HASTENING TOWARD PRAGUE
THE MIDDLE AGES SERIES
Ruth Mazo Karras, Series Editor
Edward Peters, Founding Editor
A complete list of books in the series
is available from the publisher.
HASTENING TOWARD PRAGUE
Power and Society in the Medieval Czech Lands
LISA WOLVERTON
UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS
Philadelphia
Copyright © 2001 University of Pennsylvania Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Published by
University of Pennsylvania Press
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4011
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wolverton, Lisa.
Hastening toward Prague : power and society in the medieval Czech lands / Lisa Wolverton.
p. cm. — (Middle Ages series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8122-3613-0 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Bohemia (Czech Republic)—Politics and government—12th century. 2. Bohemia (Czech Republic)—Kings and rulers. 3. Power (Social sciences)—Czech Republic—Bohemia. 4. Přemyslid dynasty. 5. Cosmas, of Prague, 1045?–1125. I. Title. II. Series.
| DB2082.5.W65 2001 | |
| 943.71′6223—dc21 | 2001027490 |
To my parents and my husband
CONTENTS
List of Maps, Figures, and Tables
PART I: THE STRUCTURE OF POWER
PART II: DYNAMICS AND STRATEGIES
5. Politics and the Divine: The Meaning and Mobilization of Saint Václav
6. Dynastic Relations, Moravia, and the Progress of Revolt
7. Manipulations of Imperial Authority
Conclusion: Leadership and Community
Appendix A: Selected Magnate Genealogies
Appendix B: Names and Language
MAPS, FIGURES, AND TABLES
MAPS
3. Land consolidation by Plasy before 1198
4. Lands of Hroznata (Peruc), Měsko, Hroznata (Teplá)
5. Milhost’s foundation at Mašt’ov
6. Monasteries established before 1125
7. Monasteries established before 1175
8. Moravia
FIGURES
1. Přemyslids before Břetislav I (men)
2. Eleventh- and twelfth-century Přemyslids (men)
3. Denarii of various periods
4. Seal of Soběslav II, charter dated 1175
5. Seals, Duke Frederick charter, 1178–89
6. Seal of Přemysl Otakar I, charter dated 1207
TABLES
3. Witnesses, Duke Frederick, charter, 1187
4. Wives of dukes and vice-dukes
5. Burial places of Přemyslids
6. Bishops of Prague and Olomouc
Duke Vladislav commended the city to his brother, Theobald, … with some very fierce warriors to protect the castle and the princely throne, a certain stone one, which even now stands in the castle’s center; for its sake, not only now but from of old, many thousands of warriors have rushed to war.
—Vincent of Prague
INTRODUCTION
This book has two purposes: to study society and politics in the Czech Lands between roughly 1050 and 1200, and to reexamine the nature of power in the High Middle