Bořivoj I, Duke of Bohemia

Bořivoj I. (* 852-855; † 888/889 ) was the first historically tangible Bohemian prince and the first known ruler from the Přemyslovci.

Life

Its seat was originally the castle Levý Hradec northwest of the present Prague. Driven from his rival Strojmír into Mährerreich, he ordered under the suzerainty of the local king Svatopluk I., and returned with his help, to Bohemia. There he laid the foundation for the Prague Castle Prague Castle on the mountain, from which he ruled his territory around Prague. This results in the Duchy and later Kingdom of Bohemia should develop.

Although Bořivoj is often called the first Duke of Bohemia, one can not yet speak of at this time of a single Bohemian dominion. This developed by his successors, which at that time held Christianization played a great role. According to tradition Bořivoj was with his wife, who later canonized Ludmilla, around the year 880 around baptized by Archbishop Methodius of Salonika. With Ludmilla he had two sons are known by name, Spytihněv I. and Vratislav I, which were successively Duke. The latter is the father of Saint Wenceslas of Bohemia, which is jointly owned with Ludmilla to the patrons, Bohemia.