Vladislaus Henry, a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was elected Duke of Bohemia in 1197 and Margrave of Moravia from 1197 until his death.
Background
Vladislaus Henry was the second son of Duke Vladislaus II from his second marriage with Judith of Thuringia, thereby the younger brother of Ottokar I. He grew up during a frivolous time, for the complex personal relationship his father had with the emperor, Frederik Barbarossa, was leading to a tragic termination.
Career
In turn, Ottokar appointed Vladislaus, Prince of Brno and Znojmo since 1991, a Margrave of Moravia with the consent of Emperor Henry VI. Vladislaus was summoned to Prague Castle, where he had to spend the following years suspiciousley eyed by Duke Bretislaus. Faced with an uprising in favour of Ottokar, Vladislaus abdicated a few months later, on 6 December. The brothers then very nearly came to war, but, their armies encamped facing each other, the two met and negotiated a solution whereby Ottokar took the Bohemian throne–though without imperial approval–and compensated Vladislaus with the hereditary margravial title of near-autonomous Moravia.
By his repudiation of the throne, Vladislaus helped to bring an end to the destructive dynastic wars of the Přemyslids, which had lasted for over twenty-five years from the death of his father.
His status as a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire was acknowledged in the 1212 Golden Bulletin of Sicily. He reinforced his rule, when he had the rivalling claimant Prince Spytihněv III of Brno blinded and installed his own confessor, Daniel Milík, as Bishop of Prague, the first investiture by a reigning prince in Bohemia.
Daniel played a vital role in the reconciliation between Vladislaus and Ottokar. Despite several protests to the Roman Curia, he held the see until 1214 without receiving imperial nomination.
In 1205, Vladislaus founded the Cistercian abbey of Velehrad as a family monastery and burial ground of the Moravian margraves.
Vladislaus was married with one Heilwida (Hedwig), of unknown origin. Vladislaus was buried at Velehrad Abbey.