Ludmila of Poděbrady pl, Ludmiła Podiebrad; (16 October 1456 –

Legnica Legnica (Polish: ; german: Liegnitz, szl, Lignica, cz, Lehnice, la, Lignitium) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River (left tributary of the Oder) and the Czarna Woda (Kaczawa), Czarna Woda ...

, 20 January 1503), was a member of the

House of Poděbrady A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

and by marriage Duchess of

Chojnów Chojnów (german: Haynau, Silesian German: Hoyn, Silesian language: ''Chojnůw'') is a small town in Legnica County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is located on the Skora river, a tributary of the Kaczawa at an ave ...

Oława Oława (pronounced , , szl, Oława) is a historic town in south-western Poland with 33,029 inhabitants (2019). It is situated in Lower Silesian Voivodeship (from 1975–1998 it was in the former Wrocław Voivodeship), within the Wrocław me ...

Brzeg Brzeg (; Latin: ''Alta Ripa'', German: ''Brieg'', Silesian German: ''Brigg'', , ) is a town in southwestern Poland with 34,778 inhabitants (December 2021) and the capital of Brzeg County. It is situated in Silesia in the Opole Voivodeship on the ...

Lubin Lubin (; german: Lüben, szl, Lubin) is a city in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the administrative seat of Lubin County, and also of the rural district called Gmina Lubin, although it is not part of the territory of ...

. She was the youngest daughter of

George of Poděbrady George of Kunštát and Poděbrady (23 April 1420 – 22 March 1471), also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad ( cs, Jiří z Poděbrad; german: Georg von Podiebrad), was the sixteenth King of Bohemia, who ruled in 1458–1471. He was a leader of the ...

(who was elected

King of Bohemia The Duchy of Bohemia was established in 870 and raised to the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198. Several Bohemian monarchs ruled as non-hereditary kings beforehand, first gaining the title in 1085. From 1004 to 1806, Bohemia was part of the Holy Roman ...

in 1458) by his second wife, Johana of Rožmitál (''Johanka z Rožmitálu''). She was named after her maternal grandmother, Ludmila Bawor of Strakonicz.

Life

In 1460 Ludmila was betrothed to

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

, only son and heir of Duke Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria-Landshut. This marriage would have gained King George an ally in his efforts to obtain the German throne. However, the change of the political plans of George forced him in 1461 to dissolve Ludmila's betrothal with the Bavarian prince and engaged her with the Hungarian magnate Wawrzyńcem Uljakim. The Bohemian King wanted to win the Hungarian magnates to the cause of

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus, also called Matthias I ( hu, Hunyadi Mátyás, ro, Matia/Matei Corvin, hr, Matija/Matijaš Korvin, sk, Matej Korvín, cz, Matyáš Korvín; ), was King of Hungary and Croatia from 1458 to 1490. After conducting several mi ...

(who recently had married with one of his eldest twin daughters,

Katharina Katharina is a feminine given name. It is a German form of Katherine. It may refer to: In television and film: *Katharina Bellowitsch, Austrian radio and TV presenter * Katharina Mückstein, Austrian film director *Katharina Thalbach, German actr ...

) and simultaneously tried to gain his own opportunity of became the ruler of Hungary. In 1464, after Katharina's death, the relations between the Kings of Hungary and Bohemia become unfriendly. In this situation, George reassumed the idea of a marriage between Ludmila and the heir of Bavaria-Landshut. This engagement was broken by 1468, when King George found himself in political isolation. Then, he tried to arrange a marriage between Ludmila and the young Prince Vladislaus Jagiellon (eldest son of King

Casimir IV of Poland Casimir is classically an English, French and Latin form of the Polish name Kazimierz. Feminine forms are Casimira and Kazimiera. It means "proclaimer (from ''kazać'' to preach) of peace (''mir'')." List of variations *Belarusian: Казі ...

) but this plan never prospered. After King George's death in 1471, his widow proposed Prince Vladislaus as his successor. Shortly after, the Polish prince became in King Vladislaus II of Bohemia, and after succeeded Matthias Corvinus in 1490, he also reigned as King of Hungary. On 5 September 1474 Ludmila married with Duke

Frederick I of Legnica Frederick I of Liegnitz (3 May 1446 – 9 May 1488), was a Duke of Chojnów and Strzelin from 1453, of Oława and Legnica from 1454, of Brzeg from 1481 and of Lubin from 1482. Biography Frederick was born in Brzeg. He was the only son of Jan I o ...

. In 1475 along with her husband, she went on a pilgrimage to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

for the

Jubilee year A jubilee is a particular anniversary of an event, usually denoting the 25th, 40th, 50th, 60th, and the 70th anniversary. The term is often now used to denote the celebrations associated with the reign of a monarch after a milestone number of ...

. Ludmila bore her husband three sons:

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–1 ...

, Frederick II and

George I George I or 1 may refer to: People * Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631) * George I of Constantinople (d. 686) * George I of Antioch (d. 790) * George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9) * George I of Georgia (d. 1027) * Yuri Dolgor ...

. After the death of her husband (9 May 1488) Ludmila assumed the regency on behalf of her minor sons in the Duchies of

and

, but not in

and

, who were assigned to her in Frederick I's will as her

dower Dower is a provision accorded traditionally by a husband or his family, to a wife for her support should she become widowed. It was settled on the bride (being gifted into trust) by agreement at the time of the wedding, or as provided by law. ...

, and in consequence, they are under Ludmila's direct sovereignty for her life. Ludmila's regency ended in 1498, when her eldest surviving son, Frederick II (John II had already died in 1495 still underage) attained his majority and assumed the government and the guardianship of his youngest brother George I by himself. Ludmila died five years later, and the Duchy of Brzeg-Oława was taken by her sons, who divided their domains between them two years later, in 1505.

References

* *
Genealogical database by Herbert Stoyan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ludmila of Podebrady 1456 births 1503 deaths Piast dynasty Podiebrad family