Lands of the Bohemian Crown
The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were the states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods with feudal obligations to the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of Bohemia, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire according to the Golden Bull of 1356, the Margraviate of Moravia, the Duchies of Silesia, and the two Lusatias, known as the Margraviate of Upper Lusatia and the Margraviate of Lower Lusatia, as well as other territories throughout its history. This agglomeration of states nominally under the rule of the Bohemian kings was referred to simply as Bohemia.[1] They are now sometimes referred to in scholarship as the Czech lands, a direct translation of the Czech abbreviated name.
"Bohemian Crown" redirects here. For the ceremonial objects, see Bohemian Crown Jewels. For the 14th century crown, see Crown of Princess Blanche.
Lands of the Bohemian Crown
States of the Holy Roman Empire (1348–1806),
Crown lands of the Habsburg monarchy (1526–1804),
of the Austrian Empire (1804–1867),
and of the Cisleithanian part of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918)
- Latin Catholicism
- Hussitism, later Bohemian Reformed (Utraquism, Brethren)
- Others:
- Lutheranism (majority during Reformation)
- Judaism (Jews)
- Calvinism
- Hutterian Anabaptism
- Waldensianism
- Neo-Adamitism
Charles I (first)
Charles III (last)
7 April 1348
7 April 1348
5 April 1355
25 December 1356
16 December 1526
31 October 1918
The joint rule of Corona regni Bohemiae was legally established by decree of King Charles IV issued on 7 April 1348, on the foundation of the original Czech lands ruled by the Přemyslid dynasty until 1306. By linking the territories, the interconnection of crown lands thus no more belonged to a king or a dynasty but to the Bohemian monarchy itself, symbolized by the Crown of Saint Wenceslas. During the reign of King Ferdinand I from 1526, the lands of the Bohemian Crown became a constituent part of the Habsburg monarchy. A large part of Silesia was lost in the mid-18th century, but the rest of the Lands passed to the Austrian Empire and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary. By the Czechoslovak declaration of independence in 1918, the remaining Czech lands became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic.
The Bohemian Crown was neither a personal union nor a federation of equal members. Rather, the Kingdom of Bohemia had a higher status than the other incorporated constituent countries. There were only some common state institutions of the Bohemian Crown that did not survive the centralization of the Habsburg monarchy under Queen Maria Theresa in the 18th century. The most important of them was the Bohemian Court Chancellery which was united with the Austrian Chancellery in 1749.[2]
Name[edit]
The Lands of the Bohemian Crown (Latin: Corona regni Bohemiae, lit Crown of the Kingdom of Bohemia) are called země Koruny české or simply Koruna česká (Crown of Bohemia or Bohemian Crown)[3][4][5] and České země (i.e. Czech lands), the Czech adjective český referring to both "Bohemian" and "Czech". The German term Länder der Böhmischen Krone is likewise shortened to Böhmische Krone or Böhmische Kronländer. Native names include Silesian: Korōna Czeskigo Krōlestwa, Lower Sorbian: zemje Českeje krony, and Upper Sorbian: kraje Čěskeje Króny. The denotation Lands of the Crown of Saint Wenceslas (země Koruny svatováclavské) refers to the Crown of Saint Wenceslas, part of the regalia of the Bohemian monarchs.
The Brandenburg Electorate, acquired by Charles IV from Margrave Otto V in 1373. Charles' son Sigismund granted Brandenburg in 1415 to Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg.
The adjacent northern part of the Upper Palatinate ("Bohemian Palatinate") at Sulzbach, incorporated by Charles IV in 1355. Charles' son Wenceslaus lost the area in 1401 to the Electorate of the Palatinate under King Ruprecht of Germany.
