Vladislaus II, Duke and King of Bohemia
Duke and King of Bohemia (1110–1172)

Vladislaus II or Vladislav II (c. 1110 – 18 January 1174) was the Duke of Bohemia from 1140 and then King of Bohemia (as Vladislaus I) from 1158 until his abdication in 1173. He was the second Bohemian king after Vratislaus II, but in neither case was the royal title hereditary.
Vladislav was the son of Vladislav I and Richeza of Berg. He was married twice, first to Gertrude of Babenberg and then to Judith of Thuringia.
Reign
Duke
He was an adventurous youth. Having no expectation of reaching the throne during the reign of his uncle Soběslav I, he moved to Bavaria. He returned at the death of Soběslav in 1140 and, with the help of his brother-in-law, the king of Germany, Conrad III, he was elected Duke of Bohemia by the Bohemian nobility.
At first, Vladislav had to contend with the claims of his cousin, the son of Soběslav who was also named Vladislav. At Soběslav's request, Emperor Lothair II recognised the rights of his son at the Diet of Bamberg in May 1138.
The public source identifies “Vladislaus II, Duke and King of Bohemia” as duke and King of Bohemia (1110–1172). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Vladislaus, Duke and King.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Vladislaus II, Duke and King of Bohemia”, the useful work is to connect “duke and King of Bohemia (1110–1172)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q367578. VIAF identifies the subject as 81084881. The Library of Congress control number is no2010039837. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1110, 1174, 1140 and 1158.
Later biographies can compress uncertainty and repeat inherited reputations, so apparently settled claims may still require comparison. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Vladislaus II, Duke and King of Bohemia”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Vladislaus II, Duke and King of Bohemia primary sources, Vladislaus II, Duke and King of Bohemia archive and Vladislaus research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Vladislaus II, Duke and King of Bohemia”?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
- Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Vladislaus II, Duke and King of Bohemia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.