| |
| | The Royal Scribe |
 | | From the time Bohemia became a kingdom in 1198, it took less than 120 years for the fledgling monarchy to acquire the dukedom of Austria and the kingdoms of Poland and Hungary, either through marriage, reputation, or military might. |
 | | For Bohemia, staying under the radar of the Holy Roman Empire was next to impossible; but, miraculously, it managed for a while to maintain a semblance of autonomy, and even political and military power, beneath the shadow of the great Empire, although it couldnt last forever. |
 | | He died in 1437, leaving the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary to his only child, Elizabeth, or more precisely to her husband, Albert II of Habsburg, Duke of Austria, thus ending the relatively brief Luxemburg dynasty in Bohemia. |
| www.etoile.co.uk /Columns/RoyalScribe/041011.html (1849 words) |
|