Charles IV (Czech: Karel IV.; German: Karl IV.; Latin: Carolus IV; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378^[1]), also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (Czech: Václav, German: Wenzel),^[2] had a long and successful reign, he was the first King of Bohemia to become Holy Roman Emperor. He was a member of the House of Luxembourg from his father's side and the Bohemian House of Přemyslid from his mother's side; he emphasized the latter due to his lifelong affinity for the Bohemian side of his inheritance, and also because his direct ancestors in the Přemyslid line included two saints.^[3][4]

He was the eldest son and heir of John of Bohemia, King of Bohemia and Count of Luxembourg, who died at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346. His mother, Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, was the sister of Wenceslaus III, King of Bohemia and Poland, the last of the male Přemyslid rulers of Bohemia. Charles inherited the County of Luxembourg from his father and was elected king of the Kingdom of Bohemia. On 2 September 1347, Charles was crowned King of Bohemia.

On 11 July 1346, the prince-electors chose him as King of the Romans (rex Romanorum) in opposition to Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles was crowned on 26 November 1346 in Bonn. After his opponent died, he was re-elected in 1349 and crowned King of the Romans. In 1355, he was crowned King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor. With his coronation as King of Burgundy in 1365, he became the personal ruler of all the kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire.

Having played a tremendous part in the political and cultural history of the Kingdom of Bohemia, he remains a very popular figure in the Czech Republic. The Golden Bull of 1356 marked a structural change in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire. Several aspects of his legacy remain a contentious matter though. The image of Charles as a wise, pious, peace-loving king (partly constructed by Charles himself) has proved influential until this day, supported by several artistic or scholarly projects produced during Charles's reign or afterwards.

Life[edit]

Birth and childhood[edit]

Charles was born to John of Bohemia of the Luxembourg dynasty and Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia of the Bohemian Přemyslid dynasty in Prague.^[5] His maternal grandfather was the Bohemian King Wenceslaus II. He chose the name Charles at his confirmation in honor of his uncle, King Charles IV of France, at whose court he was resident for seven years.^[6]

Charles received French education and was literate and fluent in five languages: Latin, Czech, German, French, and Italian.^[^{citation needed}^]

Italy and Moravia[edit]

In 1331, he gained some experience of warfare in Italy with his father. At the beginning of 1333, Charles went to Lucca (Tuscany) to consolidate his rule there. In an effort to defend the city, Charles founded the nearby fortress and the town of Montecarlo (Charles' Mountain).^[7]

From 1333, he administered the lands of the Bohemian Crown due to his father's frequent absence and deteriorating eyesight. In 1334, Charles was named Margrave of Moravia, the traditional title for heirs to the throne. Two years later, he assumed the government of Tyrol on behalf of his brother, John Henry, and was soon actively involved in a struggle for the possession of this county.^[8]

King of the Romans[edit]

On 11 July 1346, in consequence of an alliance between his father and Pope Clement VI, relentless enemy of the emperor Louis IV, Charles was elected as Roman king in opposition to Louis by some of the prince-electors at Rhens. As he had previously promised to be subservient to Clement, he made extensive concessions to the pope in 1347. Confirming the papacy in the possession of vast territories, he promised to annul the acts of Louis against Clement, to take no part in Italian affairs, and to defend and protect the church.^[8]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/72/Karte_B%C3%B6hmen_unter_Karl_IV.png/220px-Karte_B%C3%B6hmen_unter_Karl_IV.png

Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by Charles IV

Charles IV was in a very weak position in Germany. Owing to the terms of his election, he was derisively referred to as a "Priests' King" (Pfaffenkönig). Many bishops and nearly all of the Imperial cities remained loyal to Louis the Bavarian. Worse still, Charles backed the wrong side in the Hundred Years' War, losing his father and many of his best knights at the Battle of Crécy in August 1346, with Charles himself escaping from the field wounded.

Civil war in Germany was prevented, however, when Louis IV died on 11 October 1347, after suffering a stroke during a bear hunt. In January 1349, House of Wittelsbach partisans attempted to secure the election of Günther von Schwarzburg as king, but he attracted few supporters and was defeated by Charles at the siege of Eltville in May. Thereafter, Charles faced no direct threat to his claim to the Imperial throne.

Charles initially worked to secure his power base. Bohemia had remained untouched by the plague. Prague became his capital, and he rebuilt the city on the model of Paris, establishing the New Town (Nové Město). In 1348, he founded the Charles University in Prague, which was later named after him and was the first university in Central Europe. This served as a training ground for bureaucrats and lawyers. Soon Prague emerged as the intellectual and cultural center of Central Europe.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/47/Busta_Karel_IV.jpg/220px-Busta_Karel_IV.jpg

Bust of Charles IV in St. Vitus Cathedral, 1370s

Having made good use of the difficulties of his opponents, Charles was again elected in Frankfurt on 17 June 1349 and re-crowned at Aachen on 25 July 1349. He was soon the undisputed ruler of the Empire. Gifts or promises had won the support of the Rhenish and Swabian towns; a marriage alliance secured the friendship of the Habsburgs; and an alliance with Rudolf II of Bavaria, Count Palatine of the Rhine, was obtained when Charles, who had become a widower in 1348, married Rudolph's daughter Anna.^[8]

In 1350, the king was visited at Prague by the Roman tribune Cola di Rienzo, who urged him to go to Italy, where the poet Petrarch and the citizens of Florence also implored his presence.^[9] Turning a deaf ear to these entreaties, Charles kept Cola in prison for a year, and then handed him as a prisoner to Clement at Avignon.^[8]

Outside Prague, Charles attempted to expand the Bohemian crown lands, using his imperial authority to acquire fiefs in Silesia, the Upper Palatinate, and Franconia. The latter regions comprised "New Bohemia", a string of possessions intended to link Bohemia with the Luxemburg territories in the Rhineland. The Bohemian estates, however, were not willing to support Charles in these ventures. When Charles sought to codify Bohemian law in the Maiestas Carolina of 1355, he met with sharp resistance. After that point, Charles found it expedient to scale back his efforts at centralization.

