Bohemia, Kingdom of

The Kingdom of Bohemia is a state located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, whose territory is currently included in the modern-day Czech Republic.

It is a kingdom in the Holy Roman Empire and the King was a Prince-Elector of the empire until its dissolution in 1806.

Many Kings of Bohemia are also elected Holy Roman Emperors.

Its capital Prague is effectively the center of the Holy Roman Empire in the late 14th century, and at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century.

From 1526, the kingdom is continuously ruled by the House of Habsburg and its successor house Habsburg-Lorraine.After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, this area becomes part of the Habsburg's larger Austrian Empire, and subsequently the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1867.

Bohemia retains formal status as a separate kingdom, known as a crown land within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and its capital Prague is one of the empire's leading cities.

In the last years of Austria-Hungary, Bohemia is the empire's most advanced and economically prosperous crown land.

The Czech language (called the Bohemian language in English usage until the 19th century) is the main language of the Diet and the nobility until 1627.

German is then formally made equal with Czech, and eventually prevails as the language of the Diet, until the Czech national revival in the 19th century.

German is also widely used as the language of administration in many towns after Germans immigrate and populate some areas of the country in the 13th century.

The royal court uses the Czech, Latin and German languages, depending on the ruler and period.Following the defeat of the Central Powers in the First World War, both the Kingdom and Empire are dissolved.

Bohemia becomes the core part of the newly formed Czechoslovak Republic.