Margraviate of Moravia

The Margraviate lay east of Bohemia proper, with an area about half that region's size. In the north, the Sudeten Mountains, which extend to the Moravian Gate, formed the border with the Polish Duchy of Silesia, incorporated as a Bohemian crown land upon the 1335 Treaty of Trentschin. In the east and southeast, the western Carpathian Mountains separated it from present-day Slovakia. In the south, the winding Thaya River marked the border with the Duchy of Austria.

Moravians, usually considered a Czech people that speak Moravian dialects, made up the main part of the population. According to a 1910 Cisleithanian census, 27.6% identified themselves as German Moravians.[1] These ethnic Germans would later be expelled after the Second World War. Other ethnic minority groups included Poles, Roma and Slovaks.

After the early medieval Great Moravian realm had been finally defeated by the Árpád princes of Hungary in 907, what is now Slovakia was incorporated as "Upper Hungary" (Felső-Magyarország), while adjacent Moravia passed under the authority of the Duchy of Bohemia. King Otto I of Germany officially granted it to Duke Boleslaus I in turn for his support against the Hungarian forces in the 955 Battle of Lechfeld. Temporarily ruled by King Bolesław I Chrobry of Poland from 999 until 1019, Moravia was re-conquered by Duke Oldřich of Bohemia and ultimately became a land of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas held by the Přemyslid dynasty.[1]

Sitting of the Moravian Diet, 17th century

In 1182, the Margraviate was created at the behest of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa by merger of the three Přemyslid appanage principalities of Brno, Olomouc and Znojmo, and given to Conrad II, the son of Prince Conrad of Znojmo. As heir apparent, the future King Ottokar II of Bohemia was appointed Moravian margave by his father Wenceslaus I in 1247. Along with Bohemia, Moravia was ruled by the House of Luxembourg from the extinction of the Přemyslid dynasty until 1437. Jobst, nephew of Emperor Charles IV inherited the Margraviate in 1375, ruled autonomously and was even elected King of the Romans in 1410. Shaken by the Hussite Wars, the Moravian nobles remained loyal supporters of the Luxembourg emperor Sigismund.[1]

In 1469, Moravia was occupied by the Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, who had allied with the Catholic nobility against the rule of George of Poděbrady and had himself elected rival king of Bohemia at Olomouc. The rivalry with King Vladislaus II was settled in the 1479 Peace of Olomouc, whereby Matthias renounced the royal title but retained the rule over the Moravian lands.[2]

With the other lands of the Bohemian Crown, the Margraviate was incorporated into the Habsburg Monarchy upon the death of King Louis II in the 1526 Battle of Mohács. Moravia was ruled as a crown land within the Austrian Empire from 1804 and within Cisleithanian Austria from 1867.[3]

During the foundation of Czechoslovakia after World War I, the Margraviate was transformed into “Moravia Land”, later “Moravia-Silesia Land” in 1918. This autonomy was eliminated in 1949 by the communist government and has not been re-established since.[1]

The former Moravian Diet building. It now houses the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic.

The margrave held ultimate authority in Moravia, throughout the history of the margraviate. This meant that as its margraves became more foreign, so too did governance of the margraviate.

Moravia possessed a legislature, known as the Moravian Diet. The assembly has its origins in 1288, with the Colloquium generale, or curia generalis.[4] This was a meeting of the upper nobility, knights, the Bishop of Olomouc, abbots and ambassadors from royal cities. These meetings gradually evolved into the diet.

The power of this diet waxed and waned throughout history. By the end of the margraviate, the diet was almost powerless. The diet consisted of three estates of the realm: the estate of upper nobility, the estate of the lower nobility, and the estate of prelates and burghers.[5] With the February Patent of 1861, the diet was reformed into a more egalitarian body. It still retained the same structure, but the members changed. It consisted of assembly seats for landowners, city-dwellers, and rural farmers. This was retained until the diet was abolished after the fall of the Dual Monarchy.[5]

The unadopted coat of arms as a heraldic artwork made by Hugo Gerard Ströhl

The coat of arms of Moravia is charged with a crowned silver-red chequered eagle with golden claws and tongue. It first appeared in the seal of Margrave Přemysl (1209-1239), a younger son of King Ottokar I of Bohemia. After 1462 is Moravian eagle gold-red chequered,[2] but never accepted by moravian assembly.

