Judith of Bohemia

Judith of Bohemia
Judith of Bohemia
Duchess consort of Poland
Reign	1080–1086
Born	ca. 1056/58 Prague, Bohemia
Died	25 December 1086 Płock, Poland
Burial	Płock Cathedral
Spouse	Władysław I Herman
Issue	Bolesław III Wrymouth
House	Přemyslid dynasty (by birth) Piast dynasty (by marriage)
Father	Vratislaus II of Bohemia
Mother	Adelaide of Hungary

Judith of Bohemia (ca. 1056/58 – 25 December 1086), also known as Judith Přemyslid, was a Bohemian princess of the Přemyslid dynasty, and Duchess of Poland by marriage.

She was a daughter of Duke Vratislaus II of Bohemia by his second wife Adelaide, daughter of King Andrew I of Hungary.^[1][2] She was named after her paternal grandmother Judith of Schweinfurt, who died shortly after her birth.

Life

Family

Judith was the second of four children born from Vratislaus II's marriage with the Hungarian princess Adelaide. The others were Bretislaus II, Ludmila (later a nun) and Vratislaus, who died young in battle. Judith's uncle Duke Spytihněv II died in 1061 and was succeeded by his brother Vratislaus II. One year later, in 1062, Duchess Adelaide died.

Duke Vratislaus II remarried in 1063 to Świętosława, daughter of Duke Casimir I of Poland. From this marriage, Judith gained five half-siblings: Boleslav (Duke of Olomouc, who died shortly before his father), Borivoj II, Vladislav I, Soběslav I Oldřich and Judith, later wife of Wiprecht II of Groitzsch, Burgrave of Magdeburg.

Marriage

Around 1080, Judith married Władysław I Herman, Duke of Poland (nephew of her stepmother), to solidify the recently established Bohemian-Polish alliance.

According to contemporary chroniclers, Duchess Judith performed remarkable charity work, helping the needy and ensuring the comfort of subjects and prisoners. After almost five years of childless marriage, the necessity for an heir increased:

Because she was barren pray to God every day with tears and orations, made sacrifices and paying debts, helping widows and orphans, and given very generous amounts of gold and silver for the monasteries, commanded the priests to pray to the saints and the grace of God for a child.

On 10 June 1085, Judith and her husband were present at the coronation of her father Duke Vratislaus II as the first King of Bohemia. One year later, in on 20 August 1086, she gave birth to the long-awaited son and heir, the future Bolesław III Wrymouth. Sadly, the duchess never recovered from the effects of childbirth and died four months later, on 25 December. She was buried in Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Masovia in Płock.

Three years later, in 1089, her husband was remarried to the widow of Judith's uncle King Solomon of Hungary, Judith of Swabia, who was renamed Sophia in Poland in order to distinguish herself from Władysław I's first wife.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Judith of Bohemia

16. Boleslaus II of Bohemia               8. Oldřich of Bohemia                       17. Emma of Mělník               4. Bretislaus I of Bohemia                             18. Křesina               9. Božena                       2. Vratislaus II of Bohemia                                   20. Berthold               10. Henry of Schweinfurt                       21. Eilika of Walbeck               5. Judith of Schweinfurt                             22. Otto II of Henneberg               11. Gerberga of Henneberg                       1. Judith of Bohemia                                         24. Mihály               12. Vazul                       25. Adelajda of Poland               6. Andrew I of Hungary                             3. Adelaide of Hungary                                   28. Vladimir the Great               14. Yaroslav the Wise                       29. Rogneda of Polotsk               7. Anastasia of Kiev                             30. Olof Skötkonung               15. Ingegerd Olofsdotter of Sweden                       31. Estrid of the Obotrites

Notes

1. Cawley, Charles, BOHEMIA - Judith (died 1086), Medieval Lands database, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy, retrieved 15 July 2014,
2. Marek, Miroslav. "Complete Genealogy of the Premyslid dynasty". genealogy.euweb.cz. Retrieved 15 July 2014.

References

• K. Jasiński: Rodowód pierwszych Piastów, Warsaw – Wrocław, 1992.