Wenceslaus I, King of Bohemia
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Wenceslaus I Premyslid (Czech Václav) (c. 1205–September 1253) was King of Bohemia from 1230 to 1253. Wenceslaus was the son of Ottokar I and Konstancia, daughter of Bela III, King of Hungary. He encouraged large numbers of Germans to settle in the villages and towns in Bohemia and Moravia. As a sign of increasing development, courtesy of the new settlers, stone buildings began to replace wooden ones in Prague.
In 1241 Wenceslaus successfully repelled a raid on Bohemia by Batu Khan, although Moravia suffered devastation at the hands of the Mongols. Wenceslaus' foreign policy was focused on uniting the Duchy of Austria with the Kingdom of Bohemia following the death of the last Babenberg duke of Austria, Frederick II, during the battle of the Leitha river in 1246. Wenceslaus' eldest son, Vladislav, was married to Frederick's sister Marguerite and received the homage of the Austrian barons as their future ruler, but died before he could be formally acclaimed as duke. Wenceslaus' second son Premysl Otakar then married Marguerite's relative Gertrude and claimed the duchy for himself. The Austrian question was put on hiatus when in 1249 Premysl Otakar led an uprising of nobles against his father. The rebellion was quelled, but Wenceslaus decided to have Otakar crowned as 'junior king' and to give him control of Moravia. Wenceslaus died in 1253 and was succeeded by his son Premysl Ottokar II.
| Preceded by: Premysl Ottokar I | King of Bohemia | Succeeded by: Premysl Ottokar II |