Nicholas V, Duke of Krnov (also known as ''Nicholas II of Opava-Ratibor''; cz, Mikuláš V. Krnovský; 1409–1452) was a member of the

Přemyslid dynasty The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemyslid ( cs, Přemyslovci, german: Premysliden, pl, Przemyślidzi) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–130 ...

. He was Duke of

Racibórz Racibórz (german: Ratibor, cz, Ratiboř, szl, Racibōrz) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Racibórz County. With Opole, Racibórz is one of the historic capitals of Upper Silesia, being t ...

Krnov Krnov (; german: Jägerndorf, pl, Karniów or ''Krnów'') is a town in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. Administrative parts The town is made up of town parts of Pod Bezru� ...

Bruntál Bruntál (; german: Freudenthal) is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. It is located in the historical region of Czech Silesia. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected ...

and

Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; szl, Rybńik) is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, around 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Katowice, the region's capital, and around 19 km (11 miles) from the Czech border. It is on ...

. All these duchies were situated in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

, then part of the

Crown of Bohemia The Lands of the Bohemian Crown were a number of incorporated states in Central Europe during the medieval and early modern periods connected by feudal relations under the Bohemian kings. The crown lands primarily consisted of the Kingdom of Bo ...

Life

Nicholas was older son of John "the Iron" and Helena of Lithuania (niece of King Wladyslaw II Jagiello of Poland). He was born in 1409. Nicholas and his younger brother

Wenceslaus II Wenceslaus II Přemyslid ( cs, Václav II.; pl, Wacław II Czeski; 27 SeptemberK. Charvátová, ''Václav II. Král český a polský'', Prague 2007, p. 18. 1271 – 21 June 1305) was King of Bohemia (1278–1305), Duke of Cracow (1291–1 ...

were minors when their father died in 1424, their mother, Helena of Lithuania acted as regent until 1428. Until 1449, she styled herself as ''Lady of

Pszczyna Pszczyna (german: Pleß, cs, Pština) is a town in southern Poland with 25,823 inhabitants (2019), and a seat of a local gmina (commune). It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship, and was a part of the Katowice Voivodeship from 1975 until adm ...

'', suggesting that she had received Pless as her

jointure Jointure is, in law, a provision for a wife after the death of her husband. As defined by Sir Edward Coke, it is "a competent livelihood of freehold for the wife, of lands or tenements, to take effect presently in possession or profit after the dea ...

. Nicholas V and Wenceslaus II ruled their duchy jointly until October 15, 1437, at which time they divided their inheritance. Nicholas V received

Wodzisław Śląski Wodzisław Śląski (; german: Loslau, cs, Vladislav, la, Vladislavia, yi, וואידסלוב, Voydislav, szl, Władźisłůw) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 47,992 inhabitants (2019). It is the seat of Wodzisław Cou ...

, and

Baborów Baborów (german: Bauerwitz) is a small town in southern Poland near Głubczyce, in the Opole Voivodeship, Głubczyce County, Gmina Baborów. As of December 2021, it has a population of 2,844. History The first mention of the town comes from 12 ...

, while Wenceslaus II received

Żytna Żytna is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Lyski, within Rybnik County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It lies approximately west of Rybnik and west of the regional capital Katowice Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowi ...

, and Pilchowice. Nicholas had to inherited

after his mother death. In 1433, a

Hussite The Hussites ( cs, Husité or ''Kališníci''; "Chalice People") were a Czech proto-Protestant Christian movement that followed the teachings of reformer Jan Hus, who became the best known representative of the Bohemian Reformation. The Hussit ...

army passing through the

Váh The Váh (; german: Waag, ; hu, Vág; pl, WagWag
w Słowniku geograficznym Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów ...

valley devastated Racibórz and prepared to hand it to Duke Bolko V of Opole, who supported the Hussites. However, Nicholas V reconquered Racibórz. In 1436, Nicholas V also conquered the

Duchy of Głubczyce Duchy of Głubczyce ( cs, Hlubčické knížectví, german: Herzogtum Leobschütz, pl, Księstwo Głubczyckie) was one of the duchies of Silesia. Its capital was Głubczyce in Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůns ...

, which was owned by Duke Wenceslaus II of Opava, who retaliated by conquering

Żory Żory (; german: Sohrau, szl, Żory) is a town and city county in Silesian Voivodeship, Poland with 62,462 inhabitants (2019). Previously it was in Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998). It is located in the historic Upper Silesia region about sout ...

. In 1437, Nicholas V and Wenceslaus II of Opava reached a compromise. In 1443, Nicholas allied himself with Dukes William of Opava, Przemyslaus II of Cieszyn, and Henry IX of Żagań-Głogów against the robber barons who infested Silesia. Nicholas V died in 1452. Initially, his sons John IV and Wenceslaus III ruled jointly. However, in 1464, they divided their inheritance, with John IV taking Krnov and

and Wenceslaus III taking Rybnik, Pless and Żory.

Marriage and issue

In 1435, Nicholas V married Margaret Clemm of Ellguth. They had three children: * John IV "the Elder" (d. 1483). * Wenceslaus III (d. 1479). * Barbara (d. 1510), married in 1475 to Duke

Jan IV of Oświęcim Jan IV of Oświęcim ( pl, Jan IV oświęcimski; 1426/1430 – by 21 February 1497), was a Duke of Oświęcim during 1434–1456 (until 1445 with his brothers as co-rulers) and Duke of Gliwice from 1465 to 1482. He was the third son of Duke Casim ...

(d. 1495/1497). In 1451 in Kraków, Nicholas V married his second wife. She was Barbara Rockemberg (d. 1464) from a patrician family in Kraków. They had two children:Jan Długosz: ''Roczniki czyli Kroniki sławnego Królestwa Polskiego. Book 12: 1445–1461''. Warszawa: PWN, 2009, p. 168, footnotes 161-162 and p. 168. *Nicholas (died in infancy). *Machna (d. 1508), married in 1482 to Duke Casimir II of Zator. Since her stepsons John IV and Wenceslaus II were minors when Nicholas V died in 1452, Barbara was

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of Racibórz, Krnov, Bruntál and Rybnik from 1452 until 1462. She was also Lady of Pless, which was probably her

Notes

References

Ludwig Petry Ludwig Petry (b. 3 June 1908 in Alzey, d. 25 November 1991 in Mainz) was a German historian. Petry was born into lawyer's family and grew up in Darmstadt.Josef Joachim Menzel (eds.): ''Geschichte Schlesiens'', vol. 1: ''Von der Urzeit bis zum Jahre 1526.'' 5th revised edition, Thorbecke, Stuttgart, 1988, , pp. 191, 201 ff, 205 and 218 * Hugo Weczerka (ed.): ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten — Schlesien'', vol. 316 in the series ''Kröners Taschenausgabe'', Kröner, Stuttgart 1977, , p. 411 and 457 and genealogical tables on p. 600-601

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholas 05 Krnov 1409 births 1452 deaths Opavian Přemyslids Silesian nobility Medieval Bohemian nobility 15th-century Bohemian people