Henry the Younger of Poděbrady
Encyclopedia
Henry the Younger of Poděbrady (also: Henry the Younger of Münsterberg; or ; or ; 18 May 1452, Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 – 1 July 1492, Poděbrady
Podebrady
Poděbrady is a historical spa town in the Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. It lies on the river Labe 50 km east of Prague on the D11 highway. A historic milestone in the life of the town was the year 1905, when it was visited by the German estate owner Prince von Bülow...

) was an Imperial Count
Imperial Count
Imperial Count was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. On the one hand, it was used to designate the holders of a imperial county, that is, a county that was a fief directly from the emperor, rather than from a duke; on the other hand, the owner of the title of "Count" could be elevated to...

 and Count of Glatz. From 1462 to 1471, he served as Duke of Münsterberg jointly with his older brothers Victor
Victor of Poděbrady
Victor, Duke of Münsterberg Victor, Duke of Münsterberg Victor, Duke of Münsterberg (also: Victor, Duke of Münsterberg and Opava; ; (29 May 1443 in Cieszyn – 30 August 1500 in Cieszyn) was an Imperial Count from 1459 and Count of Kladsko...

 and Henry the Elder
Henry I, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels
Henry the Elder of Münsterberg was an Imperial Count and Count of Kladsko. He was also Duke of Silesian duchies Münsterberg and Oels and 1465–1472 Duke of Opava...

. He also ruled Duchy of Opava jointly with his brothers from 1365 to 1372. Henry the Younger, held at times the office of regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...

 of Bohemia and is also known as an author.

Life

Heinrich the Younger of Poděbrady was a son of King George of Podebrady
George of Podebrady
George of Kunštát and Poděbrady , also known as Poděbrad or Podiebrad , was King of Bohemia...

 of Bohemia from his second marriage with Johana of Rožmitál. He received a humanist
Humanism
Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

 training and participated in knightly tournaments. His father, George, was King of Bohemia, but this crown was not heritable. George persuaded Emperor Frederick III
Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick the Peaceful KG was Duke of Austria as Frederick V from 1424, the successor of Albert II as German King as Frederick IV from 1440, and Holy Roman Emperor as Frederick III from 1452...

 in 1459 to appoint his eldest son Victor to Imperial Count
Imperial Count
Imperial Count was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. On the one hand, it was used to designate the holders of a imperial county, that is, a county that was a fief directly from the emperor, rather than from a duke; on the other hand, the owner of the title of "Count" could be elevated to...

. In 1462, Frederick also appointed Henry the Younger and his elder brother Henry the Elder to Imperial Count. Earlier, George had appointed his three sons Count of Glatz and enfeoffed them with the County of Glatz and the Duchy of Münsterberg. In 1465 he also enfeoffed them with the Duchy of Opava, which he had acquired in 1464.

In 1471, Henry the Younger married Catherine, the daughter of William III of Luxembourg. His father died soon thereafter. Although Henry had stood at his father's side politically and religiously when he was young, he then turned to the Catholic faith. George's successor King Vladislas II undertook to protect George's sons and to take over their debts. George's sons initially ruled his territories together, but in 1472, the inheritance was split. Henry the Younger received Poděbrady, Kostomlaty nad Labem
Kostomlaty nad Labem
Kostomlaty nad Labem is a village in Nymburk District, Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. It has a population of 1,670 .- External links :...

 and possessions in Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

. From his mother he inherited Lichnice Castle
Lichnice Castle
The ruins of the Lichnice Castle are located on the edge of the Iron Mountain near the village of Podhradí, in the municipality of Třemošnice, about 15 km east of Čáslav.- History :...

, Melnik
Melnik
-Places:Bulgaria* Melnik, Bulgaria, a town in Bulgaria* Shiroka Melnishka Losa, a Bulgarian wine grape also known as MelnikCzech Republic* Mělník, a townUnited States* Melnik, Wisconsin, an unincorporated community...

 and Teplice
Teplice
Teplice , Teplice-Šanov until 1948 is a town in the Czech Republic, the capital of the Teplice District in the Ústí nad Labem Region. It is the state's second largest spa town ....

.

At the state convention of Benešov
Benešov
Benešov is a town in the Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic, about southeast of Prague. The Konopiště castle and the Czech national mountain Blaník are near the town.-History:...

 in 1472, Henry was elected as the provincial administrator on the recommendation of his mother, who also took part. Unlike his mother, however, he sided with the Hungarian king, Matthias Corvinus. The reason for this was probably that Vladislas repaid his debts only slowly, while Matthias Corvinus did so without hesitation. In 1475, Henry sold the Lordship of Kolín
Kolín
Kolín is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic some east from Prague, lying on the Elbe river.-History:Kolín was founded by king Přemysl Otakar II in the 13th century, first mentioned in 1261. Later on, 1437, a castle was founded here...

, which he had received from his older brother Victor, for ducats to Matthias Corvinus, who stationed his Hungarian occupation troops there. After Henry appointed the Corvinus supported and despot Racek Kocovský as the administrator of Konopiště, Vladislas's supporters aligned with those of Matthias Corvinus. In 1478 it came to a reconciliation between Henry and Vladislas under the Treaty of Brno.

Henry prepared the agreement to appointment Vladislas as King of Bohemia and played a significant role in resolving various religious and legal disputes Bohemia. In 1488 he chose the side of the Silesian princes who rebelled against Matthias Corvinus. After the rebellion was suppressed, he had to assign his inherited possessions of Poděbrady and Kostomlaty to John Corvinus, an illegitimate son of Matthias Corvinus. Henry was, however, granted a life interest in these possessions.

Henry the Younger died in 1492 at the Poděbrady Castle. His body was transferred to Kłodzko  and buried in the Franciscan monastery founded by his brother Henry the Elder. In 1558 he and eight other members of the Poděbrady family who had been buried there as well, were reburied in the church in Kłodzko. His main heir was Henry the Elder, who also took care of Henry's widow and her children.

Offspring

  • From his marriage to Catherine of Saxony, Henry had a daughter Anna (1471–1517), who married in 1493 with Henry IV of Neuhaus
    Henry IV of Neuhaus
    Henry IV of Neuhaus , was a member of the Telč branch of the noble von Neuhaus family. He was High Treasurer of Bohemia from 1485 to 1503 Highest and 1503-1507 Burgrave of Prague Castle.- Life :His parents were John of Neuhaus and Telč and Catherine of Sternberg...

    .
  • With his mistress Catherine Vojkova of Štitar and Straznice , he had several children, including Frederick, to whom he later bequeathed Kostomlaty.

Literary activity

Henry was also active in literature. In his works he dealt with contemporary history, the conversion to Catholicism, property disputes and his political stance. His poems about happiness, virtue, chivalry, and wisdom are in the contemporary style of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. He translated several novels and wrote entertaining prose. In his travels with King Matthias Corvinus, he met many humanists. Through him, the works of Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...

 became known in Bohemia. He translated them from German, and even added some of his own.

External links

  • http://www.cesky-jazyk.cz/zivotopisy/hynek-z-podebrad.html
  • http://genealogy.euweb.cz/bohemia/podieb.html
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK