Early Reign
On 6 February 1228, Wenceslaus was crowned as co-ruler of the Kingdom of Bohemia with his father. On 15 December 1230, Ottokar died and Wenceslaus succeeded him as the senior King of Bohemia.
His early reign was preoccupied by the threat to Bohemia posed by Frederick II, Duke of Austria. The expansionism of Frederick caused the concern and protestation of several other rulers. In 1236, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II was involved in a war against the Lombard League. The Emperor demanded Wenceslaus and other rulers of the Holy Roman Empire to lend him part of their own troops for his war effort. Wenceslaus led a group of princes who expressed their reluctance to divert any troops from the defense of their own territories, citing fear of invasion from the Duchy of Austria. They requested imperial intervention in the situation.
In June 1236, the Emperor imposed an imperial ban on the Duke of Austria. Troops dispatched against the Duke forced him to flee Vienna for Wiener Neustadt. He would continue to rule a rump state for the following year. The Emperor declared direct imperial rule in both Austria and the Duchy of Styria, also held by the fleeing Duke. Ekbert von Andechs-Meranien, former Bishop of Bamberg was installed as governor in the two Duchies. Ekbert would govern from February to his death on 5 June 1237. Wenceslaus was hardly pleased with this apparent expansion of direct imperial authority close to his borders. Wenceslaus and Duke Frederick formed an alliance against the Emperor. Frederick the Emperor chose to lift the ban in 1237 rather than maintain another open front. Wenceslaus managed to negotiate the expansion of Bohemia north of the Danube, annexing territories offered by Duke Frederick in order of forming and maintaining their alliance.
Wenceslaus and Frederick also found another ally in the person of Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria. In June 1239, Wenceslaus and Otto left the Reichstag at Eger, abandoning the service of excommunicated Emperor Frederick II. Despite their intent to elect an antiking, no such election would take place until 1246. In 1246, Henry Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia, was elected King of Germany in opposition to Emperor Frederick II and Conrad IV of Germany.
Read more about this topic: Wenceslaus I Of Bohemia
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