Holy Roman Emperor[edit]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Goldene-bulle_1c-480x475.jpg/220px-Goldene-bulle_1c-480x475.jpg

The Golden Bull of 1356

In 1354, Charles crossed the Alps without an army, received the Lombard crown in St. Ambrose Basilica, Milan, on 6 January 1355, and was crowned emperor at Rome by a cardinal on April 5th of the same year.^[10][8] His sole object appears to have been to obtain the Imperial crown in peace, in accordance with a promise previously made to Pope Clement. He only remained in the city for a few hours, in spite of the expressed wishes of the Roman people. Having virtually abandoned all the Imperial rights in Italy, the emperor re-crossed the Alps, pursued by the scornful words of Petrarch, but laden with considerable wealth.^[11][8] On his return, Charles was occupied with the administration of the Empire, then just recovering from the Black Death, and in 1356, he promulgated the famous Golden Bull to regulate the election of the king.^[8]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Golden_Bull_of_1356.png/220px-Golden_Bull_of_1356.png

Charles's possessions at the signing of the Golden Bull of 1356.

Having given Moravia to one brother, John Henry, and erected the county of Luxembourg into a duchy for another, Wenceslaus, he was unremitting in his efforts to secure other territories as compensation and to strengthen the Bohemian monarchy. To this end he purchased part of the upper Palatinate of the Rhine in 1353, and in 1367 annexed Lower Lusatia to Bohemia and bought numerous estates in various parts of Germany. On the death of Meinhard, Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count of Tyrol, in 1363, Upper Bavaria was claimed by the sons of the emperor Louis IV, and Tyrol by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria. Both claims were admitted by Charles on the understanding that if these families died out both territories should pass to the House of Luxembourg. At about the same time, he was promised the succession to the Margravate of Brandenburg, which he actually obtained for his son Wenceslaus in 1373.^[8]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Interview_of_King_Charles_V_with_the_Emperor_Charles_IV_in_Paris_in_1378_Fac_simile_of_a_Miniature_in_the_Description_of_this_Interview_Manuscript_of_the_Fifteenth_Century_in_the_Library_of_the_Arsenal_of_Paris.png/220px-thumbnail.png

Meeting with Charles V of France in Paris in 1378, from a fifteenth-century manuscript in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal

Casimir III of Poland and Louis I of Hungary entered a conspiracy against Charles and managed to persuade Otto V of Bavaria to join. After the repeal of the estate contract by margrave Otto, in early July 1371, Charles IV declared hostilities and invaded Margraviate of Brandenburg; after two years of conflict, in 1373 Brandenburg became part of the Czech lands. This was when he gave the order to measure his new territory, its villages, people, and income. This was recorded in the Landbuch of Charles IV, which was finished in 1375. Many villages were mentioned for the first time in this book, so it can provide information on how old they are. He also gained a considerable portion of Silesian territory, partly by inheritance through his third wife, Anna von Schweidnitz, daughter of Henry II, Duke of Świdnica and Catherine of Hungary. In 1365, Charles visited Pope Urban V at Avignon and undertook to escort him to Rome; on the same occasion he was crowned King of Burgundy at Arles.^[8]

His second journey to Italy took place in 1368 when he had a meeting with Pope Urban V at Viterbo, was besieged in his palace at Siena, and left the country before the end of 1369. During his later years, the emperor took little part in German affairs beyond securing the election of his son Wenceslaus as king of the Romans in 1376, and negotiating a peace between the Swabian League of Cities and some nobles in 1378. After dividing his lands between his three sons and his nephews,^[1] he died in November 1378 at Prague, where he was buried, and where a statue was erected to his memory in 1848.^[8]

Charles IV suffered from gout (metabolic arthritis), a painful disease quite common in that time.

Legacy[edit]

Main article: Cultural depictions of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Evaluation[edit]

The reign of Charles IV was characterized by a transformation in the nature of the Empire and is remembered as the Golden Age of Bohemia. He promulgated the Golden Bull of 1356 whereby the succession to the imperial title was laid down, which held for the next four centuries.

He also organized the states of the empire into peace-keeping confederations. In these, the Imperial cities figured prominently. The Swabian Landfriede confederation of 1370 was made up almost entirely of Imperial Cities. At the same time, the leagues were organized and led by the crown and its agents. As with the electors, the cities that served in these leagues were given privileges to aid in their efforts to keep the peace.

He assured his dominance over the eastern borders of the Empire through succession treaties with the Habsburgs and the purchase of Brandenburg. He also claimed imperial lordship over the crusader states of Prussia and Livonia.

In 2005 Charles IV ranked the first in the TV show Největší Čech, the Czech spin-off of the BBC Greatest Britons show.

