Drahomira of Bohemia (d. after 932)

Duchess and regent of Bohemia. Name variations: Drahomire von Stoder; Dragomir or Dragomira. Born in Germany into the Stodoran family; died after 932 in Bohemia; dau. of a chief of the Havolané tribe which lived north of Bohemia in Brandenburg; m. Ratislav, also known as Vratislav I (887–920), duke of Bohemia (r. 912–920); children: 4 daughters, of whom only the name of one (Pribyslava) is known; and 3 sons, Saint Wenceslas (b. around 907), Boleslav I (d. 972), and Spytihnev (died while young).

Was a staunch advocate of the pagan religion of Germany, but husband was a Christian; raised son Boleslav in the pagan religion, though elder son Wenceslas was brought up in the Christian church by his paternal grandmother Ludmila, whom Drahomira despised; when husband died (920) and Ludmila was named regent for 13-year-old Wenceslas, an event which increased the tension between Bohemia's pagan believers and its Christians, quickly became the leader of the pagans and schemed to get rid of Ludmila; assumed the regency for her son after Ludmila was murdered on her orders (920); with outbreak of civil war, was outnumbered, and Wenceslas dismissed her from the government when he came of age at 18; continued to plot against the Christian faction, however, and was in the general vicinity when her son Boleslav murdered Wenceslas (929); fled to the tribe of White Croatians north of Prague.

See also Women in World History.