| Kingdom of Bohemia České království |
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| — State of the Holy Roman Empire Crown land of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown — |
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| Motto: Pravda vítězí (English: "Truth prevails") |
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| Anthem: Svatováclavský chorál "Saint Wenceslas Chorale" |
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| Capital | Prague | ||
| Sovereign state |  Holy Roman Empire Lands of the Bohemian Crown |
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| Duchy | c. 870 | ||
| Kingdom | 1198 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Monarch | Louis IV | ||
| - Minister-President | Dita Charanzová | ||
| Population | |||
| - Total | 7,451,932 | ||
| - Demonym | Bohemian | ||
Bohemia (Czech: Čechy), officially the Kingdom of Bohemia (Czech: České království), also known as Czechia or the Czech Kingdom, is a state of the Holy Roman Empire and Crown land of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown. The capital and largest city is Prague.
The Slavs arrived in the territory of today's Czechia in the fifth and sixth centuries. In the seventh century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samo's Empire. Sometime in 870, the Duchy of Bohemia was founded, which was part of the Great Moravian realm until 895, after Spytihněv swore allegiance to the East Franconian king Arnulf. In 1002, the Duchy of Bohemia was recognized as an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire, and in 1198 it became a kingdom.
Bohemia is one of the Slavic countries that is a state of the Holy Roman Empire.
History[]
Early years of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Přemyslid dynasty (1198-1306)[]
Ottokar I, King of Bohemia.
Prior to 1198, Bohemia already had two kings, Vratislaus II (1085-1092) and then his grandson Vladislaus II (1158-1172), but they only had the title for their person. The inheritance of the title of King of Bohemia was secured only by the third monarch with this title, Ottokar I thanks to the German king Philip of Swabia, who recognized him as a hereditary royal title in 1198, thus officially establishing the Kingdom of Bohemia. In 1212, Ottokar I received the Golden Bull of Sicily from the Roman King Frederick II, which confirmed the inheritance of the title of King of Bohemia. In 1230, Ottokar I died and was succeeded by his son Wenceslaus I. Wenceslaus I faced conflicts with Austria during his reign. Although he lost another battle with Austria in 1246, his older son Vladislaus married Gertrude of Austria, later became Duke of Austria and ruled until his death in 1247.
In 1253, Wenceslaus I died and his younger son Ottokar II became his successor, who ruled as Duke of Austria already in 1251. For a long time, Ottokar II wanted to rule Styria as well, but this was met with opposition from Hungary, which led to wars between Bohemia and Hungary (1252-1254 and then 1259-1260) and in 1260, Bohemia gained control over Styria. After the Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278, Ottokar II died and Bohemia lost control over Austria, which was acquired by the Habsburgs. After the death of Ottokar II in battle in 1278, his son Wenceslaus II ascended the throne and his guardian became Otto V of Brandenburg, who, due to the confusion in Bohemia after the battle, decided to take Wenceslaus to Brandenburg. Later, when Wenceslaus was twelve years old, Otto agreed to his return to Bohemia. Wenceslaus II decided to expand into Poland, where he gained control over Lesser Poland and part of Silesia, and in 1300 he became the Polish king. After the death of Wenceslaus II in 1305, he was succeeded by his son Wenceslaus III. In the same year, Wenceslaus decided to give the crown of Hungary to Otto of Bavaria. On 4 August 1306, Wenceslaus was murdered in Olomouc, ending the Přemyslid rule.
Disputes about the Bohemian throne (1306-1310)[]
After the death of Wenceslaus III, Henry of Carinthia was elected the new King of Bohemia, but he was overthrown in the same year in favor of Rudolph of Habsburg, who died in 1307 during the siege of Horažďovice, thus Henry became king again, but because of his rule, he was overthrown again in 1310 and on John of Luxembourg ascends the throne.
House of Luxembourg and the Hussite Wars (1310-1434)[]
The period of Charles I (Charles IV in the Holy Roman Empire) is the most famous period of Bohemian history.
John of Luxembourg was the husband of Elizabeth of Bohemia, daughter of Wenceslaus II. John died in 1346 and was succeeded by his son Charles. The period of Charles I (Charles IV in the Holy Roman Empire) is the most famous period of Bohemian history, because during his reign Bohemia acquired Brandenburg, Lusatia and the Upper Palatinate, in addition, Charles Bridge and Karlštejn Castle were built during his reign.
The burning of Jan Hus in 1415 caused a dispute between the followers of Jan Hus (Hussites) and the church, which later in 1419 led to the Hussite Wars.
After the death of Charles I in 1378, his son Wenceslaus became his successor. During the reign of Wenceslaus IV, reform preachers who criticized the church and asked for reform were already active, this was continued by Jan Hus who, even though his views were not popular in the church, gained popularity in Bohemia. Hus was later summoned to Kostnice, where he defended his views. Hus never retracted his views, and on 6 July 1415, he was burned in Kostnice. The burning of Jan Hus led to the Hussite Wars between followers of Jan Hus (Hussites) and the church. The Hussites were later divided into radical (Taborites) and moderate (Utraquists) Hussites, which led to the Battle of Lipany in 1434, where the moderate Hussites won, thus ending the Hussite Wars. The Compacts of Basel took place from 1433 to 1436, the purpose of the negotiations was to regulate relations between the Church and moderate Hussites. The negotiations ended on 5 July 1436 with the ratification of the agreement. Sigismund, who ascended the throne after the death of his older brother Wenceslaus IV in 1419, was recognized as King of Bohemia. Although the Hussite Wars ended in 1434, some former Hussite soldiers were active in the territory of today's Moravia, Slovakia, Austria and Poland until 1467.
George of Poděbrady (1434-1471)[]
On 9 December 1437, Sigismund died, which ended the rule of the Luxembourg family, and he was succeeded by Albert of Habsburg, who ruled until his death in 1439. Estates were looking for a suitable candidate for the Bohemian throne. The crown was offered to monarchs such as Duke Albert of Bavaria and Albert of Brandenburg, but they refused it. Since the estates could not find a suitable candidate for the Bohemian throne, the period of interregnum began in Bohemia, which ended in 1453 when Ladislaus the Posthumous was elected the new King of Bohemia. After the death of Ladislaus in 1457, George of Poděbrady was elected the new Bohemian king. George became a successful monarch who inspired the respect of many both in Bohemia and abroad, but he had to face a difficult international political position in Europe as well as domestic opponents. In 1465, an opposition arose in Bohemia against George, who were willing to accept the new Bohemian monarch, originally Casimir IV, but he refused. In 1468, the Bohemian-Hungarian War broke out, and a year later the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus was elected by some estates as the Bohemian counter-king against George.
House of Jagiellons (1471-present)[]
Vladislaus II, the first King of Bohemia from the Jagiellonian family.
After the death of George in 1471, Vladislaus of Jagiellon ascended the throne in Bohemia. After signing the Treaty of Olomouc in 1479 between Vladislaus II and Matthias meant that they both retained the title of hereditary king of Bohemia and divided their powers on a territorial basis, so that Vladislaus ruled only in Bohemia while Matthias ruled Moravia and the neighboring lands of the Crown. The territory of Moravia and the rest of the Crown lands were returned to Bohemia after Hungary's defeat in the battle with the Ottoman Empire in 1526.
(WIP)