Patronage of culture and the arts[edit]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Karl_IV_HRR.jpg/170px-Karl_IV_HRR.jpg

Statue of Charles IV near Charles Bridge (1848), Prague, by Ernst Julius Hähnel

Prague became the capital of the Holy Roman Empire during the reign of Charles IV. The name of the royal founder and patron remains on many monuments and institutions, for example Charles University, Charles Bridge, Charles Square. High Gothic Prague Castle and part of the cathedral of Saint Vitus by Peter Parler were also built under his patronage. Finally, the first flowering of manuscript painting in Prague dates from Charles's reign. In the present Czech Republic, he is still regarded as Pater Patriae (father of the country or otec vlasti), a title first coined by Adalbertus Ranconis de Ericinio at his funeral.

Charles also had strong ties to Nuremberg, staying within its city walls 52 times and thereby strengthening its reputation amongst German cities. Charles was the patron of the Nuremberg Frauenkirche, built between 1352 and 1362 (the architect was likely Peter Parler), where the imperial court worshipped during its stays in Nuremberg.

Charles's imperial policy was focused on the dynastic sphere and abandoned the lofty ideal of the Empire as a universal monarchy of Christendom. In 1353, he granted the Duchy of Luxembourg to his half-brother, Wenceslaus. He concentrated his energies chiefly on the economic and intellectual development of Bohemia, where he founded the university in 1348 and encouraged the early humanists. He corresponded with Petrarch and invited him to visit the royal residence in Prague, whilst the Italian hoped – to no avail – to see Charles move his residence to Rome and reawaken tradition of the Roman Empire.

Charles's sister Bona married the eldest son of Philip VI of France, the future John II of France, in 1335. Thus, Charles was the maternal uncle of Charles V of France, who solicited his relative's advice at Metz in 1356 during the Parisian Revolt. This family connection was celebrated publicly when Charles made a solemn visit to his nephew in 1378, just months before his death. A detailed account of the occasion, enriched by many splendid miniatures, can be found in Charles V's copy of the Grandes Chroniques de France.

Castles[edit]

Castles built or established by Charles IV:[12]

Karlštejn, 1348–1355 in Central Bohemian Region for safekeeping the Imperial Regalia, especially the Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire (later the Czech Crown Jewels were also kept there)

Kašperk (Karlsberg), 1356 in Kašperské Hory in Plzeň Region

Lauf (Wenzelsburg) – built on the way connecting Prague and Nuremberg in Bohemian Palatinate, inside survived 112 coats of arms of the Bohemian Kingdom

Montecarlo in Italy

Radyně (Karlskrone) – around 1360 in Plzeň Region

Hrádek u Purkarce (Karlshaus) – around 1357

Tepenec (Twingenberg, Karlsburg) in Jívová in Olomouc Region

Karlsfried

Places named after Charles IV[edit]

Czech Republic

Karlovy Vary, a spa city

Karlštejn, a town beyond the eponymous castle

Charles Bridge (Karlův most), Prague

Charles University (Univerzita Karlova), Prague

Multiple squares – Charles Square (Karlovo náměstí) in Prague and others, for example in Brno, Kolín, Mělník etc.

Multiple streets

Italy

Montecarlo (Charles's Mountain), a municipality

Other[edit]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/100CZK_obverse.jpg/220px-100CZK_obverse.jpg

100-CZK banknote

The 100-Czech koruna banknote

16951 Carolus Quartus, an asteroid

12 July 1275(6) – 24 August 1313

4 October 1276 – 14 December 1311

27 September 1271 – 21 June 1305

13 March 1271 – 18 June 1297

John of Bohemia

Elisabeth of Bohemia

10 August 1296 – 26 August 1346

20 January 1292 – 28 September 1330

Charles IV

Blanche of Valois

Anna of Bavaria

14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378

Anna von Schweidnitz

Elizabeth of Pomerania

1316 – 1 August 1348

26 September 1329 – 2 February 1353

1339 – 11 July 1362

1346(7) – 14 February 1393

OO 15 May 1323

OO March 1349

OO 27 May 1353

OO 21 May 1363

son

Wenceslas

son

b.1334

1335–49

1342–95

1350–51

1358–73

King of the Romans

1362

of Bohemia

1361–1419

1366–94

Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor

John of Görlitz

Charles

Margaret of Bohemia

Henry

1368–1437

1370–96

1372–73

1373–1410

1377–78

Marriages and children[edit]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/87/Karl_IV_Blanca_Valois.jpg/220px-Karl_IV_Blanca_Valois.jpg

Charles and his first wife, Blanche

Charles was married four times. His first wife was Blanche of Valois (1316–1348), daughter of Charles, Count of Valois, and a half-sister of King Philip VI of France.^[5] They had three children:

son (b. 1334), died young

Margaret of Bohemia, Queen of Hungary (1335–1349); married King Louis I of Hungary.^[13]

Catherine of Bohemia (1342–1395); married Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria^[14] and Otto V, Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg.

He secondly married Anna of Bavaria, (1329–1353), daughter of Rudolf II, Count Palatine of the Rhine; they had one son:

Wenceslaus (1350–1351).

His third wife was Anna von Schweidnitz, (1339–1362),^[5] daughter of Henry II, Duke of Świdnica and Katharina of Anjou (daughter of Charles I Robert, King of Hungary), by whom he had three children:

Elisabeth of Bohemia (19 April 1358 – 4 September 1373); married Albert III, Duke of Austria at the very young age of 8 and died at the age of 15, they had no children.^[5]

Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia (1361–1419);^[5] later elected King of Germany (formally King of the Romans) and on his father's death, became King of Bohemia (as Wenceslaus IV) and Emperor-elect of the Holy Roman Empire; married firstly to Joanna of Bavaria in 1370 and secondly to Sophia of Bavaria in 1389.

son (born and died 11 July 1362).