• Part of Great Moravia (c.820-907)

Přemyslid dynasty

Ruler		Born	Reign	Death	Ruling part	Consort	Notes
Bretislaus I		1002/5	1019/29-1033	10 January 1055	Moravia	Judith of Schweinfurt 1020 four children	Son of Ulrich of Bohemia. First separation of Moravia from Bohemia. His father usurped his place for a year.
Ulrich I		975	1033-1034	9 November 1034	Moravia	Unknown no children Božena c.1002 (morganatic) one child	After his death, his son was replaced in Moravia.
Bretislaus I		1002/5	1034-1055	10 January 1055	Moravia	Judith of Schweinfurt 1020 four children	Recovered his throne. After his death his sons shared the inheritance.
Conrad I		c.1035	1055-1056	6 September 1092	Brno	Wirpirk of Tengling 1054 two children	Received Brno after the partition of 1055. In the next year his brother Spytihněv ascended to Bohemia and reunited it with all Moravian lands.
Vratislaus I		c.1035	1055-1056	14 January 1092	Olomouc	Maria before 1057 no children Adelaide of Hungary I 1057 four children Świętosława of Poland 1062 five children	Received Olomouc after the partition of 1055. In the next year his brother Spytihněv ascended to Bohemia and reunited it with all Moravian lands.
Otto I the Fair		1045	1055-1056	9 June 1087	Znojmo	Euphemia of Hungary before 1073 two children	Received Znojmo after the partition of 1055. In the next year his brother Spytihněv ascended to Bohemia and reunited it with all Moravian lands.
Spytihněv I		1031	1056-1061	28 January 1061	Moravia	Ida of Wettin c.1054 one child	United Bohemian and Moravian lands.
Conrad I		c.1035	1061-1092	6 September 1092	Brno and Znojmo	Wirpirk of Tengling 1054 two children	Received Brno and Znojmo. In 1092 divided the land between his two sons.
Otto I the Fair		1045	1061-1087	9 June 1087	Olomouc	Euphemia of Hungary before 1073 two children	Received Olomouc after the partition of 1061.
Boleslaus		1062	1087-1091	11 August 1091	Olomouc	Unmarried	Received Olomouc after the partition of 1061.
Svatopluk I the Lion		1075	1091-1109	21 September 1109	Olomouc	Unknown one child
Leopold I		?	1092-1112	15 March 1112	Znojmo	Ida of Austria one child	Son of Conrad I. Received Znojmo after the partition of 1092. Left no descendants, and his lands was reunited with Brno
Ulrich II		c.1035	1092-1112	5 January 1113	Brno	Adelaide two children	Son of Conrad I. Received Brno after the partition of 1092. In 1112 reunited Brno and Znojmo.
			1112-1113		Brno and Znojmo		Sophia of Berg 1113 three children
Sobeslaus I		c.1075	1113-1123	14 February 1140	Brno and Znojmo	Adelaide of Hungary II 1123 five children	Son of Vratislaus I.
Conrad II		c.1075	1123-1161	14 February 1140	Znojmo	Maria of Serbia 1132 four children	Son of Vratislaus I.
Otto II the Black		1085	1109-1123	18 February 1126	Olomouc	Unknown one child	Ruled in Olomouc, since 1091 with his brother Svatopluk. Acquired Brno in 1123.
			1123-1126		Olomouc and Brno
Wenceslaus Henry		1107	1126-1130	1 March 1130	Olomouc	Unmarried
Vratislaus II		c.1111	1126-1146	1146	Brno	A Russian princess 1132 three children
Leopold II		1102	1130-1137	1143	Olomouc	Unmarried	Son of Bořivoj II, Duke of Bohemia.
Vladislaus		?	1137-1140	1165	Olomouc	Unmarried	Son of Sobeslaus I.
Otto III		1122	1140-1160	12 May 1160	Olomouc	Durancia five children	Son of Otto II.
Spytihněv II		?	1146?-1182	1199	Brno	Umarried	In 1182 abdicated for Conrad III.
Frederick I		1142	1160-1173	25 March 1189	Olomouc	Elizabeth of Hungary 1157 six children	Son of Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia.
Ulrich III		1134	1173-1177	18 October 1177	Olomouc	Cecilia of Thuringia no children Sophia of Meissen no children	Son of Vladislaus II, Duke of Bohemia.
Wenceslaus		1137	1177-1178	after 1192	Olomouc	Unmarried	Son of Sobeslaus I. Abdicated for Conrad III.
Conrad III Otto		c.1136	1161-1178	9 September 1191	Znojmo	Hellicha of Wittelsbach before 1176 no children	Son of Conrad II. United Znojmo and Olomouc. Brno joined in 1182, when he also became the first Margrave of Moravia.
			1178-1182		Znojmo and Olomouc
			1182-1191		Moravia