Nicholas the Small (Mikołaj Mały) (1322/1327 – 23 April 1358) was a Duke of

Ziębice Ziębice (german: Münsterberg) is a town in Ząbkowice Śląskie County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. The town lies on the Oława River, approximately east of Ząbkowice Śląskie and south of the regional capital Wro ...

from 1341 until his death. He was the only son of Duke Bolko II of Ziębice and his wife Guta. He was born between 1322 and 1327. He had a sister, Małgorzata, but he did not know whether she was older or younger.

Life

Nicholas received a good education in the ( Henryków). After his father's death on 11 June 1341, he took control of the government of his domains. He almost immediately went to

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 ...

, where on 24 August he paid homage to King John of Bohemia. The huge debts left by his father forced Nicholas on 14 October 1343 to promise not to sell any of his lands without John's consent. In addition, if he did sell, the King had the first option to buy. He also agreed that, if the male line of the Dukes of Ziębice became extinct, the duchy would be annexed to the Bohemian Kingdom on condition that appropriate dowries be provided to the late Duke's daughters. Financial problems as early as 1343 forced Nicholas to sell the district of Zobten (

Sobótka Sobótka (pronounced , german: Zobten am Berge) is a town in Wrocław County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Sobótka. Sobótka is located about southwest ...

) to his cousin Bolko II the Small for 1,000 grzywnas of silver. Three years later, and for the same amount, he sold Frankenstein ( Ząbkowice) and the monastery of Kamenz ( Kamieniec Ząbkowicki) to the Bohemian magnate Heinrich von Haugwitz. A combination of favorable circumstances enabled him to sell the same land in 1348, this time definitively, to

Emperor Charles IV Charles IV ( cs, Karel IV.; german: Karl IV.; la, Carolus IV; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charle ...

for 6,000 grzywnas. Finally, in 1350 Nicholas sold the town of Wąsów to the

Bishop of Breslau A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

, Przecław of Pogorzela. As a result, of the vast domains he inherited from his father, Nicholas retained only Münsterberg, Strehlen (

Strzelin Strzelin (german: Strehlen, cz, Střelín) is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is located on the Oława river, a tributary of the Oder, about south of the region's capital Wrocław. It is part of the Wrocław me ...

), Kanth (

Kąty Wrocławskie Kąty Wrocławskie (german: Kanth), often abbreviated to Kąty, is a town in Wrocław County, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of the administrative district (gmina) called Gmina Kąty Wrocławskie. The town li ...

) and Patschkau ( Paczków). In 1355, Nicholas took part in the coronation of Charles IV as Holy Roman Emperor in

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 ...

. After a long stay in

, he returned to his duchy a year later. The Duke then went on a pilgrimage to Palestine between 1357 and 1358. Nicholas died in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

on 23 April 1358 during his return trip. His body was brought to the duchy and buried in the monastery in Heinrichau.

Marriage and issue

By 23 October 1343, Nicholas married Agnes (d. 16 July 1370), daughter of Hynek (also named ''Hermann'' or ''Hajman'') Krušina z Lichtemburka, a Bohemian magnate.. In some sources, Agnes is erroneously named the daughter of "Herman, Landgrave of Leuchtenberg", who historically never existed. Elisabeth Krušina z Lichtemburk, Agnes' older sister, married Boček z Kunštátu, another Bohemian magnate, and they were the paternal great-grandparents 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 ...

, later King of Bohemia. They had six children: #Ludmila nna?, Elisabeth?(b. ca. 1344 – d. ca. 1372), married by 1360 to Duke

Siemowit III of Masovia Siemowit III of Masovia (his name also rendered Ziemowit; – 1381) was a prince of Masovia and a co-regent (with his brother Casimir I of Warsaw) of the lands of Warsaw, Czersk, Rawa, Gostynin and other parts of Masovia. Life Siemowit ...

# Bolko III (b. ca. 1348 – d. 13 June 1410) #

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

(b. ca. 1350 – d. aft. 8 August 1366) #Agnes (b. ca. 1351/53? – d. October 1434), Abbess of St. Klara, Strehlen #Guta (b. ca. 1354? – d. 2 September 1413), Abbess of St. Klara, Breslau (bef. 1380) #Katharina (b. ca. 1355/58? – d. ca. 1396), a nun in St. Klara, Strehlen. In his will, Nicholas left to his wife the regency of his lands on behalf of their infant sons and effective rule over Strehlen.

References

External links

*
Genealogical database by Herbert Stoyan

{{Authority control 1320s births 1358 deaths Piast dynasty