Wenceslaus II of Bohemia
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Wenceslaus II Premyslid (Czech: Václav II; Polish: Wacław II Czeski; September 17, 1271 – June 21, 1305) was King of Bohemia (part of Holy Roman Empire) (1278 - 1305), Duke of Kraków (1291 - 1305), King of Poland (1300 - 1305).
He was the only son of King Ottokar II "the Great" of Bohemia and Ottokar's second wife Kunigunda. Kunigunda was the daughter of Rostislav, lord of Slavonia, son of a Grand Duke of Kiev and Anna of Hungary, daughter of Béla IV of Hungary. Wenceslaus's father died in battle August 26, 1278, shortly before Wenceslaus's seventh birthday.
Before Wenceslaus became of age, the goverment was handled by Otto IV Margrave of Brandenburg, who is said to have held Wenzel captive in several locations. Later his mother's secret husband, Zavis of Falckenstein ruled for him.
On January 24, 1285, Wenceslaus married Judith (Jutta) of Habsburg, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf I, to whom he had been betrothed since 1276. In 1290 Václav had Zavis beheaded and began ruling independently.
In 1290 Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia, a part of the Holy Roman Empire, inherited the independend dukedom of Krakow from his cousin Henry IV Probus, (Henry of Breslau). He then took over the government of Kraków and its duchy, which carried the overlordship of Poland. In 1300 he was crowned King of Poland. He was planning to invade Austria when he died in 1305. He was succeeded by his son, Wenceslaus III, last of the Přemyslid kings in male line.
In 1298 silver was discovered at Kuttenberg (Kutná Hora) in central Bohemia. Wenceslaus took control of the mine by making silver production a royal monopoly, and issued the Prager Groschen with became the most popular of the early Groschen-type coins. Kuttenberg was one of the richest European silver strikes ever: between 1300 and 1340, the mine may have produced as much as 20 tons of silver a year.
In 1301, Wenceslaus' kinsman Andrew III of Hungary died and with him the Árpád dynasty in male line. Wenceslaus was one of the relatives who claimed the throne, and he accepted it from a party of Hungarians on behalf of his young son in the same year. They never succeeded in having more than a portion of Hungary submitted under their rule.
Wenceslaus's eldest surviving daughter Anna I of Bohemia married Duke Henry of Carinthia (died 1335) who upon her rights became elected in 1306 as king of Bohemia but was deposed in 1310. Wenceslaus's second surviving daughter, also by Judith, Elizabeth (Eliska, Alzbeta), married John "the Blind" of Luxembourg who succeeded as king in 1310.
Queen Judith had died in 1297. Wenceslaus's second wife was Elisabeth Richeza, daughter of Przemysł II, King of Poland 1295 - 1296. After Wenceslaus's death, she married Rudolph of Habsburg, duke of Austria, who also became king of Bohemia for a brief period in those unruly years.
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| Preceded by Premysl Ottokar II |
King of Bohemia 1278-1305 |
Succeeded by Wenceslaus III |
| Preceded by Przemysl II of Poland |
King of Poland 1291-1305 |
Succeeded by Wenceslaus III |
| Preceded by Andrew III of Hungary |
ruler of parts of Hungary 1301-05 |
Succeeded by Wenceslaus III |
