Vladislav, an adventurous youth with no possibility…

Vladislav, an adventurous youth with no possibility of reaching the throne of Bohemia during the reign of his uncle Soběslav I, had moved to Bavaria, returning at the death of Soběslav in 1140 and, with the help of his brother-in-law, the king of Germany, Conrad III, had been elected prince of Bohemia.

At first, he had had to contend with the claims of his cousin, the son of Sobeslav, also named Vladislav.

By Soběslav's request, the Emperor Lothair II had recognized the rights of his son at the Diet of Bamberg in May 1138, then, in June, the nobility had affirmed them at Sadská.

Another diet at Bamberg had confirmed the succession of the son of Vladislav, however, in April 1140.

The local dukes, Conrad II of Znojmo, Vratislaus II of Brno, and Otto III of Olomouc, had given him trouble and been excommunicated by Henry Zdik, bishop of Olomouc, who was then driven out of his diocese.

The territorial dukes then defeated Vladislav through treason at Vysoká on April 22, 1142, but their siege of Prague had failed.

Vladislav kept his throne through the help of Conrad III of Germany, whose half-sister Gertrude of Babenberg he married.

He had accompanied the king on the Second Crusade in 1147, but had halted his march at Constantinople.

On his way back to Bohemia, he passed through Kiev and Kraków.

Thanks to his friendship with Conrad's successor, the emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Vladislav is elected king of Bohemia on January 11, 1158, becoming the second Bohemian prince to boast such an imperial title after Vratislaus II.