Libuše
Encyclopedia
Premyslid dynasty
The Přemyslids , were a Czech royal dynasty which reigned in Bohemia and Moravia , and partly also in Hungary, Silesia, Austria and Poland.-Legendary rulers:...
and the Czech people as whole. Libuše was the wisest of the three sisters and prophesied the foundation of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
(which in Czech means: "threshold") from her castle Libušín
Libušín
Libušín is a town in the Czech Republic.-External links:*...
(according to later legends, Vyšehrad
Vyšehrad
Vyšehrad is a castle located in the city of Prague, Czech Republic. It was probably built in the 10th century, on a hill over the Vltava River...
). She is supposed to have founded the city of Prague during the 8th century.
The story
Libuše is said to have been the daughter of the equally mythical Czech ruler Krok, and the youngest sister among his other daughters, the healer Kazi and the magician Teta. She was chosen by her father as his successor (a judge). Although she proved herself as a wise chieftain, the male part of the tribe was displeased that their ruler was a woman.They asked Libuše to choose a male prince for the people, and she related a vision wherein she saw a farmer with one broken sandal, ploughing a field. She instructed her councilmen to seek out this man, noting that they would find him ploughing a field. Their search let them to Přemysl
Premysl, the Ploughman
The Czechs name Přemysl, the Ploughman, as the mythical ancestor of the Přemyslid dynasty, containing the line of princes and kings which ruled in the Lands of the Bohemian Crown from 873 or earlier until the murder of Wenceslaus III in 1306.-Story:According to a legend, Přemysl was a peasant of...
from the village of Stadice, who was found exactly as had been foreseen.
Since Přemysl abandoned his plough in the middle of the field he was ploughing, famine was anticipated for the land and did actually come about. The two grandees who found Přemysl brought him to the princely palace. Přemysl the Ploughman thus became ruler; Libuše married him and became the mother of Nezamysl
Nezamysl
Nezamysl was the first of the seven Bohemian mythical princes between the founder of the Přemyslid dynasty Přemysl the Ploughman and the first historical prince Bořivoj...
. This was the beginning of the Přemyslid dynasty
Premyslid dynasty
The Přemyslids , were a Czech royal dynasty which reigned in Bohemia and Moravia , and partly also in Hungary, Silesia, Austria and Poland.-Legendary rulers:...
in the Czech lands.
Arts
The story of Libuše and Přemysl was recounted in detail in the 12th century by Cosmas of PragueCosmas of Prague
Cosmas of Prague was a Bohemian priest, writer and historian born in a noble family in Bohemia. Between 1075 and 1081, he studied in Liège. After his return to Bohemia, he became a priest and married Božetěcha, with whom he probably had a son. In 1086 Cosmas was appointed prebendary of Prague, a...
in his Chronica Boëmorum.
The mythical figure of Libuše gave material for several dramatic works, including Libussa, a tragedy
Tragedy
Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...
by Franz Grillparzer
Franz Grillparzer
Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer was an Austrian writer who is chiefly known for his dramas. He also wrote the oration for Ludwig van Beethoven's funeral.-Biography:...
, Libuše
Libuše (opera)
Libuše is a '"festival opera" in three acts, with music by Bedřich Smetana. The libretto was originally written in German by Josef Wenzig, and was then translated into Czech by Ervin Špindler. In Czech historical myth, Libuše, the title character, prophesied the founding of Prague. The opera...
, an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
by Bedřich Smetana
Bedrich Smetana
Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
and Pole a palisáda, a novel by Miloš Urban
Miloš Urban
Miloš Urban is a Czech novelist and horror writer.-His books:He is known for Sedmikostelí , a dark thriller about Kvetoslav Svach and how he is linked to murders in seven cathedrals in Prague that came out in 1999...
. She is also featured as a character in Edward Einhorn
Edward Einhorn
Edward Einhorn is an American playwright, theater director, and novelist, noted for the comic absurdism of his drama and the imaginative richness of his literary works....
's play, Rudolf II.
In 2009, an American-Czech film version of the Libuše and Přemysl story was released under the name The Pagan Queen
The Pagan Queen
The Pagan Queen is a 2009 historic drama film directed by German director Constantin Werner. The film combines realism with fantasy elements and is based on the legend of Libuše, the Czech tribal queen of 8th century Bohemia who envisioned the city of Prague and founded the first Czech dynasty with...
.
See also
- List of rulers of Bohemia
- Libuse, LouisianaLibuse, LouisianaLibuse is a populated place in Rapides Parish, Louisiana in the United States and part of the Alexandria, Louisiana metropolitan area. It was founded in 1914 by Czech immigrants, and named after Libuše. , fundraising has commenced for a future Louisiana Czech Museum to be built in Libuse. The...
, a town in the United States named for Libuše by its Czech immigrant founders