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| Bretislav III | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Bishop of Prague | |
| Reign | February 1182 – 15 or 19 June 1197 |
| Predecessor | Vališ |
| Successor | Daniel II |
| Duke of Bohemia | |
| Reign | 1193 – 15 or 19 June 1197 |
| Predecessor | Ottokar I |
| Successor | Vladislaus Henry |
| Born | c. 1137 |
| Died | 15 or 19 June 1197 (aged c. 60) Eger |
| Burial | Doksany Abbey |
| Spouse | none |
| Issue | none |
| Dynasty | Přemyslid |
| Father | Jindřich |
| Mother | Margarete |
Henry Bretislav (latinized asBretislaus,Czech:Jindřich Břetislav; died 15 or 19 June 1197), a member of thePřemyslid dynasty, wasBishop of Prague from 1182, thenDuke of Bohemia as "Bretislav III" from 1193 to his death.[1]
Henry was a son of Jindřich (d. after 1169) and his wife Margaret.[1] After his studies at theUniversity of Paris, he returned to Bohemia and was namedprovost at theBasilica of St. Peter and St. Paul inVyšehrad. In 1182, he accepted thediaconate from the hands of his Přemyslid cousin ArchbishopAdalbert III ofSalzburg. Henry Bretislav was elected on 25 March 1182 as successor of the late bishop ofPrague Valentin,[1] and went toMainz to receive affirmation by MetropolitanChristian I. He was ordained a priest on 22 May and crowned bishop the following day.
Bretislav soon came into conflict with DukeFrederick of Bohemia, who had regained the Bohemian throne in 1178 and usurped discretionary power over ecclesiastical properties. In 1187, the bishop officially addressed EmperorFrederick Barbarossa to complain about the duke's infringements. In turn, the emperor elevated Henry Bretislav to aprince of the Holy Roman Empire, providing that the Prague bishop was only subject to theHoly Roman Emperor. However, theimperial immediacy did not outlast Bretislav's tenure.
In the ongoing quarrels over the Prague throne between Duke Frederick and his successorsConrad II andWenceslaus II, he supportedOttokar, a younger son of the late King Vladislaus II with his second wifeJudith of Thuringia. In 1192, Ottokar usurped the Bohemian throne from Wenceslaus II, allied with his younger brotherVladislaus Henry, Prince ofBrno andZnojmo, whom he appointedMargrave of Moravia. Wenceslaus tried to petitionEmperor Henry VI for assistance, but was captured. Henry Bretislav supported Ottokar, but was unable to pay the necessary tribute of 6,000écus to the emperor for the Bohemian crown and the Moravian margraviate. While on a pilgrimage toSantiago de Compostela, he was captured by Henry VI, who held him captive at his court.
Emperor Henry VI, however, was not ignorant of Bohemian affairs. When Ottokar joined a revolt of several German princes against the rulingHouse of Hohenstaufen, he and his brother and Vladislaus Henry were declared deposed in June 1193 by a decision of theImperial Diet atWorms. Ottokar was abandoned by the nobility and fled; the emperor exempted his cousin Bishop Henry Bretislav from the payment and enfeoffed him with the Bohemian duchy. Margrave Vladislaus Henry was summoned toPrague Castle, where he had to spend the following years suspiciously eyed by Duke Bretislav.
Bretislav had to secure his duchy by force of arms. By Christmas 1193, he was keeping court at Prague. In 1195, he drove Vladislaus out of Moravia and installed one of his supporters in the march. Bretislav also took part in an Imperial campaign inMeissen,[2] where his army plundered the churches. To make amends, he planned to take part in the GermanCrusade of 1197, decided on at the diet of Worms of December 1195, but due to his prolonged illness it was never actualised. When Ottokar marched against Prague, Henry Bretislav proceeded to theImperial Palace in Eger (Cheb), where he died on 15 or 19 June 1197.[3] He is buried in theDoksany monastery church.
On 23 June the Bohemian nobles elected Margrave Vladislaus Henry his successor. Shortly afterwards, he came to terms with his brother Ottokar, who finally ascended the Prague throne and the next year obtained the royal title fromPhilip of Swabia, confirmed by the German kingFrederick II in the 1212Golden Bull of Sicily.
Bretislav III Died: 15 June 1197 | ||
| Preceded by | Duke of Bohemia 1193–1197 | Succeeded by |
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