His fourth wife was Elizabeth of Pomerania, (1345 or 1347 – 1393),^[15] daughter of Bogislaw V, Duke of Pomerania and Elisabeth of Poland who was the daughter of King Casimir III of Poland. They had six children:

Anne of Bohemia, Queen of England (1366–1394); married King Richard II of England^[15]

Sigismund of Bohemia (1368–1437);^[15] later became Holy Roman Emperor, was King of Bohemia, Margrave of Brandenburg, and also King of Hungary through his first marriage to Mary, Queen of Hungary in 1385. His second marriage was to Barbara of Cilli, the daughter and youngest child of Herman II, Count of Celje, in 1405/1408.

John of Bohemia (1370–1396); later Margrave of Moravia and Duke of Görlitz; married Richardis Catherine of Sweden, the daughter of Albert, King of Sweden.^[15] His only daughter and heiress Elisabeth of Görlitz was Duchess of Luxembourg.

Charles (13 March 1372 – 24 July 1373).

Margaret of Bohemia, Burgravine of Nuremberg (1373–1410); married John III, Burgrave of Nuremberg.^[15]

Henry (1377–1378)

Charles had one illegitimate son, William, born in 1362 to an unknown woman. He was raised in Brabant and seems to have joined his father at the time of the latter's trip to France in 1377. He was acknowledged by his father, who sought a papal dispensation for him to marry within the fourth degree. It is unknown if he ever married. He served his Bohemian relatives as a diplomat, but his ultimate fate is unknown.^[16]

References[edit]

1. ^ Jump up to:^a ^b Karl IV. In: Hans Herzfeld^[^de^] (1960): Geschichte in Gestalten (History in figures), vol. 2: F–K. Das Fischer Lexikon^[^de^] 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294

2. ^ Kavka, František (1998). "Chapter 3: Politics and culture under Charles IV". In Teich, Mikuláš (ed.). Bohemia in History. Cambridge University Press. p. 60. ISBN 0-521-43155-7.

3. ^ Mahoney, William (2011). The history of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Greenwood. p. 50. ISBN 978-0313363054.

4. ^ Agnew, Hugh (2004). The Czechs and the lands of the Bohemian crown. Hoover Institution Press. pp. 32. ISBN 978-0817944926.

5. ^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Boehm & Fajt 2005, p. xvi.

6. ^ "Charles IV – the greatest Czech". Prague City Tourism Prague City Tourism. Retrieved 19 April 2020.

7. ^ Montecarlo

8. ^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j

One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Charles IV. (Roman Emperor)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 898–899.

9. ^ Francesco Petrarca Epistolae familiares X.1, XII.1, XVIII.1; See also: E.H. Wilkins Life of Petrarch (Chicago, 1961) 97, 112, 134 resp.

10. ^ František Palacký. Dějiny národu českého v Čechách i v Moravě, books VIII and IX

11. ^ Francesco Petrarca, Epistolae familiares XIX.12; see also E. H. Wilkins, Life of Petrarch (Chicago, 1961), p. 147

12. ^ Karel IV. – český král

13. ^ Dvornik 1962, p. 52.

14. ^ Jaschke 1997, p. 102.

15. ^ Jump up to:^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Boehm & Fajt 2005, p. xvii.

16. ^ Ondřej Schmidtm John of Moravia between the Czech Lands and the Patriarchate of Aquileia (ca. 1345–1394) (Brill, 2019), p. 31.

Bibliography[edit]

Boehm, Barbara Drake; Fajt, Jiri, eds. (2005). Prague: The Crown of Bohemia, 1347–1437. Yale University Press.[ISBN missing]

Dvornik, Francis (1962). The Slavs in European History and Civilization. Rutgers University Press.

Jaschke, Karl-Ulrich (1997). "From Famous Empresses to Unspectacular Queens". In Duggan, Anne J. (ed.). Queens and Queenship in Medieval Europe. The Boydell Press.[ISBN missing]

Further reading

External links

Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wenceslaus IV

Detail from the Wenceslas Bible, 1390s

King of Bohemia

Reign

29 November 1378 – 16 August 1419

Coronation

15 June 1363

St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague

Predecessor

Charles IV

Successor

Sigismund

King of Germany

Reign

10 June 1376 – 20 August 1400

Coronation

6 July 1376

Aachen Cathedral

Predecessor

Charles IV

Successor

Rupert

Born

26 February 1361

Nuremberg, Kingdom of Germany, Holy Roman Empire

Died

16 August 1419 (aged 58)

Kunratice, Prague, Bohemia

Burial

St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague

Spouse

Father

Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Mother

Anna von Schweidnitz

Wenceslaus IV (also Wenceslas; Czech: Václav; German: Wenzel, nicknamed "the Idle";^[1] 26 February 1361 – 16 August 1419), also known as Wenceslaus of Luxembourg, was King of Bohemia from 1378 until his death and King of Germany from 1376 until he was deposed in 1400. As he belonged to the House of Luxembourg, he was also Duke of Luxembourg from 1383 to 1388.

