the nationality of all inhabitants of the czech provinces and ...

continued to be present on the territory
of the Czech state. They were soon
joined by others of their compatriots.
The growing power of the Prague
princes and the growing importance of
the Czech state attracted to Bohemia
German princesses and noblewomen as
brides for the Prague rulers or the
appanage Přemyslid princes. They were
generally accompanied by a large
retinue, comprising clerics, as well as
The Golden Bull of Sicily (left) issued in 1212 by the Roman King Frederick II confirmed
the Czech rulers’ hereditary title of king. From the 12th century, the most important
symbol of the Holy Roman Emperors was the Crown of Charlemagne (above right).
Below right, detail of a contemporary coin depicting the coronation of the Czech king
Vladislav II by the Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1158.
ladies in waiting, servants and others.
Unlike the later colonisation it involved
solely individuals. Nonetheless they
were persons of high status and
wielding a significant influence. Their
customs and modes of behaviour or
dress became models frequently
imitated and adopted by the upper
circles of Czech society and so passed
15
Historical Roots
Chapter I
into the local culture. Thus the eastward
flow of historical progress brought into
Czech society western chivalric culture
which was to flourish chiefly at the
courts of the great Přemyslid kings of
the thirteenth century, above all
Wenceslas II.
However, there is no historical
evidence to prove that local Czech
culture was a mere derivative of a higher
“German” culture. At the time the latter
was entering Bohemia, the indigenous
Czech culture was developing
independently, drawing inspiration
from earlier roots and saturated with
new inspiration. That culture was soon
to see a major flowering. One may recall
in this connection the hymn Holy
Wenceslas, Duke of the Bohemian Land
from the twelfth century, a mature old-