d as we know them to have been very particular in such
matters, it is not for us to discuss the point. You must also remember
that Christianity was yet young among the Czechs and that they had been
strongly addicted to the amiable habit of polygamy. You may also gather
what was the attitude of Bohemian chroniclers from the remark which
Dalimil, the contemporary of Ulrich, puts into the latter's mouth:
"Rather would I entrust myself to a Bohemian peasant girl than that I
should take a German queen for my wife. Every heart clings to its own
nation; therefore would a German woman less favour my language. A German
woman will have German servants; German will she teach my children."
From this remark you will understand that the Bohemians thoroughly
appreciated their neighbours.

Ulrich reverted to type, and once again the stout peasant stock of Czech
came to the rescue of a fading dynasty; the son of Ulrich and Bo[vz]ena,
B[vr]etislav I, was destined to restore the house of P[vr]emysl to a
position more in keeping with its great traditions. Before succeeding
his father, B[vr]etislav was given an opportunity of proving what good
stock he came from. Boleslav of Poland had died, his sons quarrelled
over their heritage, and their dissensions gave the neighbours an excuse
for interfering. One of these neighbours was King Stephen of Hungary,
afterwards called "the Saint." He had only recently been converted from
paganism, but he took part in this Polish dispute just as if he had been
a ripe old Christian monarch of some standing. Stephen had the happy
thought of taking Moravia for himself, no doubt in pious memory of his
ancestor who first stole it. The same idea occurred to Ulrich of
Bohemia, who sent young B[vr]etislav into Moravia, where the latter
defeated the Magyars rather badly; Moravia thereupon was added to
Bohemia, whereas Slovakia remained with Hungary.

B[vr]etislav failed to realize his ideal of forming a strong national
Slavonic State, independent of German rule--he had too strong an Emperor
against him, Henry III; but he certainly restored Bohemia and the
P[vr]emysl dynasty to a position of some importance in Europe. He was,
however, unable to shake off the German grasp of his country; German
armies had arrived before Prague and threatened that city with
destruction, so B[vr]etislav submitted to the inevitable, paid tribute
to the Emperor and spent the last and peaceful years of his reign in
restoring order and pro