Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/116

 in an equally summary manner, had he not been awakened to a sense of duty by the earnest exhortations of the Abbot of Zbraslay, who had formerly been one of the chief counselors of King Václav II. As rebellion had broken out in Poland, he raised an army and began his march into that country; but his career was cut short by the hand of an assassin (1306). The murderer being immediately put to death, it was never ascertained whether it was an act of private revenge, or whether he had been hired to commit the deed by some of the political enemies of Václav.

King Václav III was the last male descendant of the ancient house of Premysl and Libuse, that had ruled over Bohemia for almost six centuries. The government of Krok and his daughter Libuse had bound the various petty princes under one head, but not very closely. In still more ancient times, the government had been mostly patriarchal, and the various dukes, being descendants of the ancient families, were very jealous of their liberties, and would tolerate no encroachments upon their rights. The relations existing between the ruling family and the people constituted the law of the land. Boleslav the Terrible (935–967) did a great deal for the centralization of power by taking possession of the public lands, also by various arbitrary measures that increased his own wealth at the expense of his subjects. The power of the rulers increased until Premysl Ottokar I secured the title of king for himself as well as for all Bohemian rulers that should come after him.

The legislative power was in the hands of an Assem-