The Monument to the Czech Nobleman Záviš of Falkenštejn

The monument to the Czech nobleman Záviš of Falkenštejn, of the Vítkovci dynasty, who was executed by beheading on July 4, 1290, likely on the meadow on the right bank of the Vltava River below Hluboká Castle. The monument was commissioned by Prince Adolf Joseph of Schwarzenberg in 1895.

At that time, a civil war against the Vítkovci was raging in Bohemia. After a year and a half of imprisonment at Prague Castle, Záviš was brought to trial and sentenced in 1290. King Wenceslaus II used this situation to seize South Bohemian castles held by the Vítkovci. Nicholas of Opava, who led the royal army, forced the governors of individual fortresses to surrender by threatening Záviš’s execution. The situation escalated when Nicholas’s army stood before Hluboká Castle, defended by Záviš’s older brother, Vítek of Krumlov. Vítek refused to yield, and the royal side was also unwilling to negotiate. Consequently, Záviš was beheaded on the meadow below the castle.

With the King's permission, Záviš’s body was buried in the Rožmberk family tomb in Vyšší Brod.

More information can be found here