Page:Bohemia An Historical Sketch.djvu/52

 Gnesen, the former capital of the country. The body of St. Adalbert, the former Bishop of Prague (who had suffered martyrdom near Gnesen and was interred there), was carried away to Prague by the victorious Bohemians (1039).

Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and Poland now being united under one ruler, the idea of a West-Slav empire seemed on the point of being realized; but this time also Germany stepped in to prevent the formation of a powerful Slav State on her borders. Queen Richsa of Poland, who governed that country for her infant son, appealed to the German Emperor Henry III for aid, which was immediately granted. In the following year (1040) two German armies attacked Bohemia.

The one commanded by the Emperor himself attempted to enter the country from Bavaria, but was signally defeated in a great battle which was fought in the defiles of the Sumava (Bohemian forest), the woody mountains that then, as now, form the frontier between Bavaria and Bohemia. In consequence of this defeat the other German army, which had entered Bohemia by the Krušné Hory (Ore Mountains), by order of the Emperor also retired into Germany.

The Germans were, however, not long in seeking revenge, and again attacked Bohemia in the following year (1041). The western army, again commanded by the Emperor, succeeded this time—guided by a German hermit—in crossing the passes of the Šumava. The other German army entered Bohemia through the Krušné Hory almost without resistance, through the treachery of the leader of the Moravian troops, to whom Břetislav had entrusted the defence of that part of the frontier. When the victorious German armies had arrived before Prague, Bfetislav was obliged to conclude peace on very unfavourable conditions. He submitted to paying tribute to Germany, and was obliged to give up all his conquests in Poland. Only Moravia and a small part of Silesia remained with Bohemia. The later years of Břetislav I were peaceful, and from the scanty records of his reign it appears that he exerted himself to restore order and prosperity to a country that had suffered so much from civil and foreign wars. Břetislav also established a regular order of succession to the throne, to obviate the constant struggles among the members of the reigning family (1054). With the consent of the nobles he