Boleslaus I the Cruel, also called Boleslav I (Czech: Boleslav I. Ukrutný) (c. 913 – 15 July, 967 or 972), was the ruler (kníže, "duke" or "prince") of the Duchy of Bohemia from 935 to his death. He was the Vratislaus I of Bohemia (c882 - 921) and his wife Drahomira of Stodor, and the younger brother of his predecessor, Saint Wenceslaus.
Boleslav is notorious for the murder of his brother Wenceslaus, through which he became Duke of Bohemia. On 28 September929 or 935 he or his man killed him in front of a church ; at precisely that time Boleslav's son was allegedly born. He received a strange name: Strachkvas, which means "a dreadful feast". Being remorseful for what he had done, Boleslav promised to devote his son to religion and educate him as a clergyman.
Despite the fratricide, Boleslav is generally respected by Czech historians as an energetic ruler who significantly strengthened the Bohemian state and expanded its territory. The pro-Christian religious policies pursued by Wenceslaus do not appear to have been a cause for Boleslav's fratricide, since Boleslav in no way impeded the growth of Christianity in Bohemia, and in fact actually sent his daughter Mlada, a nun, to the Pope in Rome to ask permission to make Prague a bishopric.
One of Boleslav's major concerns was the tribute paid yearly to the German (East Frankish) kings as stated in the peace treaty Henry the Fowler had established with Boleslaus' brother Saint Wenceslaus I. He stopped the payment shortly after he ascended the throne, which led to the prolonged war with King Otto the Great. Boleslaus attacked an ally of the Saxons in northwest Bohemia in 936 and defeated two of Otto's armies (from Thuringia and Merseburg). Then war deteriorated to a border raids (the general pattern of warfare in this region at the time), reached its conclusion in 950 when Otto besieged a castle owned by Boleslavs' son, Boleslav signed a peace treaty with Otto. Despite being undefeated, he promised to resume the payment of the tribute. Five years later, the armies of Czechs and Germans allied against the Magyars in the victorious Battle of Lechfeld on 10 August 955. Boleslav had also helped Otto to crush an uprising of Slavs (Stojgněv and Nakon) on the Lower Elbe in Mecklenburg in 953.[1]
Duchy of Bohemia during the reign of Boleslav I and Boleslav II.
Overwhelming invading Hungarians has the same benefits for Germans and Czechs. Less obvious is what Boleslav wanted to gain with his participation in the war against the oborite Slavic dukes in far north. Probably, Boleslav wanted to ensure that his powerful German neighbors did not interfere with him in spreading the Bohemian estates to the east.[2]
After the Battle of Lech, the rest of the huge Magyar army turned to Bohemia, where it was crushed by Boleslav. Because of this victory, Boleslav freed Moravia from Magyar raids and expanded his territory to Upper Silesia and Lesser Poland. To strengthen the Bohemian-Polish alliance, Boleslav's daughter Dobrawa married the pagan Piast prince Mieszko I in 965, and helped bring Christianity to Poland. He was succeeded by his oldest son Boleslaus the Pious.
He also made first bohemian denarius with his name on one side and on the other BIAGOTACOIIIIA or BIAGOTACOVIIX, name of his wife.
Marriage and children
Boleslav's wife may have been Biagota, whose name is recorded on certain coins. It is unknown if she was the mother of all his four adult children:
- Doubravka, wife of Mieszko I of Poland,
- Boleslaus II of Bohemia,
- Strachkvas, possibly the monk Kristián, who wrote the Vitae of Saints Wenceslaus and Ludmila
- Mlada, an Abbess of Saint George's Church in Prague
Children
| Name | Birth | Death | Joined with |
| Boleslaus II of Bohemia (932-999) | 7 February 999 | ||
Footnotes (including sources)
| ‡ General |
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Boleslaus I of Bohemia (c913-c967) Born: c. 908 or 910 Died: 967 or 972
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| Preceded by Wenceslaus I |
Duke of Bohemia 935–972 |
Succeeded by Boleslaus II |
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- ^ "Boje polabských Slovanů za nezávislost v letech 928 – 955" (in cs). E-středověk.cz. http://www.e-stredovek.cz/view.php?cisloclanku=2007050002. Retrieved 7 September 2013.
- ^ "Boleslav I." (in cs). leccos.com. http://leccos.com/index.php/clanky/boleslav-1-2. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
