Přemyslovci 2 - Z milosti Boží – Vaňková Ludmila (2018)

The new series of five royal sagas by Ludmila Vaňková, THE PREMYSLOVEC FAMILY, continues with the second book BY THE GRACE OF GOD (1199-1231) and connects the novels The King's Way and The Child from Apulia. The historical saga By the Grace of God is extraordinarily rich in storytelling, filled with dozens of characters and historical figures whose fates reflect the great changes in Christian Europe during the Crusades. It contains splendid knightly adventures, opens up the exploration of distant lands in Byzantium, the Levant, and Egypt, follows romantic love stories in royal families, and the complex diplomacy between secular power and the church. Premysl I elevated the Czech Kingdom among the most powerful countries in Europe, which was confirmed by the Pope by listing the Czechs among Christian kingdoms and by Emperor Frederick II with the Golden Bull of Sicily, while Premysl's rejected son Vratislav from his first marriage would forever decide his fate as a nameless knight during the siege of Constantinople. During the eighteen years of Premysl I's reign, the Czech throne became the most significant next to the imperial one. Frederick II did not hesitate to betroth his son to Agnes of Bohemia, and when Leopold of Austria's intrigues thwarted the marriage, he himself asked for her hand. Betrayed Agnes refused. It was during this time that Premysl's second grandson, the future...