Biography[edit]

Wenceslaus was born in the Imperial city of Nuremberg, the son of Emperor Charles IV by his third wife Anna von Schweidnitz, a scion of the Silesian Piasts, and baptized at St. Sebaldus Church. He was raised by the Prague Archbishops Arnošt of Pardubice and Jan Očko of Vlašim. His father had the two-year-old crowned King of Bohemia in June 1363^[2] and in 1373 also obtained for him the Electoral Margraviate of Brandenburg. When on 10 June 1376 Charles IV asserted Wenceslaus' election as King of the Romans^[2] by the prince-electors, two of seven votes, those of Brandenburg and Bohemia, were held by the emperor and his son themselves. Wenceslaus was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle on 6 July.^[2]

In order to secure the election of his son, Charles IV revoked the privileges of many Imperial Cities that he had earlier granted, and mortgaged them to various nobles. The cities, however, were not powerless, and as executors of the public peace, they had developed into a potent military force. Moreover, as Charles IV had organised the cities into leagues, he had made it possible for them to cooperate in large-scale endeavors. Indeed, on 4 July 1376, fourteen Swabian cities bound together into the independent Swabian League of Cities to defend their rights against the newly elected King, attacking the lands of Eberhard II, Count of Württemberg. The city league soon attracted other members and until 1389 acted as an autonomous state within the Empire.

Rule[edit]

Wenceslaus took some part in government during his father's lifetime,^[2] and on Charles' death in 1378, he inherited the Crown of Bohemia and as king assumed the government of the Holy Roman Empire. In the cathedral of Monza there is preserved a series of reliefs depicting the coronations of the kings of Italy with the Iron Crown of Lombardy. The seventh of these depicts Wenceslaus being crowned in the presence of six electors, he himself being the seventh. The depiction is probably not accurate and was likely made solely to reinforce the claims of the cathedral on the custody of the Iron Crown.

In 1387 a quarrel between Frederick, Duke of Bavaria, and the cities of the Swabian League allied with the Archbishop of Salzburg gave the signal for a general war in Swabia, in which the cities, weakened by their isolation, mutual jealousies and internal conflicts, were defeated by the forces of Eberhard II, Count of Württemberg, at Döffingen, near Grafenau, on 24 August 1388. The cities were taken severally and devastated. Most of them quietly acquiesced when King Wenceslaus proclaimed an ambivalent arrangement at Cheb (Eger) in 1389 that prohibited all leagues between cities, while confirming their political autonomy. This settlement provided a modicum of stability for the next several decades, however the cities dropped out as a basis of the central Imperial authority.

King of Bohemia[edit]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a7/Bible_Vaclav4_1.jpg/220px-Bible_Vaclav4_1.jpg

King Wenceslaus depicted in his Bible (the so-called Wenceslas Bible, late 14th century)

During his long reign, Wenceslaus held a tenuous grip on power at best, as he came into repeated conflicts with the Bohemian nobility led by the House of Rosenberg. On two occasions he was even imprisoned for lengthy spells by rebellious nobles.

But the greatest liability for Wenceslaus proved to be his own family. Charles IV had divided his holdings among his sons and other relatives. Although Wenceslaus upon his father's death retained Bohemia, his younger half-brother Sigismund inherited Brandenburg, while John received the newly established Duchy of Görlitz in Upper Lusatia. The March of Moravia was divided between his cousins Jobst and Procopius, and his uncle Wenceslaus I had already been made Duke of Luxembourg. Hence the young king was left without the resources his father had enjoyed, although he inherited the duchy of Luxembourg from his uncle in 1383.^[2] In 1386, Sigismund became king of Hungary and became involved in affairs further east.

Wenceslaus also faced serious opposition from the Bohemian nobles and even from his chancellor, the Prague archbishop Jan of Jenštejn. In a conflict surrounding the investiture of the abbot of Kladruby, the torture and murder of the archbishop's vicar-general John of Nepomuk by royal officials in 1393 sparked a noble rebellion. In 1394 Wenceslaus' cousin Jobst of Moravia was named regent, while Wenceslaus was arrested at Králův Dvůr. King Sigismund of Hungary arranged a truce in 1396, and for his efforts he was recognized as heir to Wenceslaus.

In the Papal Schism, Wenceslaus had supported the Roman Pope Urban VI. As Bohemian king he sought to protect the religious reformer Jan Hus and his followers against the demands of the Roman Catholic Church for their suppression as heretics. This caused many Germans to withdraw from the University of Prague, and set up their own university at Leipzig.

He then met Charles VI of France at Reims, where the two monarchs decided to persuade the rival popes, now Benedict XIII and Boniface IX, to resign, and to end the papal schisms by the election of a new pontiff. Many of the princes were angry at this abandonment of Boniface by Wenceslaus, who had also aroused much indignation by his long absence from Germany and by selling the title of duke of Milan to Gian Galeazzo Visconti.^[2]

Hus was eventually executed in Konstanz in 1415, and the rest of Wenceslaus' reign in Bohemia featured precursors of the Hussite Wars that would follow his death during the Defenestrations of Prague.

Dethronement[edit]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/HRR_1400.png/250px-HRR_1400.png

Map of the Holy Roman Empire in 1400

In view of his troubles in Bohemia, Wenceslaus did not seek a coronation ceremony as Holy Roman Emperor, which did little to endear him to the pope. He also was long absent from the German lands. Consequently, he faced anger at the Reichstag diets of Nuremberg (1397) and Frankfurt (1398). The four Rhenish electors, Count Palatine Rupert III and the archbishops of Mainz, Cologne and Trier, accused him of failing to maintain the public peace or to resolve the Schism. They demanded that Wenceslaus appear before them to answer to the charges in June 1400. Wenceslaus demurred, in large part because of renewed hostilities in Bohemia. When he failed to appear, the electors meeting at Lahneck Castle declared him deposed on 20 August 1400 on account of "futility, idleness, negligence and ignobility". The next day they chose Rupert as their king at Rhens. Although Wenceslaus refused to acknowledge this successor's decade-long reign, he made no move against Rupert.^[2]

