Wenceslaus II Premyslid (CzechVáclav, PolishWacław) (September
17, 1271 - June
21, 1305). King of Bohemia
(1278 - 1305).
Duke of Krakow (1291
- 1305). King of Poland
(1300 - 1305).
Wenceslaus II was the son of Ottokar
II "The Great", King of Bohemia, and Kunegunda, daughter of Rostislav, the
Grand Duke of Kiev. His father
died on August 26,
1278, shortly before Wenceslaus'
seventh birthday. His early reign was tainted by the abuses of power exercised
by his regent, Otto, Margrave
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of Brandenburg,
and later by his mother's secret husband, Zavis of Falckenstein. On January
24, 1285 he married Judith
(Jutta) von Habsburg, daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf
I. In 1290 Wenceslaus had
Zavis beheaded, and began ruling independently. In 1291
he was invited by a group of Polish Lords to take over the duchy of Krakow,
and in 1300 he was crowned the
king of Poland. He was planning to invade Austria
when he died in 1305. He was
succeeded by his son, Wenceslaus
III, the last of the Premyslid
kings.
Wenceslaus' second wife was Ryksa Elzbieta, daughter of Przemysl II, King of Poland 1295 - 1296. (She married Rudolf III of Austria after Wenceslaus' death).
