A cinquefoil wild rose was the symbol of the most distinguished South Bohemian family, the house of Vítek. According to an ancient legend, the forefather of the Víteks, "wishing to keep his family in everlasting concord had given out five roses among his five sons" each along with a part of his extensive South Bohemian dominion. The eldest, Henry, got a golden rose on a blue shield along with the Hradec dominion. The second son, William, gained a silver rose on a red shield along with Landstein and Třeboň. The third, Smil, inherited the Stráž and Bystřice dominions and was given a blue rose on a golden shield. The fourth, Vok, was to keep the father's coat of arms with a red cinquefoil rose on a silver (white) shield and became the Lord of Rosenberg and Krumlov. Finally, the fifth, Sezima, an illegitimate son, had to put up with a black rose and the Ústí dominion.
It is true that in this legend, the names of the descendants are derived from the members of the family who later became famous but the founder himself was an existing historical person. Vítek's life is documented in old papers and documents, where he is mentioned as the "truksas" or royal food server in 1169. This was n important duty at the court of Prince Vladislav II of the house of Premyslide. He died in 1194 and bequeathed the entire southern region of the Bohemian state to his descendants, who, except Henry, bore the name of their father, Vítek.
So the Víteks split into the houses of the Lords of (Jindřichův) Hradec, the Lords of Landstein, the Lords of Stráž, the Lords of Rosenberg, and the Lords of (Sezimovo) Ústí, according to oral tradition, later records, and synoptic illustrations in South Bohemian manors. Like their forefather, they skilfully used the disharmony among the princes of the Premyslide family to take more and more extensive woodlands in South Bohemia as well as South Moravia and neighbouring Austria. Gradually, they inclined more to the Danube courtly circle than to Prague, and the Bohemian sovereign had less and less power over them. It is then no wonder that some of the Víteks were soon even standing against him. One of them, Záviš of Falkenstein, even reached for the royal crown. After the death of Přemysl Otakar II (1278), Záviš married Kunhuta, the widowed queen, and became the guardian of the young Wenceslas II. His career ended as quickly as it had begun. In 1289, he was accused of conspiracy and jailed. This event triggered a revolt of the Víteks in the whole country. So the king made the captive walk around the rebellious castles and tell the defenders to capitulate or he would be executed. One castle after another fell. Only Vítek at Hluboká, Záviš' brother, was defiant, which resulted in Záviš being executed on the local "penalty meadow" in 1290.
The individual branches of the powerful Vítek family were slowly drying up and the Lords of Rosenberg, the real South Bohemian lords and rulers, came to head the family, and gradually, the whole state. Vítek Senior (1196-1236), an ancestor of the Lords of Krumlov, bore a coat of arms with a green rose. Henry (1205-1237) was the most famous member of the family. He founded Jindřichův Hradec and became the founder of the renowned house of the Lords of Hradec. He bore the coat of arms with a golden rose in a blue field. According to the legend, the branch of the Lords of Stráž with a blue rose and the branch of the Lords of Ústí with a black rose separated from this lineage because of the bastardy of the first ancestor of the family. Another son, Vítek of Prčice (1220-1243), was the ancestor of the famous house of the Lords of Rosenberg, who held a red rose in a silver field on their coat of arms. Finally, the last son, Vítek of Klokoty (122?-1243), founded the branch with a silver rose in a red field, which was said to be of Landstein, Třeboň, and Lomnice.