On 29 June 1402 Wenceslaus was captured by Sigismund, who at first intended to escort him to Rome to have him crowned emperor, but Rupert heard of this plan and tried to prevent the passage to Italy, so that Sigismund had Wenceslaus imprisoned, at first in Schaumberg, and from 16 August in Vienna, in the charge of William, Duke of Austria.^[3] On 20 November, Wenceslaus was forced to sign his renunciation of all his powers to Sigismund and the Dukes of Austria. In exchange, the conditions of his imprisonment were relaxed.^[4] In early 1403, Rupert made diplomatic overtures to Sigismund, attempting to get him to forgo his attempt to secure the imperial crown. But Sigismund invaded Bohemia with Hungarian forces, looting and imposing heavy taxes, and persecuting the supporters of Wenceslaus. He also plundered the royal treasury to pay for his military campaigns against the supporters of Rupert and of Jobst of Moravia. An armistice between Sigismund and Jobst was agreed to be in effect from 14 April until 20 May. This gave Sigismund's opponents time to prepare, and after the end of the armistice, Sigismund could make no further gains and retreated from Bohemia, reaching Bratislava on 24 July.^[5] On 1 October 1403, Pope Boniface IX finally acknowledged the deposition of Wenceslaus and the election of Rupert as King of the Romans. As a coronation of Wenceslaus was now no longer a possibility, and while he was nominally still prisoner in Vienna, he was no longer under strict guard, and he managed to escape on 11 November. He crossed the Danube and was escorted by John II of Liechtenstein via Mikulov back to Bohemia, meeting his supporters in Kutná Hora before moving on Prague, which he entered on Christmas.^[6]

Among the charges raised by Rupert as the basis for his predecessor's deposition was the Papal Schism. King Rupert called the Council of Pisa in 1409, attended by defectors from both papal parties. They elected Antipope Alexander V, worsening the situation because he was not acknowledged by his two rivals, and from 1409 to 1417 there were three popes.

After the death of Rupert in 1410, his succession at first proved difficult, as both Wenceslaus' cousin Jobst of Moravia and Wenceslaus' brother Sigismund of Hungary were elected King of the Romans. Wenceslaus himself had never recognized his deposition and hence still claimed the kingship. Jobst died in 1411, and Wenceslaus agreed to give up the crown, so long as he could keep Bohemia. This settled the issue, and after 1411 Sigismund reigned as king and later also became Holy Roman Emperor.

The bishops and secular leaders, tired of the Great Schism, supported Sigismund when he called the Council of Constance in 1414. The goal of the council was to reform the church in head and members. In 1417, the council deposed all three popes and elected a new one. By resolving the schism, Sigismund restored the honour of the imperial title and made himself the most influential monarch in the west.

Personal life[edit]

Wenceslaus was married twice, first to Joanna of Bavaria, a scion of the Wittelsbach dynasty, on 29 September 1370. Following her death on 31 December 1386 (according to an unproven legend "mangled by one of Wenceslaus' beloved deer-hounds"), he married her first cousin once removed, Sofia of Bavaria, on 2 May 1389. He had no children by either wife.

Wenceslaus was described as a man of great knowledge and is known for the Wenceslas Bible, a richly illuminated manuscript he had drawn up between 1390 and 1400. However, his rule remained uncertain, varying between idleness and cruel measures as in the case of John of Nepomuk. Unlike his father, Wenceslaus relied on favouritism, which made him abhorrent to many nobles and led to increasing isolation. Moreover, he probably suffered from alcoholism, which was brought to light in 1398 when he was unable to accept an invitation by King Charles VI of France for a reception at Reims due to his drunkenness.^[7]

Wenceslaus died in 1419 of a heart attack during a hunt in the woods surrounding his castle Nový Hrad at Kunratice (today a part of Prague), leaving the country in a deep political crisis. His death was followed by almost two decades of conflict called the Hussite Wars, which were centred on greater calls for religious reform by Jan Hus and spurred by popular outrage provoked by his execution.

In popular culture[edit]

The 2018 video game Kingdom Come: Deliverance is set in Bohemia under the rule of King Wenceslaus IV in 1403. The plot revolves around a blacksmith's son unwittingly getting involved in the War of Succession after the death of Charles IV.^[8]

Further reading[edit]

Boehm, Barbara Drake; et al. (2005). Prague: The Crown of Bohemia, 1347–1437. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 1588391612.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wenceslaus, King of the Romans.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bible of Wenceslaus IV..

Wenceslas (king of Bohemia and Germany) at Encyclopædia Britannica

Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia

House of Luxembourg

Born: 26 February 1361 Died: 16 August 1419

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Sigismund

Preceded by

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Otto VII

1373–1378

Preceded by

Duke of Luxembourg

Succeeded by

Wenceslaus I

1383–1388

Jobst

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Henri II (empereur du Saint-Empire)

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Pour les articles homonymes, voir Henri et Henri II.

Ne doit pas être confondu avec Henri Le Boiteux.

Henri II du Saint-Empire

Couronnement d'Henri II, sacramentaire, Bibliothèque d'État de Bavière, Clm4456, f.11.

