<b>Bohemia (~880-1526)<b>

The fertile Bohemian lands had been settled for centuries when, by 995, the Premyslid chiefs united the Czech tribes into the principality of Bohemia. Part of the Holy Roman empire since Emperor Otto the Great paid them a visit in 950, the prince of Bohemia was one of the seven electors and thus held considerable power, which he used effectively to increase his dominions, particularly Moravia in the 11th century. Nevertheless, the princes regularly had difficulty with local nobility, and, relying on German support to quell the unrests, they undermined their own position. The emperors expanded their influence by making the see of Prague subordinated to the archbishop of Mainz.

The 13th century saw the emperors tied up in Italy, and the Polish and Hungarians caught up fighting the Golden Horde. Premysl Otakar I used this time of unrest to secure his own position as a king. The Emperor confirmed the position in 1212, and allowed the Bohemian kings to appoint their own bishops in Prague. Premysl Otakar II had an even more forceful imperial policy: he became duke of Austria, and conquered Styria, most of Carinthia, and parts of Carniola. The king of the Romans, Richard of Cornwall, had accepted this, but when Rudolf of Habsburg acquired that royal dignity, he confiscated Premysl Otakar's German lands. A war was fought, in which both sides claimed the imperial crown, but in the battle of the Marchfeld (1278), the Bohemian died and the Habsburg family, formerly unknown counts of Alsace, paved the way to eternal fame.

When the Premyslid family ended in the male line, a war was fought in which Jan, duke of Luxembourg, was the victor. His reign gave rise to what is considered the Golden Age of Bohemia, perfected in the reign of Karel IV (1342-1378), who also became emperor (1355). Among the many things Karel IV did to benefit Bohemia, the principal ones are the founding of the Charles University, the construction of the Charles Bridge, the foundation of the New Town suburb of Prague, the rebuilding of Hradcany castle, implementing administrative improvements for Bohemia and Moravia, raising the episcopal see of Prague to an archbishopric, and cancelling Bohemia's position as a fief of the Holy Roman empire. This gave rise to a fertile artistic and scientific circuit, and Prague became one of the foremost centres of learning in Europe.

In the 15th century the Hussite movement took root in Bohemia. Jan Hus, rector of the Prague University, espoused the antipapal and antihierarchical teachings of John Wyclif of England, but added Bohemian nationalism into the mix. He was executed for spreading heretical ideas, but had gained so many supporters that Bohemia erupted into a revolt. Multiple crusades went to Bohemia, but all were defeated, while the Hussites performed what they called "Beautiful Rides", that were in reality merciless raids through Poland, Hungary and the empire. The different wings of the Hussite movement fought out a civil war, ending in victory for the moderate movement, but which in reality weakened the country, and in 1437 the war was over.

George of Podebrady, initially regent in Bohemia, reasserted the position of the Reformed Church of Bohemia, and drove the Catholics out of Prague. In 1458 the Bohemian estates elected him king of Bohemia, an election both the pope and the Catholic nobles in the land refused to recognise. Czech Catholic nobles, joined in the League of Zelena Hora, continued to challenge the authority of George of Podebrady until his death in 1471, when the Bohemian estates elected a Polish prince, Wladyslaw II Jagiello, as king. Vladislav also became king of Hungary, and the Polish Jagellonian line ruled both Bohemia and Hungary. The Jagellonians governed Bohemia as absentee monarchs; their influence in the kingdom was minimal, and effective government fell to the regional nobility. In 1526, when Hungary was partly conquered by the Turks, and the rest fell to the Austrians, the Bohemian estates elected Archduke Ferdinand of Austria to become their new king, initiating almost four centuries of Habsburg rule for Bohemia.
