Przemko II of Opava (, , ; ( – 16 June 1478) was a member of the Opava 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 ...

. He was Duke of Opava from 1433 until his death. From 1466, he was also a member of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

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 older literature, he is sometimes confused with his nephew Przemko III.

Life

Przemko II's parents were Duke Przemko I of Opava and his third wife, Helena of Bosnia (who died on 2 March 1435). After Przemko I's death in 1433, his eldest son, Wenceslas II, took up the guardianship of his three younger half-brothers

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

Ernest Ernest is a given name derived from the Germanic languages, Germanic word ''ernst'', meaning "serious", often shortened to Ernie. Notable people and fictional characters with the name include: People *Archduke Ernest of Austria (1553–1595), ...

and Przemko II. His second-eldest, Nicholas IV, who had already reached adulthood, was given the Lordship of

Zlaté Hory Zlaté Hory (; until 1948 Cukmantl; ) is a town in Jeseník District in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,700 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monument zone. Administrativ ...

. Although their father had stipulated in his will that his territory should not be fragmented further, the brothers nevertheless divided their inheritance in 1435. At the time, Przemko II was destined for a career in the clergy, and he probably received no territory in the 1435 division. Przemko II studied theology at the Universities of Krakow and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. In Vienna, he wrote the astrological

treatise A treatise is a Formality, formal and systematic written discourse on some subject concerned with investigating or exposing the main principles of the subject and its conclusions."mwod:treatise, Treatise." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Acc ...

. Around 1455, he returned to

, where he had been a member of the

since 1446. In 1462, he was appointed

provost Provost may refer to: Officials Ecclesiastic * Provost (religion), a high-ranking church official * Prince-provost, a high-ranking church official Government * Provost (civil), an officer of local government, including the equivalent ...

of the Church of the Holy Cross in Wrocław. In 1464 he got into a dispute with his nephew, John of Opava, about the ownership of

Fulnek Fulnek () is a town in Nový Jičín District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,500 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zone ...

. In the same year, he had to give up his claim on a share of the Duchy of Opava, because King

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

of Bohemia had become the sole ruler of the Duchy. Przemko nevertheless continued to use the title ''Duke of Opava''. Around 1465, he became a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

at Wrocław. After Bishop Jošt of Wrocław died in 1467, Przemko served as

diocesan administrator A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic partic ...

. Although he was considered a likely candidate to succeed Jošt, the post was given to Rudolf of Rüdesheim, who had previously served as

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the Pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title '' legatus'') is a personal representative of the Pope to foreign nations, to some other part of the Catho ...

for Germany and Bohemia. Przemko was a renowned scientist, educated in the fields of theology, astrology and alchemy. He died in 1478, unmarried, and was buried in the Church of the Holy Cross in Wrocław. His tomb has been preserved to this day.

References

* Rudolf Žáček: ''Dějiny Slezska v datech'', Prague, 2004, , p. 438 *

Zdeněk Měřínský Zdeněk Měřínský (16 January 1948 in Jihlava – 9 September 2016 in Panská Lhota) was a Czech archeologist and historian specializing in medieval archaeology, Czech and Austrian medieval history, casteollogy (building and function of castles) ...

: ''Marginálie k životním osudům Přremysla III. Opavského'', in: ''Od Knížat ke Králům'', , p. 424–425

External links

* * https://archive.org/stream/archivfrster41akaduoft/archivfrster41akaduoft_djvu.txt This section is not entirely correct. The priest of Mödling was Przemko's nephew Przemko III.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Przemko 02 Opava Moravian nobility Nobility from medieval Bohemia Silesian nobility Opavian Přemyslids 1420s births 1478 deaths 15th-century Polish Roman Catholic priests