BRETISLAV I

born 1005? died Jan. 10, 1055 byname Bretislav the Restorer, Czech Bretislav Obnovitel prince of Bohemia from 1034 to 1055, who permanently attached the province of Moravia to Bohemia. Bretislav succeeded his father, Oldrich, to the Bohemian throne after a period of dynastic struggles. He proceeded to win back lands that earlier had been lost to Poland, regaining in two great campaigns not only all of Moravia but also Silesia and Krakw. He also captured Poznan and Gniezno, but his ambitions for a greater West Slav nation troubled the Holy Roman emperor Henry III, who mounted an armed invasion and compelled Bretislav to evacuate all of Poland except Silesia (which nevertheless was returned to Poland some years later). Bretislav's efforts to regain Slovakia from Hungary were unsuccessful (it did not return to Czech control until 1918). To obviate the incessant struggles that had endangered Bohemia at every vacancy of the throne, Bretislav, with the consent of the nobles, decreed that the oldest member of the house of Premysl should be the ruler of Bohemia. Bretislav was therefore succeeded first by his eldest son, Spytihnev II (103161), and then by his second son, Vratislav II (c. 103592).