Boleslaus III (Czech: Boleslav III. Ryšavý) (c. 965–1037), called the Red (to denote "red hair") or the Blind, was Duke of Bohemia from 999 until 1002 and also briefly during the year 1003. He was the "worst of all men who ever sat on the Bohemian throne."
By 1002, a revolt organized by nobles of the Vršovci clan (along with Boleslaus's son-in-law) forced him to flee to Germany, where he was received by Henry I, Margrave of Austria. At first, Henry ordered the arrest of his guest because of an old offence, but soon forgave him and promised support. Boleslaus's kinsman Vladivoj took the Czech throne, but he was an alcoholic who died within a year. After the death of Vladivoj in 1003, the Bohemian nobles invited Jaromír and Oldřich, sons of Boleslaus II, back from exile. In turn, they each later assumed the throne of Bohemia.
On 9 February 1003, Boleslaus the Red was restored to authority with armed support from Duke Bolesław the Brave of Poland. Boleslaus's brothers Jaromír and Oldřich fled to Germany and placed themselves under the protection of Henry II. Boleslaus soon undermined his own position by ordering a massacre of his leading nobles, the Vršovci, at Vyšehrad. According to the chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg, Boleslav slashed his son-in-law to death with his own sword.
Nobles who survived the massacre secretly sent messengers to Bolesław the Brave of Poland and entreated him to save them. The Polish duke willingly agreed and invited his Czech namesake to visit him at his castle (probably in Kraków). There, Boleslaus III was trapped, blinded and imprisoned, probably dying in captivity some thirty years later. Bolesław claimed the ducal throne for himself, invaded Bohemia in 1003 and took Prague without any serious opposition; he ruled as Boleslaus IV for a little over a year. He then gave up his claim to the duchy of Bohemia and was replaced first by Jaromír, then Oldřich.
