The dynasty's origin dates back to the 9th century,[1] when the Přemyslids ruled a tiny territory around Prague, populated by a tribe of the Western Slavs.

Gradually they expanded, conquering much of the region of Bohemia, located in the Bohemian basin where it was not threatened by the expansion of the Frankish Empire.

[1] DNA testing on the remains of his son, Spytihněv I, reveal the family's Y-haplogroup to be R1b, second most common haplogroup in Czech republic.

[2] In the following century, the Přemyslids also ruled over Silesia and founded the city of Wroclaw[citation needed] (Czech: Vratislav; German: Breslau), derived from the name of a Bohemian duke, Vratislaus I, father of Saint Wenceslaus.

After their rise to prominence, however, struggles within the family set in motion a decline in power and, in 1002, the Polish duke Boleslaus the Brave occupied Prague.

Vladislav II founded many monasteries and built the first stone bridge across the Vltava river, one of the earliest in Central and Northern Europe.

[1] After several victorious wars with the Hungarian Kingdom, he acquired Austria, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola, extending Bohemian territory to the Adriatic Sea.

[1] Wenceslas II brought together a vast empire stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Danube River and established numerous cities, among them Plzeň in 1295.

The power and wealth of the Kingdom of Bohemia gave rise to great respect, but also to the hostility of other European royal families.

[1][3] On the distaff side, however, the dynasty continued, and in 1355, Bohemian king Charles IV, the grandson of Wenceslaus II, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.

The name of the dynasty, according to Cosmas in his Chronica Boemorum (1119), comes from its legendary founder, Přemysl, husband of duchess Libuše.

Bohemia was the only princedom in the Holy Roman Empire which was raised to the status of kingdom prior to the Napoleonic wars.

The reason for this was strength: as soon as Bohemia overcame its civil strife, the Bohemian duke became the principal ally for any candidate for the Imperial throne.

In 1269, Nicholas, bastard son of King Ottokar II who was legitimized by Pope Alexander IV in 1260, became Duke of Opava.