In the frantic days of the early twelfth century, the troubled times Cosmas himself observed at close hand, the Chronica Boemorum provides a vivid picture of freemen jockeying for position, forming small factions, and earning the favor of the duke or other Přemyslids. A bewildering array of names appear: men offering counsel, acting as messengers, dying in battle. Similar machinations, with another dizzying array of names, continued from Svatopluk’s assassination in 1109 to Soběslav’s accession in 1125. The magnate who most shamelessly—and effectively—exploited the atmosphere of distrust that prevailed in the early twelfth century, the most prominent individual in the years between 1105 and 1113, was a lowborn man named Vacek.46 Cosmas, the only source for these years, patently despised him, even breaking into the chronology of his narrative to vituperate against him (at the end of Book I of his chronicle).47 When he makes his first appearance in the course of events, in 1105, Vacek is among Svatopluk’s counselors, fighting to depose Bořivoj.48 A few years later, it was he who orchestrated the massacre of the Vršovici, by convincing Duke Svatopluk that Mutina had been suspiciously lackluster in defending Bohemia against an incursion by Bořivoj.49 When Svatopluk was assassinated soon afterwards, Vacek argued for Otto to succeed as duke.50 Several months after Vladislav was enthroned instead, he fought for Otto’s cause; since their forces served to fend off Bořivoj as well, Vacek and Otto may have been able to trade their army for the new duke’s favor.51 When a band of Bořivoj’s supporters were apprehended, John of the Vršovici, the man who arranged Svatopluk’s murder, was blinded at Vacek’s order.52 Although the peace between Vladislav and Otto was tenuous (within six months Otto was in prison53), Vacek seems to have remained in the duke’s inner circle. In 1110, together with Bishop Hermann of Prague, he helped arrange a reconciliation between Vladislav and his youngest brother Soběslav, allowing the latter’s short-lived return from exile.54 In the end though, when a rumor reported that Vacek was advising Duke Vladislav to have him seized, Soběslav arranged Vacek’s murder.55 In the period when the Czech freemen and Přemyslids themselves were most intensely factionalized, he turns up on various sides, always with the duke’s ear and often inciting violence. Although central to the events of the decade, Vacek remains for us an isolated individual whose motives are largely unfathomable.
In the reigns of Vladislav I and Soběslav I things quieted down, except for the attempt by plotters against Soběslav’s life in 1130 (see below). Of these dukes’ inner circles little is known. Cosmas tells of a converted Jew who, after Duke Vladislav himself, was the highest ranking man at court; his enemies, obviously including the chronicler himself, cast aspersion on his adherence to Christianity, and he was imprisoned.56 Although Soběslav’s “right-hand men” remain unnamed, at his death in 1140 a magnate named Načerat stepped forward; the freemen who gathered to determine succession to the throne agreed to abide by his determination.57 Two years later Načerat led the revolt against the duke he helped enthrone, Vladislav II, and was killed.58 The chronicles explicitly indicate that the rebellion was instigated by seniores, prominent men who expected greater privileges from the duke they had selected.59 He might, therefore, be the same man who served as a messenger before the battle at Chlumec in 1126.60 Načerat’s colleague at that time, Smil, also died in the 1142 revolt, together with his sons, though he fought on Vladislav’s behalf.61 The besieged duke was himself a young man, as were most of his supporters. With the death and defeat of freemen like Načerat and Smil, new men must have risen to assume positions of greater influence. One such was Velislav, a friend to Vladislav since boyhood, appointed castellan of Vyšehrad until his death in 1144.62 Whether concerning schemers like Vacek, men of acknowledged prominence such as Načerat, or the ducal favorite Velislav, the stories told by Czech chroniclers help elaborate what it meant to be considered “elder” or “better” among the freemen, while also demonstrating that a variety of paths led to such positions of respect and influence.
The picture of the magnates around the duke alters dramatically with the survival of charters including witness lists, beginning with two documents issued by Duke Vladislav II to the church of Olomouc ca. 1146–48. The laymen listed, not including Přemyslids, are as follows: “Comes Drslav, Miroslav, Časta, Soběslavec, Conrad dapifer, Budislav pincerna, Ruprecht, Beneš, Svojša, Slava with his son Braniš, Zbraslav, Bavor, Střežimír, Mstihněv, Marquard of Doubrava, Budiš, Zaviše, Načaz, Jurík agazo, Bun with his brothers Přibran and Bicen, Němoj, Jarohněv, Chválek, Vecel, Hrděbor, Olen, Zvejs-lav, William, Vacek, Jarohněv of Žatec, Velislav son of Peter.”63 This group of names, the same in both charters, is the only witness list for another dozen years.64 All the witnesses are men; some are listed with their titles, several stand with their relatives, a few have explicitly German names, two are distinguished by a place designation and another by a patronymic. Jarohněv was probably castellan of Žatec, though the inclusion of de Satc seems chiefly to distinguish him from the other man of that name present. Men from these charters appear in the later documents as well: in 1159, Načaz was castellan of Prague, Chválek castellan Vadicensis, Zvejslav castellan of Hradec, Zaviše castellan of Sedlec, Vecel pincerna, and Marquard chamberlain.65 By 1160, Drslav had become castellan of Plzeň.66 Though one Henry held the position in 1159, Jarohněv is named as castellan of Žatec again in 1160 and 1165.67 Marquard “of Doubrava” remained among the most prominent magnates at Vladislav’s court, and his sons feature in witness lists throughout the twelfth century. This earliest witness list and those that follow provide dramatically different information than the chronicles do, for they show these men in groups, ranked perhaps in some order, sometimes with place or patronymic designations, and occasionally bearing the titles associated with their ever-shifting appointments to court offices and castellanies.
TABLE 2. SOBĚSLAV II’s OFFICERS
| February 1177 (CDB no. 279) | |
| Zdeslav | chamberlain |
| Vítek | dapifer |
| Dluhomil | pincerna |
| Hermann | marscalcus |
| Čéč | judge |
| Jarohněv | castellan of Žatec |
| Sežima | castellan of Plzeň |
| Blah | castellan of Litoměřice |
| Rivin | castellan of Kladsko |
| (and others) | |
| March 1177 (CDB no. 280) | |
| Zdeslav | castellan of Žatec |
| Blah | castellan of Litoměřice |
| Sežima | comes of Bílina |
| Dluhomil | marscalcus |
| Vítek | castellan of Kladsko |
| Čéč | judge |
|
Hermann
|