul Ulus, the area around Mongolia, Manchuria, and parts of North China had been controlled by the Liao dynasty since the 10th century. In 1125, the Jin dynasty founded by the Jurchens overthrew the Liao dynasty, in the 1130s the Jin dynasty rulers, known as the Golden Kings, successfully resisted the Khamag Mongol confederation, ruled at the time by Khabul Khan, great-grandfather of Temujin. The Mongolian plateau was occupied mainly by five powerful tribal confederations, Keraites, Khamag Mongol, Naiman, Mergid, khabuls successor was Ambaghai Khan, who was betrayed by the Tatars, handed over to the Jurchen, and executed. The Mongols retaliated by raiding the frontier, resulting in a failed Jurchen counter-attack in 1143, in 1147, the Jin somewhat changed their policy, signing a peace treaty with the Mongols and withdrawing from a score of forts. The Mongols then resumed attacks on the Tatars to avenge the death of their late khan, the Jin and Tatar armies defeated the Mongols in 1161. During the rise of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century and it is thought that as a result, a rapid increase in the number of war horses and other livestock significantly enhanced Mongol military strength. Known during his childhood as Temujin, Genghis Khan was the son of a Mongol chieftain, when he was young he was from one of Yesugis orphaned and deserted families, he rose very rapidly by working with Toghrul Khan of the Kerait. Kurtait was the most powerful Mongol leader during this time and was given the Chinese title Wang which means Prince, Temujin went to war with Wang Khan. After Temujin defeated Wang Khan he gave himself the name Genghis Khan and he then enlarged his Mongol state under himself and his kin
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Mongol invasion of Europe
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The Mongol invasion of Europe in the 13th century was the military effort by an Asian power, the Mongol Empire, to invade and conquer parts of Europe. It involved the severe and rampant destruction of East Slavic principalities and major cities, such as Kiev, Mongol invasions also affected Central Europe, leading to conflict with the Kingdom of Hungary and fragmented Poland. The operations were masterminded by General Subutai and commanded by Batu Khan and Kadan, as a result of the invasions, many of the conquered territories would become part of the Golden Horde empire. Historians regard the Mongol raids and invasions as among the deadliest conflicts in history up through that period. Ögedei Khan ordered Batu Khan to conquer Rus in 1235, the main force, headed by Jochis sons, and their cousins, Möngke Khan and Güyük Khan, arrived at Ryazan in December 1237. Ryazan refused to surrender, and the Mongols sacked it and then stormed Suzdalia, many Rus armies were defeated, Grand Prince Yuri was killed on the Sit River. Major cities such as Vladimir, Torzhok, and Kozelsk were captured, afterward, the Mongols turned their attention to the steppe, crushing the Kypchaks and the Alans and sacking Crimea. Batu appeared in Ukraine in 1239, sacking Pereiaslav and Chernihiv, most of the Rus princes fled when it became clear resistance was futile. The Mongols sacked Kiev on December 6,1240 and conquered Galich, Batu sent a small detachment to probe the Poles before passing on to Central Europe. One column was routed by the Poles while the defeated the Polish army. The Mongols had acquired Chinese gunpowder, which deployed in battle during the invasion of Europe to great success. The attack on Europe was planned and executed by Subutai, who achieved perhaps his most lasting fame with his victories there. Having devastated the various Rus principalities, he sent spies into Poland and Hungary, having a clear picture of the European kingdoms, he prepared an attack nominally commanded by Batu Khan and two other familial-related princes. He also commanded the column that moved against Hungary. While Kadans northern force won the Battle of Legnica and Güyüks army triumphed in Transylvania, the newly reunited army then withdrew to the Sajo River where they inflicted a decisive defeat on King Béla IV of Hungary at the Battle of Mohi. Again, Subutai masterminded the operation, and it would one of his greatest victories. The Mongols invaded Central Europe with three armies, one army defeated an alliance which included forces from fragmented Poland and members of various Christian military orders, led by Henry II the Pious, Duke of Silesia in the battle of Legnica. A second army crossed the Carpathian mountains and a third followed the Danube, the armies re-grouped and crushed Hungary in 1241, defeating the Hungarian army at the Battle of Mohi on April 11,1241
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Silesia
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Silesia is a region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is about 40,000 km2, and its population about 8,000,000, Silesia is located along the Oder River. It consists of Lower Silesia and Upper Silesia, the region is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesias largest city and historical capital is Wrocław, the biggest metropolitan area is the Upper Silesian metropolitan area, the centre of which is Katowice. Parts of the Czech city of Ostrava fall within the borders of Silesia, Silesias borders and national affiliation have changed over time, both when it was a hereditary possession of noble houses and after the rise of modern nation-states. The first known states to hold there were probably those of Greater Moravia at the end of the 9th century. In the 10th century, Silesia was incorporated into the early Polish state, in the 14th century, it became a constituent part of the Bohemian Crown Lands under the Holy Roman Empire, which passed to the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy in 1526. Most of Silesia was conquered by Prussia in 1742, later becoming part of the German Empire, the Weimar Republic, the varied history with changing aristocratic possessions resulted in an abundance of castles in Silesia, especially in the Jelenia Góra valley. The remaining former Austrian parts of Silesia were partitioned to Czechoslovakia, in 1945, after World War II, the bulk of Silesia was transferred to Polish jurisdiction by the Potsdam Agreement of the victorious Allied Powers and became part of Poland. The small Lusatian strip west of the Oder-Neisse line, which had belonged to Silesia since 1815 and its centres are Görlitz and Bautzen. Most inhabitants of Silesia today speak the languages of their respective countries. The population of Upper Silesia is native, while Lower Silesia was settled by a German-speaking population before 1945, an ongoing debate exists whether Silesian speech should be considered a dialect of Polish or a separate language. Also, a Lower Silesian German dialect is used, although today it is almost extinct and it is used by expellees within Germany, as well as Germans who were left behind. The names all relate to the name of a river and mountain in mid-southern Silesia, the mountain served as a cultic place. Ślęża is listed as one of the numerous Pre-Indo-European topographic names in the region, according to some Polish Slavists, the name Ślęża or Ślęż is directly related to the Old Slavic words ślęg or śląg, which means dampness, moisture, or humidity. They disagree with the hypothesis of an origin for the name Śląsk from the name of the Silings tribe, in the fourth century BC, Celts entered Silesia, settling around Mount Ślęża near modern Wrocław, Oława, and Strzelin. Germanic Lugii tribes were first recorded within Silesia in the 1st century, Slavic peoples arrived in the region around the 7th century, and by the early ninth century, their settlements had stabilized. Local Slavs started to erect boundary structures like the Silesian Przesieka, the eastern border of Silesian settlement was situated to the west of the Bytom, and east from Racibórz and Cieszyn
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ottakar I. § Ottakar II.". Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 368.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
