Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/56

 Moravian prince Swatopluk was lord over both Moravia and Bohemia.

Like his father, SpytihnévSpytihněv [sic] possessed great beauty of person. He was tall, had a ruddy complexion, black hair, and a long flowing beard. He was generous and noble, but very severe and just. This justness, however, was mostly towards his own people; for as soon as he assumed the government he passed an edict ordering all Germans to leave the country, includhisincluding his [sic] own mother, Judith, who sought refuge with her son Vratislav, in Moravia. This severe measure seemed to have been specially directed against some lords who had been his father’s courtiers, and had done the young prince some personal injury. Some time after this, this same ruler drove away the Slavonic monks from the Sazava monastery, placing the institution in the hands of Germans. The fugitive monks, with their abbot, Vitos, who was the nephew of St. Prokop, the founder of the institution, betook themselves to Hungary, where they remained till they were recalled during the reign of King Vratislav I. The historian Kosmos, being personally acquainted with SpytihnévSpytihněv [sic], says many things in his praise. He was the protector of widows and orphans, who never appealed to him in vain.

SpytihnévSpytihněv [sic] died in 1061, when he was but thirty years of age; and his brother Vratislav, being the oldest of the Premysl family, was declared the ruler, according to the law of succession passed during the reign of Bretislav. There were three more brothers, Otto, Conrad, and Jaromir. Otto and Conrad received possessions in Moravia, but Jaromir had been destined