Blood in Bohemia: castration, blinding, and murder in the Přemyslid dynasty

Violence in medieval Bohemia was nothing new—but the fate of Duke Jaromír stands apart. Mutilated by his own brothers and killed in a shocking final act, his story reveals how power struggles could turn deeply brutal. In this episode of Blood in Bohemia, we explore one of the darkest chapters of the Přemyslid dynasty.

A family at war with itself

Few stories from early Czech history feel as unsettling—and as intimate—as that of Duke Jaromír. This is not a tale of rival clans clashing on a battlefield, but of violence unfolding inside a single ruling house. Brothers turn against brothers, and power becomes a matter not just of politics, but of survival.

From the book 'Curia ducis, curia regis: The Royal Court During the Reign of the Přemyslids'|Photo: Adriana Krobová, Czech Radio

Jaromír belonged to the Přemyslid dynasty, the same bloodline as Saint Wenceslas. He was his greatnephew, two generations removed—but still part of a family where violence had already shaped succession. His father, Boleslaus II, left behind multiple sons, and with no clear rules of succession, rivalry was almost inevitable.

In such a system, being a younger son did not make Jaromír irrelevant—it made him dangerous. His elder brother, Boleslaus III, had no children of his own. That meant Jaromír was not just a relative, but a potential rival, someone who could found a competing branch of the dynasty. What followed was not a sudden outburst of cruelty, but a calculated political move: Jaromír was castrated.

This was power exercised through the human body. In the medieval mindset, physical integrity was closely linked to the right to rule, and by mutilating him, Boleslaus sought to eliminate a threat without necessarily killing him. But as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that even that was not enough.

Power, exile, and return

Despite everything, Jaromír does not disappear from the political stage. In fact, one of the most striking aspects of his life is his repeated return to power. In 1004, with the backing of the German king Henry II, he enters Prague and is installed as duke.

This moment matters not only for Jaromír personally, but for Bohemia as a whole. By accepting the throne from Henry II as a fief, he reinforces the country’s ties to the Holy Roman Empire. Yet his rule remains fragile from the start. He struggles to maintain control, loses territories such as Moravia, and depends heavily on imperial support.

The blinded Jaromír hands over the princely throne to his nephew Břetislav; Painting by Josef Mathauser|Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain

The instability soon catches up with him. In 1012, his younger brother Oldřich seizes power, forcing Jaromír into exile. What follows is a reminder of how unpredictable medieval politics could be. Instead of finding stable backing, he is imprisoned—ironically by the same ruler who had once supported him—and remains in captivity for years, perhaps even decades.

And yet, even this is not the end. In 1033, the political situation shifts once more. Emperor Conrad II turns against Oldřich and restores Jaromír to the throne. For a brief moment, after years of mutilation, exile, and imprisonment, he is once again the ruler of Bohemia.

But only for a moment. Within a year, Oldřich returns—and this time, there is no room for ambiguity. Jaromír is blinded, in what appears to be a final attempt to ensure that he can never again claim power. If castration was meant to weaken him, blinding was intended to end the threat altogether.

A death that still shocks

By the time we reach the final chapter of Jaromír’s life, the pattern is unmistakable. He has been repeatedly removed, restored, and physically broken. What makes his story so striking is not just the violence itself, but the fact that it unfolds over decades.

The account of his death comes primarily from the chronicler Cosmas of Prague, writing long after the events. According to him, Jaromír was murdered in a way that has become one of the most infamous episodes of early Czech history. Blind and vulnerable, he was attacked at night while sitting on a latrine and killed with a spear thrust from behind.

The Vršovci Clan Massacre; Painting by Josef Mathauser|Photo: Wikimedia Commons, public domain

It is a deeply unsettling image—one that almost feels too grotesque to be entirely real. And historians approach it with caution. Cosmas is an indispensable source, but not always a fully reliable one. His account may reflect actual events, but it may also shape them into a narrative designed to emphasise humiliation or to portray certain noble families, such as the Vršovci, in a particularly negative light.

Even with those uncertainties, however, one thing stands out. Jaromír’s fate appears exceptional. Violence within ruling dynasties was not unusual in early medieval Europe. Rivals were eliminated, brothers fought for power, and political struggles often turned deadly. But the repeated mutilation, the long arc of suffering, and the symbolic nature of his final killing make this story different.

In the end, Jaromír’s life reveals a world in which power was never secure, where family ties offered little protection, and where the human body itself became a tool of politics. And perhaps that is why, more than a thousand years later, his story still resonates—because it forces us to reflect not only on how power was exercised, but on how far it could go.