Emma of Mělník

Emma of Mělník
Emma and Saint Wenceslaus
Born	before 950
Died	1005 or 1006 Mělník, Bohemia
Spouse(s)	Boleslaus II of Bohemia

Emma (Hemma) (b. before 950, d. 1005/06) was a Bohemian duchess consort as the second wife of Boleslaus II of Bohemia.

Her origins are uncertain. Historian Gelasius Dobner (1719–1790) thought she was a princess of Burgundy, and this theory has been recently respected. However the latest research of historians and numismatics indicate that she was of Italian-Burgundian origin and identified with Queen Emma of France (Emma of Italy), widow of King Lothair of France (d. 986). She became the second or wife of Boleslaus II about the year 989 and died either in 1005 or 1006. It was traditionally supposed by Czech historians that Emma was the mother of Boleslaus' younger sons Oldřich and Jaromír and that the mother of the oldest son, Boleslaus III of Bohemia, was Adiva, the first wife of Boleslaus II.

Afraid of Boleslaus III, Emma chose to go into exile at the court of Bavaria in 1001 together with Oldřich and Jaromír. The brothers sought military backing from the German King Henry II. This action definitively placed Bohemia within the jurisdiction of the Holy Roman Empire.

In 1004, Jaromír occupied Prague with a German army and made himself Duke. Emma came back to Bohemia, maybe living in town Mělník, where she died.

The proof of the existence of Duchess Emma are denars (coins) with the inscription ENMA REGINA ("Queen Emma", not duchess).

References

• Jan Kilián and Luboš Polanský (eds.): Emma regina – Civitas Melnic, Mělník-Praha, 2008, ISBN 978-80-903899-1-5.