Dobrawa of Bohemia

Doubravka of Bohemia
Dobrawa of Bohemia, by Jan Matejko
Duchess consort of the Polans
Tenure	965–977
Born	ca. 940/45
Died	977
Spouse	Mieszko I of Poland
Issue	Bolesław I Chrobry possibly Sigrid the Haughty
House	Přemyslid dynasty (by birth) House of Piast (by marriage)
Father	Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia
Mother	Biagota

Doubravka of Bohemia or Dobrawa, Dąbrówka (Czech: Doubravka Přemyslovna, Polish: Dobrawa Przemyślidka, Dąbrówka Przemyślidka) (ca. 940/45 – 977) was a Bohemian princess of the Přemyslid dynasty and by marriage Duchess of the Polans.

She was the daughter of Boleslav I the Cruel, Duke of Bohemia, whose wife may have been the mysterious Biagota.

According to earlier sources, Dobrawa urged her husband Mieszko I of Poland to accept baptism in 966, the year after their marriage. Modern historians believe, however, that the change of religion by Mieszko was one of the points discussed in the Polish-Bohemian agreement concluded soon before his marriage with Dobrawa. Her role in his conversion is not considered now to be as important as it is often represented in medieval chronicles.

Dobrawa's date of birth is not known. The only indication is communicated by the chronicler Cosmas of Prague, who stated that the Bohemian princess at the time of her marriage with Mieszko I was an old woman. The passage is regarded as tendentious and of little reliability, and some researchers believe that the statement was made with malicious intent. It is possible that in the statement about Dobrawa's age, Cosmas was making a reference to the age difference between her and her sister Mlada. That would give him a basis for determining Dobrawa as "old." It also found that Cosmas confuses Dobrawa with Mieszko I's second wife Oda, who at the time of her marriage was around 19–25 years old, a relatively advanced age for a bride according to the customs of the Middle Ages. Some researchers have taken up speculative views, such as Jerzy Strzelczyk, who assumed that in the light of contemporary concepts and habits of marriage of that time (when as a rule marriages were contracted with teenage girls) is assumed that Dobrawa had passed her early youth, so, it's probable that she was in her late teens or twenties.