Nicholas I ( cs, Mikuláš I. Opavský) (c. 1255 – 25 July 1318) was the natural son of

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

king Ottokar II Přemysl and his

mistress Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a ...

Agnes of Kuenring Agnes of Kuenring (ca. 1236 - fl. 1261), was an Austrian noble, courtier of Queen Margaret of Austria and mistress of her spouse, King Ottokar II of Bohemia. She was the first historically documented mistress of a Bohemian sovereign. Life Nothing ...

. In 1269 he became Duke of Opava (at modern day

Opava Opava (; german: Troppau, pl, Opawa) is a city in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 55,000 inhabitants. It lies on the river Opava. Opava is one of the historical centres of Silesia. It was a historical capital of ...

, Czech Republic) and thereby the progenitor of the

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 ...

n cadet branch 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 ...

that lasted until 1521. He was legitimated by his father with the consent of

Pope Alexander IV Pope Alexander IV (1199 or 1185 – 25 May 1261) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 December 1254 to his death in 1261. Early career He was born as Rinaldo di Jenne in Jenne (now in the Province of Rome), he ...

and raised at the

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

court. As his half-brother Wenceslaus II was designated to succeed his father on the Bohemian throne, Nicholas in compensation received Troppau, then a part of the Moravian march. He supported his father in the 1278

Battle on the Marchfeld The Battle on the Marchfeld (''i.e. Morava Field''; german: Schlacht auf dem Marchfeld; cs, Bitva na Moravském poli; hu, Morvamezei csata) at Dürnkrut and Jedenspeigen took place on 26 August 1278 and was a decisive event for the history o ...

, was captured by Hungarian forces, but regained his duchy from the victorious German king

Rudolf of Habsburg Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death. Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum whic ...

. His rule was however challenged by Ottokar's widow Kunigunda of Halych, who had retired to

Hradec nad Moravicí Hradec nad Moravicí (; german: Grätz) is a town in Opava District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,400 inhabitants. The historic town centre with the castle complex is well preserved and is protected by law as ...

. In 1283 Nicholas married King Rudolf's niece

Adelheid Adelheid is the modern Dutch and German form of the Old High German female given name Adalheidis, meaning "nobility" or "noble-ness". It may refer to the following people: * Saint Adelheid or Adelaide of Italy, (931–999), Holy Roman Empress an ...

. They had three sons: * Nicholas II, Duke of Troppau * Wenceslaus of Opava *Johann (died 1325). Nicholas retained the Duchy of Opava after the last Přemyslid ruler of Bohemia, King Wenceslaus III was killed in 1306. The Bohemian Crown however passed to Duke

Henry of Carinthia Henry of Gorizia (german: Heinrich, cs, Jindřich; – 2 April 1335), a member of the House of Gorizia, was Duke of Carinthia and Landgrave of Carniola (as Henry VI) and Count of Tyrol from 1295 until his death, as well as King of Bohemia, Ma ...

and Nicholas had to accept the pledge of his duchy in favour of the

Silesian Piast The Silesian Piasts were the elder of four lines of the Polish Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile (1105–1159), eldest son of Duke Bolesław III of Poland. By Bolesław's testament, Władysław was granted Silesia as his her ...

duke

Bolesław III the Generous Boleslaw III the Wasteful ( pl, Bolesław III Rozrzutny; 23 September 1291 – Brieg, 21 April 1352), was a Duke of Legnica, Brzeg (Brieg) from 1296 until 1342, and Duke of Wrocław from 1296 until 1311. He was the eldest son of Henry V the Fa ...

of Legnica, the husband of King Wenceslaus' III sister Margaret. King Henry's successor John of Bohemia however redeemed the pawn and in 1318 re-installed Nicholas's son Nicholas II as duke.

References

Bibliography

* * Patrick J. Geary: ''Readings in Medieval History, 4th Edition'', University of Toronto Press, 201

* Patrick J. Geary: ''Readings in Medieval History, Volume II: The Later Middle Ages''

* In Czech: ** KOUŘIL, Pavel; PRIX, Dalibor; WIHODA, Martin. Hrady českého Slezska. Brno : Archeologický ústav AV ČR, 2000. 645 p. . ** STŘEŠTÍKOVÁ, Markéta. Králův syn. Dětství a jinošství Mikuláše I. Opavského. In Opava. Sborník k dějinám města 3. Opava : Matice slezská ; Zemský archiv v Opavě, 2003. . pp. 12–16. ** WIHODA, Martin. Facta est autem distraction regni Bohemiae. Opavsko v čase interregna 1278–1283. In Acta historica et museologica Universitatis Silesianae Opaviensis. Řada C. Opava : Slezská univerzita, Filozoficko-přírodovědecká fakulta, Ústav historie a muzeologie, 2000. . pp. 170–180. ** WIHODA, Martin. Mikuláš I. Opavský mezi Přemyslovci a Habsburky. Český časopis historický, 2001, pp. 209–230. ISSN 0862-6111. {{Authority control Dukes of Silesia Opavian Přemyslids 1250s births 1318 deaths Sons of kings