II. Přemysl Ottokár was born in 1232 as the second-born son of the Czech king Wenceslas I. At first he was a Moravian Viscount, then in 1251 he occupied Vienna. He was later elected Duke of Austria.

After his father died in 1253, he assumed power over Bohemia. His first goal was the possession of Styria, but at the same time IV. Béla also fought for the country, so they agreed that the province would eventually belong to Béla. However, this did not last, because the Styrian orders rebelled against the Hungarian king and only recognized the authority of Ottokár. The Czech king finally succeeded in driving the Hungarian armies out of the country. He then acquired most of the territory of today's Slovenia, including the Krajna province. It was then that he also acquired the castle of Hölslendva.

The Czech king's wife was barren, so he divorced her with the pope's permission and married IV. Béla's granddaughter, Kunigunda.

Ottokár's estates later extended from Silesia to the Adriatic Sea. He became the most powerful ruler of the German-Roman Empire. This is precisely why the German electorate feared his power, which is why Rudolf Habsburg was elected king for the time being. The German king wanted to seize the Austrian provinces. Of course, Ottokár did not accept the demand, but in 1274 he was deprived of his rights to Austria, Styria and Carinthia, and in 1276 he was excommunicated from the Empire. Rudolf invaded Austria and, with the Vienna peace treaty of November 1276, forced him to give up all his possessions except Bohemia and Moravia.

In 1278, Ottokár tried to regain his dominions, but was killed in battle. The Habsburgs acquired the conquered territories. His son Wenceslas could only keep the Czech crown.

Silver denarii became the most basic money in Europe for a long time. A significant change in the coinage of the Middle Ages resulted in the 12th century, when coins minted from thinly hammered silver plate using a single stamp appeared en masse, the so-called bracteates. Bracteate means a thin plate. Their shape is round, sometimes square. Their depictions are always round and very sketchy; due to the thinness of the coin, they can be seen as a negative impression on the back. The minting of bracteates made it possible to produce significantly more coins from the same amount of silver, and only one side had to be stamped, which also resulted in savings and increased the productivity of the mints. After minting, the money could be cut out of the silver plate with scissors, and the coins could be cut more easily (they were often cut in half and used as change). The size of the bracteates ranged from 11 to 50 mm. Economic needs were behind the appearance of bracteates. The demand for currency increased in the meeting places of the Crusades and along the route of their march, but at the same time, despite the discovery of new silver mines in Germany, the Verds were not able to significantly increase their productivity, as they continued to work with the technology used in antiquity. The bracteates could be made in larger numbers, thus solving the problem of the productivity of the verds. They were in circulation for two centuries.