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Czechoslovakia Growth
The thirteenth century was the most dynamic period of
Premyslid reign over Bohemia. Emperor Frederick II's
preoccupation with Mediterranean affairs and the dynastic
struggles known as the Great Interregnum (1254-73) weakened
imperial authority in Central Europe, thus providing
opportunities for Premyslid assertiveness. At the same time, the
Mongol invasions (1220-42) absorbed the attention of the Bohemian
Kingdom's eastern neighbors, the Hungarians and the Poles.
In 1212 King Premysl Otakar I (1198-1230) extracted a Golden
Bull (a formal edict) from the emperor confirming the royal title
for Otakar and his descendants. The imperial prerogative to
ratify each Bohemian king and to appoint the bishop of Prague was
revoked. The king's successor, Premysl Otakar II (1253-78),
married a German princess, Margaret of Babenberg, and became duke
of Austria, thereby acquiring upper and lower Austria and part of
Styria. He conquered the rest of Styria, most of Carinthia, and
parts of Carniola. From 1273, however, Hapsburg emperor Rudolf
began to reassert imperial authority. All of Premysl Otakar's
German possessions were lost in 1276, and in 1278 Premysl Otakar
II died in battle against Rudolf.
The thirteenth century was also a period of large-scale
German immigration, often encouraged by Premyslid kings hoping to
weaken the influence of their own Czech nobility. The Germans
populated towns and mining districts on the Bohemian periphery
and in some cases formed German colonies in the interior of the
Czech lands. Stribro, Kutna Hora, Nemecky Brod (present-day
Havliekùv Brod and Jihlava were important German settlements. The
Germans brought their own code of law--the jus teutonicum-
-which formed the basis of the later commercial law of Bohemia
and Moravia. Marriages between Germans and Czech nobles soon
became commonplace.
Data as of August 1987
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