Rudolf of Żagań ( pl, Rudolf żagański) (ca. 1418 – 18 September 1454) was a Duke of

Żagań Żagań ( French and german: Sagan, hsb, Zahań, la, Saganum) is a town in western Poland, on the Bóbr river, with 25,731 inhabitants (2019). The town is the capital of Żagań County in the historic region of Silesia. Previously in the Zielon ...

- Przewóz since 1439 (with his brothers as co-rulers until 1449), from 1449 Duke of Żagań (as co-ruler of his older brother). He was the second son of Duke

Jan I of Żagań Jan I of Żagań ( pl, Jan I żagański) ( – 12 April 1439 in Żagań) was a Duke of Żagań-Głogów, since 1397 (until 1412 with his brothers as co-rulers), since 1403 Duke of Żagań, Krosno Odrzańskie and Świebodzin (again, until 1412 with ...

by his wife Scholastika, daughter of

Rudolf III, Duke of Saxe-Wittemberg Rudolf III ( – 11 June 1419), a member of the House of Ascania, was Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg and Elector of Saxony from 1388 until his death. Life He was probably born at the Saxon Wittenberg residence, the eldest son of Duke Wenceslaus I ...

and Elector of Saxony. He was named after his maternal grandfather. Rudolf was born between 1411 and 1418.

Life

At the time of his father's death (1439), Rudolf inherited the Duchy of Żagań-Przewóz jointly with his older brother Balthasar and his younger brothers

Wenceslaus Wenceslaus, Wenceslas, Wenzeslaus and Wenzslaus (and other similar names) are Latinized forms of the Czech name Václav. The other language versions of the name are german: Wenzel, pl, Wacław, Więcesław, Wieńczysław, es, Wenceslao, russian: ...

and

Jan II the Mad Jan II the Mad also known as the Bad, the Wild or the Cruel (16 April 1435 – 22 September 1504), was a Duke of Żagań- Przewóz since 1439 (with his brothers as co-rulers until 1449), from 1449 Duke of Przewóz (as co-ruler of his younger br ...

. In 1449 the Duchy was divided in two parts:

and Przewóz. Rudolf and Balthasar received Żagań as co-rulers while Przewóz was given to Jan II and Wenceslaus also as co-rulers. In 1450 Rudolf went along with his older brother 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 ...

. Here, he vowed to fight for the Christian faith, evidencing his strong religious beliefs. This is also confirmed by the written sources, specifically in the "Chronicle Żagań Abbots" (''Kronika opatów żagańskich''), where he is defined as a pious man. In 1454 he participated in the Thirteen Years' War at the side of the

Teutonic Order The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem, commonly known as the Teutonic Order, is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. It was formed to aid Christians on ...

. With approximately 1,900 soldiers and horses he went to

Świdwin Świdwin (german: Schivelbein; csb, Skwilbëno) is a town in West Pomeranian Voivodeship of northwestern Poland. It is the capital of Świdwin County established 1999, previously having been in Koszalin Voivodeship (1950–1998), and the adminis ...

. He wasn't the only Silesian ruler fighting on the Teutonic side. Together with the Bohemian leader

Bernard Szumborski Bernard Szumborski (german: Bernhard von Zinnenberg, links=no) was a Moravian knight and a mercenary. Szumborski was hired by the Teutonic Knights during the Battle of Chojnice (part of Thirteen Years' War), and was sent with 15,000 men to reliev ...

(''Bernhard von Zinneberg'') he fought in the Battle of Chojnice, where the Poles suffered a complete defeat. In the battle almost 3,000 Polish were killed, and about 300 knights were captured. Rudolf didn't survive the battle: he died on 17 September 1454 in his initial phase, facing the charge of the strong Polish cavalry. It is unknown where he was buried. After his death without issue (he never married), his older brother Balthasar assumed the full sovereignty over Żagań. This unilateral decision left their younger brother Jan II bitterly disappointed and caused later his further revolts against Balthasar.

Footnotes

References

* * *''This article was translated from his original in Polish Wikipedia.'' , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rudolf of Zagan 1410s births 1454 deaths Dukes of Żagań