Kings and their demesnes · Kingdom of Bohemia · as at first light, 1 January 1200

The king's provinces

The king's own lordship covers most of Bohemia.

It is not a demesne in the western sense but a network of royal castles, each the centre of a province (provincia, civitas, the castle district: hradský obvod) under a castellan (comes, kastelán, later purkrabí) who collects the tribute of peace and the other dues, calls out the people to build and repair castles and roads, keeps the peace, judges, and leads the province's men in war. Round each castle lie service villages and a market where the surplus is sold. On the morning of 1 January 1200 the system still works, but it is beginning to break up: the castellans and the nobles want hereditary land of their own, and the king grants immunities to churches (Teplá 1193, Osek 1196-1197, the Hospitallers) and estates to his followers.

The provinces are drawn here in six groups: Prague and the centre; the north (Boleslav, Mělník's neighbours, Litoměřice, Děčín and the Zittau land); the north-west (Žatec, Bílina, Sedlec); the west (Plzeň, Domažlice, Tachov); the south (Prácheň, Bechyně, Doudleby, Netolice); and the east (Kouřim's neighbours Čáslav, Chrudim, Hradec and Vratislav). Kladsko and Upper Lusatia are separate records. The nobles' estates and the Church's lands lie inside these provinces and are drawn on top of them.

Who he is

Name
Ottokar I (Přemysl Otakar I)
Title
King of Bohemia
Since
6 December 1197 (as ruler of Bohemia); king since 1198
Born
About 1155-1167
Family
See Kingdom of Bohemia (Ottokar I)
Confidence
high

The list of provincial castles is the standard one for the twelfth century (Cosmas and his continuators, the charters; cs.wikipedia, Hradská soustava, names 22 such centres for 950-1150 without listing them here). Which castles still had castellans on 1 January 1200, and their names, are not pinned.

Overlord

King Philip of Swabia (Staufen), who granted the royal title in 1198

What it holds

  • Prague: the castle (seat of the king and the bishop), Vyšehrad, the market settlements and the Týn court (see the town record)
  • The central provinces: Prague, Kouřim (by Kolín), Mělník, the forest of Křivoklát with the hunting castle, Zbečno and Rakovník
  • The northern provinces: Boleslav (Mladá Boleslav, with the old seat and chapter at Stará Boleslav), Litoměřice (with the chapter of St Stephen and the Elbe toll), Děčín on the Elbe gateway to Meissen, Ústí (Elbe toll), and the forest north to the Zittau basin and the Jizera mountains
  • The north-western provinces: Žatec, Bílina (with Most in its district), and the frontier land of Sedlec on the Ohře by Loket (the castle's site not pinned)
  • The western provinces: Plzeň (the old castle at Starý Plzenec with its rotunda of St Peter), Domažlice guarding the road to Regensburg, Tachov guarding the road to the Nordgau and Nuremberg
  • The southern provinces: Prácheň (by Horažďovice), Bechyně, Doudleby (by České Budějovice) and Netolice on the road to Passau, with the southern frontier forest
  • The eastern provinces: Čáslav, Chrudim, Hradec and Vratislav (by Vysoké Mýto), with the forest north to the Giant Mountains
  • The royal forests (the frontier hvozd) all round the kingdom
  • The tolls of the land roads at the frontier passes and on the Elbe

How it was acquired

Inherited by the Přemyslid ruler of Bohemia; Ottokar took Bohemia from his brother by the settlement of 6 December 1197.

Allies and rivals

The castellans are the king's men but come from the great kindreds; the Church holds large immunities inside the provinces (the bishop of Prague round Roudnice, Horšovský Týn, Rokycany, Pelhřimov and Červená Řečice; the abbeys; the Vyšehrad chapter round Prachatice): these are Church map records.

How things stand that morning

Held by the king through his castellans. No province is in revolt or under attack on 1 January 1200 as far as the sources show.

Wealth

The tribute of peace and the other dues of the provinces, the service villages, the markets below the castles, the tolls on the frontier roads and the Elbe, the royal forests; the Prague market and mint.

Military

The castles of the provinces with their garrisons and the levy of each province under its castellan; the king's following. No numbers.

Threats

  • Castellans and nobles turning offices into hereditary lordships
  • A Přemyslid rival raised by a German king (Děpolt III in 1203)

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. During 1200 (not pinned)Further grants of land and immunities to churches and nobles: Hroznata's foundation for women at Chotěšov is endowed about 1200-1202.Depends on: The king's favour and the founders' means. Stopped by: War, or the king's refusal.

Places of note

  • Prague Castle: Seat of the king and of the bishop
  • Vyšehrad: Second royal castle of Prague; exempt chapter of SS Peter and Paul
  • Žatec: Provincial castle
  • Litoměřice: Provincial castle; chapter of St Stephen; Elbe toll
  • Bílina: Provincial castle; castellan Jaroš at an unpinned date
  • Děčín: Provincial castle at the Elbe gateway to Meissen
  • Ústí nad Labem: Elbe toll station
  • Mělník: Provincial castle at the meeting of the Vltava and the Elbe
  • Boleslav: Provincial castle
  • Kouřim: Provincial castle
  • Čáslav: Provincial castle
  • Chrudim: Provincial castle
  • Hradec: Provincial castle
  • Vratislav (Vraclav): Provincial castle by Vysoké Mýto
  • Plzeň (Starý Plzenec): Provincial castle of Plzeň
  • Domažlice: Provincial castle on the road to Regensburg
  • Tachov: Frontier castle on the road to the Nordgau
  • Sedlec or Loket: The castle of the western frontier land of Sedlec; Loket is first named in 1234: site in 1200 not pinned
  • Prácheň: Provincial castle by Horažďovice; Vítek of Prčice was its castellan from 1184
  • Bechyně: Provincial castle
  • Doudleby: Provincial castle of the south
  • Netolice: Castle on the road to Passau
  • Křivoklát: Hunting castle in the king's forest

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The castle provinces are well known as a system; which castles were provincial centres in 1200 and who commanded them is thin. The grouping into six parts is a drawing convenience, not a medieval division.

On the map: The six groups are drawn for convenience; the true province boundaries of 1200 are not known in detail. Nobles' estates, the Church's immunities and the frontier forests lie inside them.

Primary sources for Kingdom of Bohemia (Ottokar I)

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

Sources and studies

  1. Hradská soustava (cs.wikipedia)
  2. Witigonen (de.wikipedia)
  3. FMG Medieval Lands: Bohemia

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.