The Battle at Brůdek (Czech bitva u Brůdku; German Schlacht bei Stokau, Schlacht bei Biwanka) was fought between Henry III, King of the Romans, and Břetislav I, Duke of Bohemia, on 22/23 August 1040.
The battle took place in the Upper Palatine Forest in what is now the Domažlice District of Plzeň Region, Czech Republic.
Břetislav was leading a campaign against Poland in 1039, and after he conquered Gniezno, he removed the relics of Adalbert of Prague to Prague, intended as a move to establish a separate archbishopric there, in order to secede from the jurisdiction of the archbishop of Mainz.
Archbishop Bardo complained about this to Henry, who was already unhappy with Břetislav's war against Poland, as both Bohemia and Poland were nominally vassal of the Holy Roman Empire.
Břetislav agreed to send his son Spytihněv as a hostage to the court of the king, however because he refused the payment of a tribute requested by Henry, the king moved against Bohemia with two armies.
Břetislav had won a respite by offering his son as hostage, which he used to gain the support of Peter, King of Hungary, who sent 3,000 support troops.
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