^Titre

Duc de Bavière

28 août 995 – décembre 1017

(sauf de 1004 à 1009)

^{Prédécesseur}

Henri II

^Successeur

Henri V

Roi de Francie-Orientale (Germanie)

7 juin 1002 – 13 juillet 1024

(22 ans, 1 mois et 6 jours)

^Couronnement

7 juin 1002 à la cathédrale de Mayence

^{Prédécesseur}

Otton III

^Successeur

Conrad II le Salique

Roi d'Italie

14 mai 1004 – 13 juillet 1024

(20 ans, 1 mois et 29 jours)

^Couronnement

14 mai 1004 à Pavie

^{Prédécesseur}

Arduin d'Ivrée

^Successeur

Conrad II le Salique

Empereur du Saint-Empire

14 février 1014 – 13 juillet 1024

(10 ans, 4 mois et 29 jours)

^Couronnement

14 février 1014 à la basilique Saint-Pierre à Rome

^{Prédécesseur}

Otton III

^Successeur

Conrad II

^Biographie

^Dynastie

Ottoniens

^{Date de
naissance}

6 mai 973

^{Lieu de
naissance}

Abbach (Bavière)

^{Date de décès}

13 juillet 1024 (à 51 ans)

^{Lieu de décès}

Grone (Saxe)

^Sépulture

Cathédrale de Bamberg

^Père

Henri II de Bavière

^Mère

Gisèle de Bourgogne

^Conjoint

Cunégonde de Luxembourg

modifier

Henri II, dit « le Boiteux » ou « le Saint », né en mai 973 (selon le nécrologe de Mersebourg, le 6 mai) et mort le 13 juillet 1024, est le sixième et dernier roi de Germanie ou empereur romain germanique de la dynastie saxonne et ottonienne. Duc de Bavière de 995 à 1004 et de 1009 à 1017, roi de Francie-Orientale (Germanie) en 1002, roi d'Italie en 1004, élu empereur romain germanique en 1002, il est couronné à Rome par le pape Benoît VIII en 1014. Il épouse Cunégonde, qu'il associe à son gouvernement. Menant une vie pieuse, il encourage le développement du monachisme, créé, en 1007, sur des terres qui lui appartenaient en propre depuis 995, l'évêché de Bamberg, et doit combattre Boleslas I^er, duc puis roi de Pologne. Mort en 1024 à Göttingen en Saxe, enseveli à Bamberg, il est canonisé en 1146. L'impératrice connaît cette reconnaissance en 1200. L'Église catholique le célèbre le 13 juillet (anciennement le 15 juillet).

Origine et jeunesse[modifier | modifier le code]

Fils d'Henri le Querelleur, duc de Bavière et de Gisèle de Bourgogne, fille du roi Conrad III de Bourgogne, Henri, destiné à être clerc comme son frère Bruno, est éduqué par l'Église, d’abord par l'évêque Abraham de Freising, puis au sein de l'école cathédrale de Hildesheim. Il choisit toutefois l'état laïc et épouse Cunégonde de Luxembourg, dans le cadre d'un mariage marqué par la chasteté car il passe pour ne pouvoir être père¹. Il succède à son père comme duc de Bavière en 995 sous le nom d’Henri IV de Bavière².

Roi de Francie-Orientale[modifier | modifier le code]

En route vers Rome pour y secourir son cousin (issu de germain) l'empereur Otton III, mort en janvier 1002, il s’empare des insignes de roi de Germanie rapidement, pour faire face à ceux qui s’opposent à lui. Il est toutefois élu roi de Germanie à Mayence le 7 juin 1002, contre son cousin Othon de Carinthie. Contesté par Ekkehard de Misnie et Hermann II de Souabe, il est couronné le 8 septembre 1002 à Mayence grâce à l’appui de l’archevêque de Mayence, Willigis³^,⁴.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ae/Nuremberg_chronicles_-_Henry_II_and_Cunegundis_%28CLXXXVIr%29.jpg/150px-Nuremberg_chronicles_-_Henry_II_and_Cunegundis_%28CLXXXVIr%29.jpg,https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Bamberger_Dom_BW_6.JPG/220px-Bamberger_Dom_BW_6.JPG

Henri II et Cunégonde de Luxembourg.

Il part ensuite en Italie pour affronter Arduin d’Ivrée, auto-proclamé roi d'Italie et instigateur de la révolte contre les Allemands (incendie du palais impérial de Pavie). Il s’y fait couronner roi le 15 mai 1004 à Pavie dans la basilique San Michele Maggiore⁵ et parvient à restaurer l'essentiel de l'autorité germanique dans le nord de la péninsule mais une partie de la noblesse italienne refuse longtemps de le reconnaître.

Il doit abandonner cette campagne difficile et pleine d’atrocités pour retourner en Pologne combattre Boleslas I^er de Pologne. Cette guerre comprend trois campagnes : celle de 1004-1005 permet de dégager la Bohême en rétablissant en août 1004 le duc Jaromir, frère de Boleslav III de Bohême, qui avait été capturé et détrôné par le duc polonais. La Moravie restait toutefois entre les mains de Boleslas II ainsi que la Lusace qu'il avait occupée au début des hostilités. Henri n'hésite pas à s'allier aux païens Lituaniens contre les Polonais chrétiens. Ces campagnes se prolongent en 1007-1013 et 1015-1018 jusqu’à la paix de Bautzen en 1018, par laquelle Boleslas conserve la Lusace et la Marche de Misnie, mais en tant que fief d'Empire⁶. En 1006, il fait fermer le dernier marché d’esclaves de l’Empire qui était tenu à Mecklembourg⁷^,⁸.

Empereur des Romains[modifier | modifier le code]

La cathédrale de Bamberg (état actuel).

