Wenceslaus III, Duke of Rybnik (also known as Wenceslaus II of Krnov and Rybnik; ; ; ; – 1478 in

Kłodzko Kłodzko (; ; ; ) is a historic town in south-western Poland, in the region of Lower Silesia. It is situated in the centre of the Kłodzko Valley, on the Eastern Neisse (Nysa Kłodzka) river. Kłodzko is the seat of Kłodzko County (and of the ru ...

) was co-ruler of

Krnov Krnov (; , or ''Krnów'') is a town in Bruntál District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Krnov consists of three municipal parts (in brackets population according to ...

from 1452 to 1464 and the sole ruling Duke of

Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; ) 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 mi) from the Czech Republic, Czech border. It i ...

from 1464 to 1474. He was a member of the Opava-Ratibor branch of the

Přemyslid dynasty The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemysl (, , ) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–1306), as well as in parts of Poland (including Silesia ...

Life

Wenceslaus was the younger son of Duke

Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V (; ; 15 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene IV made him a cardinal in 1446 afte ...

of Krnov and Ratibor, who was an opponent of the

Hussites upright=1.2, Battle between Hussites (left) and Crusades#Campaigns against heretics and schismatics, Catholic crusaders in the 15th century upright=1.2, The Lands of the Bohemian Crown during the Hussite Wars. The movement began during the Prag ...

. His older brother was Jan III. He was born between around 1442 and 1450. Since Wenceslaus was still a minor when his father died in 1452, he was under the guardianship of his uncle

Wenceslaus II Wenceslaus II Přemyslid (; ; 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 (1291–1305), and King of Poland (1296–1305 ...

and his step-mother, Barbara Rockemberg. From 1460 to 1464, Wenceslaus and his elder brother John IV ruled their territories together. In 1464, they divided the inheritance, with John IV taking Krnov,

Bruntál Bruntál (; ) is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 15,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument zon ...

and

Wodzisław Śląski Wodzisław Śląski (; , , , , ) is a city in Silesian Voivodeship, southern Poland with 47,992 inhabitants (2019). It is the seat of Wodzisław County. It was previously in Katowice Voivodeship (1975–1998); close to the border with the Czech ...

and Wenceslaus taking Rybnik with

Żory Żory (; , , ) is a town and city powiat, county in the Silesian Voivodeship, located in southern Poland with 62,848 inhabitants (2021). It is located in the historic Upper Silesia region about southwest of Katowice. Location Żory is located in ...

and

Pszczyna Pszczyna (, ) is a town in Silesia Province in Poland, with a population of 25,823 (2019), and is the seat of a local gmina (commune) and district. It was previously part of Katowice Province from 1975 until 1998 administrative reforms. Etymo ...

. Wencelaus III supported King

Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary Vladislav ( (', '); , ; Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, sh-Cyrl, Владислав, ) is a male given name of Slavic origin. Variations include ''Volodislav'', ''Vlastislav'' and ''Vlaslav''. In the Czech Republic, Slovakia and ...

during the conflict between the Bohemian nobility and the Hungarians about control of Bohemia. The anti-Hungarian King

Matthias Corvinus Matthias Corvinus (; ; ; ; ; ) was King of Hungary and King of Croatia, Croatia from 1458 to 1490, as Matthias I. He is often given the epithet "the Just". After conducting several military campaigns, he was elected King of Bohemia in 1469 and ...

formed a coalition against Wenceslaus III. Members of the coalition included Duke Victor of Münsterberg and Opava and his brother Henry the Elder, as well as Duke Przemyslaus II of Cieszyn, Duke

Nicholas II of Niemodlin Nicholas II of Niemodlin (; – 27 June 1497), was a Duke of Opole-Brzeg- Strzelce-Niemodlin in 1476 (as co-ruler of his father) and sole Duke of Niemodlin from 1476 until his death. He was the third son of Duke Nicholas I of Opole by his wi ...

and his brother

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 (1087–114 ...

of Opole. The coalition overthrew Wencelaus III in 1474 and he was taken prisoner by Matthias Corvinus, who handed him over to henry the Elder. Henry's brother Victor took Wenceslaus's possessions, however, he lost them again after Wenceslaus' death. Wenceslaus died as a prisoner in 1478 in

. He was unmarried and childless.

Footnotes

References

* Hugo Weczerka (ed.): ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten — Schlesien'', in the series ''Kröners Taschenausgabe'', vol. 316, Kröner, Stuttgart, 1977, , p. 456–459 and genealogical tables on p. 600–601 * Rudolf Žáček: ''Dějiny Slezska v datech'', Libri, Prague, 2004, , p. 116, 424 and 443.

External links

Genealogy of Bohemia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenceslaus 03 of Rybnik Opavian Přemyslids 1440s births 1478 deaths 15th-century nobility from Bohemia Dukes of Poland