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 sort was a divorce. This was readily obtained, since Margaret herself was not only willing but anxious to withdraw from a court where she was regarded as an obstacle to the king’s happiness. Having secured his liberty, Ottokar married Kunigunda, the daughter of the Russian prince, Rostislav Michalovic. Some time after, the newly-married couple were crowned with great splendor in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague. From this time on, Ottokar signed himself King of Bohemia; for although he had been called king by his subjects and by the foreign princes, he himself never assumed the title till after his coronation. His hopes for an heir were realized in this marriage. Kunigunda bore him two children—a son and a daughter.

One of the greatest evils that the Bohemian rulers had to contend with was the continual interference in their affairs by the German emperors. But during the reign of Ottokar II, the empire had become so demoralized that it seemed on the verge of ruin, and Ottokar, taking advantage of this, was able to raise his country to such power and greatness as had never before been done by any other ruler. This interval of freedom, however, was not lasting, and Premysl Ottokar had cause to regret that he had declined the imperial crown when it had been offered him. As long as Richard of Cornwall occupied the imperial throne, Bohemia did not have much to fear from Germany; but when he died, in 1272, affairs immediately assumed a threatening aspect. The German princes now cast their looks about to find a man for an emperor, who should help them to humble the pride of the Bohemian: prince, and who, at the same time, should not stand in the way of their own ag-