Henri II mène une nouvelle campagne en Italie en 1013 et cette fois il parvient jusqu'à Rome, où le pape Benoît VIII le couronne empereur le 14 février 1014⁹. Il intervient comme ses prédécesseurs, dans les affaires de l'Église¹⁰. C’est d’ailleurs dans le domaine des relations entre l’Empire et l’Église, et dans le fonctionnement interne de l’Église que se situent ses interventions les plus significatives. Il soutient les évêques contre le clergé régulier, qui parviennent à concilier leur pouvoir séculier sur leurs territoires avec leur pouvoir spirituel. Il renforce l’obligation de célibat du clergé, de façon que les dons de terre n’aillent pas aux héritiers, ce qui lui garantit des évêques fidèles et donc un appui contre les nobles rebelles et les familles ambitieuses. Il fonde l’évêché de Bamberg en 1007, qui devient rapidement un centre de culture. En 1020, le pape consacre cette nouvelle cathédrale et le convainc de revenir pour une troisième et dernière campagne en Italie.

En 1022, afin de soutenir le pape Benoît VIII l'empereur conduit une puissante armée de soixante mille hommes en Italie. À la tête du contingent le plus important il suit la côte adriatique. L’archevêque Pilgrim de Cologne avec vingt mille hommes descend le long de la côte tyrrhénienne pour soumettre Capoue, ce qu’il fait en capturant le prince, Pandolf IV. Une troisième armée, plus petite de onze mille hommes, commandée par Poppon d'Aquilée, suit les Apennins. Les trois armées se rejoignent pour le siège de Troia, la nouvelle forteresse byzantine, défendue par le catapan Basil Boiannes. L'empereur Henri II gracie Pandolf IV qui avait été condamné à mort dans un premier temps et l'envoie captif en Allemagne? et il impose entre 1022 et 1026, comme prince Pandolf VI de Teano et son fils et associé Jean. S'il échoue dans le siège de Troia, le sud de l’Italie passe temporairement sous son autorité jusqu'au retour après sa mort de Panfolf libéré et soutenu par les Byzantins¹¹. Sur le chemin du retour, il participe à un synode à Pavie, où il défend la réforme de l’Église.

En 1023, à l’entrevue d'Yvois, près de l'abbaye de Mouzon (du 6 au 13 août), il renonce à demander au roi de France Robert II le Pieux un hommage, probablement par humilité¹².

En 1024 il installe encore sur le trône pontifical Jean XIX et travaille ensuite avec lui à la préparation d'un nouveau concile pour établir un mode de fonctionnement entre l’Église et l’Empire car l'église impériale d'Allemagne va en se corrompant du fait de l'investiture dans le seigneuries ecclésiastiques par la noblesse de prélats laïcs ayant parfois des enfants légitimes ou issu de concubines. Henri II meurt soudainement le 13 juillet 1024. Avec son épouse Cunégonde il repose dans la cathédrale de Bamberg qu'il affectionnait particulièrement.

Aucun enfant n'étant né de son mariage avec Cunégonde de Luxembourg, l'union du couple fut généralement considérée comme virginale, ce qui entraîna la canonisation des souverains et la nécessité d'une nouvelle élection lors de la succession. C'est Conrad le Salique qui, non sans tumulte, est choisi.

Réputé pour sa piété et son rôle dans la réforme de l'Église, il est canonisé en 1146 ; il est le seul empereur germanique à l'avoir été (Charlemagne fut canonisé en 1165 par l'anti-pape Pascal III. La Curie romaine n'a jamais validé ni infirmé cette mesure. Le culte est toléré, et le statut de bienheureux reconnu par Benoît XIV¹³).

La Saint-Henri dans les almanachs[modifier | modifier le code]

· Dicton : Quand reviendra la Saint-Henri (13 juillet), tu planteras ton céleri.

· Fête : le 13 juillet (le 15 juillet précédemment).

Notes et références[modifier | modifier le code]

1. ↑ Joseph Calmette Le Reich allemand au Moyen Âge, Payot Paris 1951 p. 104 et note n^o 1.

2. ↑ (en) Heinrich IV duke of Bavaria sur le site Medieval Lands [archive].

3. ↑ Joseph Calmette op. cit. p. 103-104.

4. ↑ Ausgrabungen in der Mainzer Johanniskirche "Es ist immer mit einer Überraschung zu rechnen" [archive].

5. ↑ Gillian Elliott, « "Representing Royal Authority at San Michele Maggiore in Pavia" Zeitschrift fur Kunstgeschichte 77 (2014) », Zeitschrift fur Kunstgeschichte,‎ 2014 (lire en ligne [archive], consulté le 28 août 2022).

6. ↑ D’après Charles Higounet, Les Allemands en Europe centrale et orientale au Moyen Âge, Paris, Aubier, 1989, 454 p. (ISBN 2-7007-2223-X), p. 64.

7. ↑ D’après (de) Helmut Söring, « Die Karriere eines Bayern », Hamburger Abendblatt,‎ 30 juillet 2002 (lire en ligne [archive]).

8. ↑ L'église a-t-elle autorisé l'esclavage ? [archive]

9. ↑ Joseph Calmette op. cit. p. 106.

10. ↑ Choqué de ce que le Credo ne soit pas dit durant la messe, il obtient du pape Benoît VIII qu'il soit introduit dans la liturgie, au moins les dimanches et jours de fête.

11. ↑ Jules Gay L'Italie méridionale et l'Empire byzantin depuis l'avènement de Basile Ier jusqu'à la prise de Bari par les Normands (867-1071) Albert Fontemoing éditeur, Paris 1904. « Siège de Troia » p. 419-422 et « Intervention d'Henri II à Capoue et au Mont-Cassin » p. 423-425.

12. ↑ Régine Pernoud, Les Saints au Moyen Âge, Paris Librairie Plon, 1984, p. 214 (ISBN 978-2259011860).

13. ↑ Charlemagne sur le site Nominis [archive].