Ottokar II of Bohemia
Otakar II (also spelled
Ottokar or
Přemysl Otakar/Ottokar) (c.
1230 –
August 26,
1278) was a king of
Bohemia (1253–1278). He was the second son of King
Wenceslaus I of the
Přemyslid dynasty, and through his mother, Kunigunde, was related to the
Hohenstaufen family, being a grandson of the
German king,
Philip of Swabia. After the death of his older brother Vladislav in 1247 he became the only heir to the throne.
During his father's lifetime he ruled
Moravia, but when in 1248 some discontented Bohemian nobles acknowledged him as their sovereign, trouble arose between him and his father, and for a short time Otakar was imprisoned. However, in 1251 the young prince secured his election as
duke of Austria, where he strengthened his position by marrying the 30 years older
Margaret (d. 1267), sister of Duke
Frederick II, the last of the
Babenberg rulers of the duchy and widow of the German king,
Henry VII. Some years later he repudiated this lady and married the young Kunigunde, who was the granddaughter of his rival, the
Hungarian king
Bela IV. She became the mother of his children, the youngest of them being his only legitimate son
Wenceslaus (Vaclav).
Both before and after he became king of Bohemia in succession to his father in September 1253 Otakar was involved in a dispute with
Bela IV, king of Hungary, over the possession of
Styria, which duchy had formerly been united with Austria. By an arrangement made in 1254 he surrendered part of it to Bela, but when the dispute was renewed he defeated the Hungarians in July 1260 near
Kressenbrunn and secured the whole of Styria for himself, owing his formal investiture with Austria and Styria to the German king,
Richard, Earl of Cornwall.
The Bohemian king also led two expeditions (
crusades) against the
Prussians and founded
Königsberg (Czech:
Královec), later capital of
Prussia, named upon him.
In 1269 he inherited
Carinthia and part of
Carniola, and having made good his claim, contested by the Hungarians, on the field of battle, he was the most powerful prince within empire when an election for the German throne took place in 1273. But Otakar was not the successful candidate. He refused to acknowledge his victorious rival,
Rudolph of Habsburg, and urged the pope to adopt a similar attitude. Meanwhile, at a convention of the
Reichstag at
Frankfurt in 1274, Rudolph decreed that all imperial lands seized since the death of
Emperor Frederick II must be returned to the crown. This would have deprived Otakar of Styria, Austria, and
Carinthia. Matters reached a climax in 1276. Placing Otakar under the
ban of the empire, Rudolph besieged
Vienna and compelled Otakar in November 1276 to sign a treaty by which he gave up Austria and the neighbouring duchies, retaining for himself only Bohemia and Moravia. Otakar's son
Wenceslaus was betrothed to Rudolph's daughter Judith, and an uneasy peace was made. Two years later the Bohemian king tried to recover his lost lands. He found allies and collected a large army, but he was defeated by Rudolph and killed at the
Battle of Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen on the
March on
August 26,
1278. His son and successor was
Wenceslaus II.
Ottokar was a founder of towns and a friend of law and order, while he assisted trade and welcomed German immigrants. He is a famous figure both in history and in legend. He was called the "Iron and Gold King" throughout Europe. In the
Divine Comedy Dante sees Ottocar outside the gates of Purgatory, in amiable companionship with his imperial rival Rudolph. He is also the protagonist of a tragedy by the 19th century playwright
Franz Grillparzer.
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