Karl Friedrich I of Münsterberg-Oels (also: Karl Friedrich I of Poděbrady; or ; ; 18 October 1593,
Oleśnica – 31 May 1647, Oleśnica) was Duke of
Oels from 1617 to 1647 and Duke of
Bernstadt from 1639 to 1647. He also held the titles of Duke of
Münsterberg and Count of
Glatz.
Life
Karl Friedrich was a member of the Münsterberg branch of the Bohemian noble
Poděbrady family
The Bohemian Poděbrady family () was a noble family in Bohemia, arising from the Lords of Kunštát. After Boček I of Poděbrady, Boček of Kunštát (d. 1373) had acquired the Lordship of Poděbrady by marriage, he called himself "Boček of ...
. His parents were
Karl II, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels and Elisabeth Magdalena (1562–1630), daughter of Duke
George II of Brieg
George II of Brieg (18 July 1523, in Legnica – 7 May 1586, in Brzeg), was a Duke of Brzeg from 1547 until his death.
He was the second son of Frederick II, Duke of Legnica-Brzeg, by his second wife Sophie, daughter of Frederick I, Margrave ...
.
After his father's death in 1617 Karl Friedrich took over the government of the
Duchy of Oels. At the same time, he inherited jointly with his older brother
Henry Wenceslaus, the Moravian estates
Šternberk and
Jevišovice. After Henry Wenceslaus's death in 1639, Karl Friedrich ruled these estates alone.
He married in 1618 to Anna Sophie of Saxe-Altenburg, daughter of
Friedrich Wilhelm I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar.
In 1619 Karl Friedrich was at the head of an embassy that had been sent to Prague by the Silesian Princes and
Estates to invite the newly elected King of Bohemia
Frederick V to an inaugural visit to
Wrocław
Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...
. In February 1620, during Frederick V's journey to Wrocław, Charles Frederick and his brother Henry Wenceslaus welcomed the new king in their North Moravian town of Šternberk.
Dr. Colmar Grünhagen: ''Geschichte Schlesiens'', vol. 2, Friedrich Andreas Perthes, Gotha, 1886, p. 180
/ref>
In defense of the freedom of religion and the desire for political interference, Karl Friedrich and the Dukes John Christian of Brieg and George Rudolf of Liegnitz and the City Council of Wrocław founded on 9 August 1633 a league () which stood under the protection of Saxony, Brandenburg and Sweden. This caused Karl Friedrich and his allies to lose the favor of the Emperor. After the Peace of Prague of 1635, they had to therefore make amends.
After the death of his brother Henry Wenceslaus in 1639, Karl Friedrich succeeded him as duke of Bernstadt. In 1642 he married second wife, Sophie Magdalene (1624–1660), daughter of Duke John Christian of Brieg.
Karl Friedrich was the last male descendant from the Münsterberg line of the Poděbrady family in Oels. Through the marriage of his only daughter, Elisabeth Maria with Silvius Nimrod, Oels and the Bohemian estate of Šternberk came in the possession of the House of Württemberg
The House of Württemberg is an uradel, ancient German nobility, German dynasty and former royal family of the Kingdom of Württemberg.
History County
The House probably originated in the vicinity of the Salian dynasty. Around 1080 the ancestors ...
.
References and sources
* Ludwig Petry, Josef Joachim Menzel (eds.): ''Geschichte Schlesiens''. vol. 2, , p. 62 ff
* Hugo Weczerka: ''Handbuch der historischen Stätten: Schlesien'', Stuttgart, 1977, , p. LXIV, 19 and 369 as well as genealogical tables on p. 602-603
* Colmar Grünhagen: ''Geschichte Schlesiens'', vol. 2, Friedrich Andreas Perthes, Gotha, 1886, p. 67, 180
External links
*
History of the Moravian town of Šternberk
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karl Friedrich, Duke of Munsterberg-Oelsi
Dukes of Münsterberg
Podiebrad family
1593 births
1647 deaths
People from Oleśnica