Page:Gregor The story of Bohemia.pdf/88

 in his relations with other nations, his domestic affairs were by no means happy. He had set all his hopes upon his oldest son Vladislav. At an early age he had had him betrothed to Kedruth, the daughter of the Duke of Austria, hoping by this marriage to bring about the union of Austria and Bohemia. But the premature death of the young man brought to naught all these hopes. The next heir to the throne was his second son, Premysl Ottokar; but Václav hated him, and for this reason had devoted him to holy orders. But when he saw that the people looked to Premysl as their future king, he gave him the government of Moravia; but at the same time he was on the lookout for some pretext to send him out of the country.

As Premysl Ottokar was a very promising young man, possessed of many qualities that would enable him to be a better ruler than his father, the lords determined to secure to him the succession, even against the wishes of Václav. A conspiracy was formed, and in 1248, while the king was gone to one of his fortresses in the country, the lords met in Prague, formally deposed him, and elected his son in his place. Civil war was the result. The events that followed are summed up by the historian of those times, as follows: “King Václav was driven from the throne. Queen Kunhut died of grief, schools in Prague were closed, a large part of the city was burned to the ground, and the guards of the churches left their posts and fled.”

Premysl’s army was much larger than his father’s; consequently he could easily have defeated him had he been willing to join battle with his forces; but this he would by no means do. Finally, through superior