The Golden Bull of Sicily (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798869335715)

The Golden Bull of Sicily was a decree issued by the Emperor Frederick II, while he was still only King of Sicily. It was composed in the Swiss city of Basel on September 26th, 1212, confirming the royal title obtained by Ottokar I of Bohemia in 1198, declaring him and his heirs kings of Bohemia and Moravia. The kingship signified the exceptional status of Bohemia as a kingdom within the dominon of the Holy Roman Empire. Ottokar's Přemyslid ancestor Vratislaus II had already been elevated to kingship by Emperor Henry IV in 1085 at the diet in Mainz. He was crowned at Prague by Archbishop Egilbert of Trier the next year, the title however was not hereditary and upon his death in 1092, his brother Conrad I succeeded him again as duke. The title of "King of Bohemia" would go on and outlive the empire until its discontinuation in 1918.