It was there that the noble Vitkovci family was getting ready to write another chapter in Czech history. The South Bohemian rulers had a green rose on their shield. The head of the family, a man by the name of Budivoj had five sons and a number of daughters. And one of the sons, Zavis, left for Bavaria, where he served the noble Falkenstein family. This is obviously the reason why all historians began to call him Zavis of Falkenstein. But while the young man did well in Bavaria, his father did even better in Bohemia and his influence and wealth grew at the speed of medieval light. Budivoj seized the castles of Cesky Krumlov, Rozmberk, Jindrichuv Hradec and many other strongholds in the region. A clash with the king was inevitable and it came in the year 1276 when Premysl Otakar II came into conflict with Rudolph of Habsburg. Abandoned by many of his nobles, the king had to give in and he was even forced to acknowladge the superior position of Rudolph - his archenemy. In revenge, Premysl Otakar attacked a number of Vitkovci domains and he also occupied Jindrichuv Hradec. The defeated Vitkovci were forced into exile, where they hoped for an early return. This hope soon turned into reality as the king declared war on the Habsburgs in 1278, but found defeat and death in the fatal battle on the Moravian Fields in August 1278.

The new order following the king's death gave Moravia to the victor, Rudolph, while Bohemia was claimed by Duke Otto of Brandenburg who was appointed regent in the name of the young Wenceslas II. For the widowed queen, Kunhuta, there was exile in Moravia's Opava region where she inherited a good deal of property. And there she was visited by one of her late husband's greatest opponents, Zavis of Falkenstein. With apparent disgust, one ancient chronicle recalls that, and I quote here, "she soon became fond of Zavis, not because he would serve his queen better than other men, but because of the intimate words they shared," end of quote. The 35-year old Kunhuta was the daughter of a Russian duke and a Hungarian princess, she was queen once and then the queen mother, but in that very moment she was completely obsessed with Zavis. He was forgiven for fighting his king, he was also made the first among the nobles. The first man in the entire kingdom was the status of Zavis of Falkenstein, who made love to the widowed queen. Kunhuta arranged that her son, King Wenceslas II, also found a liking to the South Bohemian noble. But the ancient chronicle warns: He has brought shame to the noble house of Premysl....and made good use of the young king to increase his own power. Well,it's true that Vitkovci gained complete control over the royal court.

In January 1285, the couple came to Cheb in West Bohemia where Zavis and Kunhuta entered into holy matrimony. Kunhuta was delighted, Zavis was at the peak of his power and .. well, Rudolph of Habsburg in neighbouring Austria was not amused. Kunhuta managed to give birth to their only child in 1285 - but the arrival of son Jan was among the last of Zavis' happy moments. He managed to get two more cities and a castle from the king for his newborn son, but Kunhuta died in that same year. That was a serious blow to the power of the Vitkovci. Wenceslas II married Princess Guta and the new queen soon regained the ruling family's control over the Royal Court. The formerly ousted followers of the king's father returned to power and Vitkovci were step by step driven from their positions. But Zavis somehow failed to see this.

Instead he left for Hungary and married Princess Elizabeth, the sister of Hungarian King Ladislas IV. This was definitely the end of his influence. While in Hungary, Zavis lost all of his power. The king was convinced that Zavis wanted his crown and that he would surely murder him. Especially noble Mikulas of Opava was spreading the bad news to his ruler as he was afraid of losing the property he inherited after the death of Queen Kunhuta.

Meanwhile at Svojanov castle, Zavis was celebrating the birth of another son. He even went to Prague to invite his king personaly to take part in the celebrations. You could say that he was not well received. As a matter of fact, Zavis was jailed and his position was hopeless. His friends abroad, the mighty Ladislas of Hungary and Duke Henry of Silesia died. And the armies of Mikulas of Opava were summoned by the king to defeat the noble Vitkovci. This army went from castle to castle and the message was always the same: Surrender, or Zavis will be executed. Most Vitkovci gave in immediately. But then, in August 1290, the army stood before Hluboka Castle. Hiding behind its mighty walls were most of Zavis' brothers and sisters. And they refused to surrender. This was reason enough for the king to order the execution of Zavis who lost his head as the victim of his own political game. And thus ends the story of a man who's ambition was obviously not within reason. Zavis gambled and lost.

The rest of the family surrendered to the king immediately after the execution. The other Vitkovci were allowed to keep their lives but nothing else. Driven into exile, the oldest, Vitek, died in Hungary. His remaining brothers were captured during the siege of a Polish castle in the year 1300, when Wenceslas II invaded Poland to defend his rights to rule that country. Unlike a decade earlier, this time the Vitkovci were not allowed to stay alive and they were all executed. And that's the end of the story that combined the tale of a fatal love with the lust for power, both of which are as old as human society.

by Peter Casper

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