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26.08.

1278: The Powerful King of Bohemia Killed During the Battle on the Marchfeld

1278: The Powerful King of Bohemia Killed During the Battle on the Marchfeld
Photo Credit To Wikipedia Commons/ Kings Ladislaus and Rudolph of Habsburg meet over the dead body of King Ottokar, 1872

Story Highlights

  • Historical event:
  • 26 August 1278
  • Ottokar II of Bohemia ruled Austria and today’s Slovenia. His kingdom nearly stretched to Venice. It is interesting to note that he owned many castles, for example Hofburg in Vienna and Samobor near Zagreb.

The Battle on the Marchfeld took place on this day in 1278.



Ottokar II of Bohemia, one of the most powerful Bohemian kings at the time, was killed during that battle. He was a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, and it is interesting to note that the famous Roman-German emperor Frederick I Barbarossa was his great-grandfather (through the maternal line).

In addition to Bohemia, Ottokar II ruled Austria, Carinthia, Styria, Carniola and Friuli, which was a very unusual situation because Bohemia established control over Austria (but after some time the situation was reversed). His kingdom stretched all the way to the Adriatic Sea, covering today’s Slovenia, and nearly all the way to Venice. It is interesting to note that he owned many castles, for example Hofburg in Vienna and Samobor near Zagreb.

During the mentioned battle, Ottokar II was defeated by Rudolf of Hapsburg, whose ally was the Hungarian-Croatian King Ladislaus IV Arpad (Ladislaus the Cuman, IV. (Kun) László, Croatian: Ladislav IV. Kumanac, Slovak: Ladislav IV. Kumánsky). The battle took place near Vienna (a significant number of heavy cavalry, i.e. armored knights participated in it). Rudolf Habsburg’s forces carried out the attack, and killed many knights of Ottokar II.

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