Heinrich the Younger (Münsterberg)

Heinrich the Younger von Münsterberg (also: Heinrich the Younger von Podiebrad ; Czech: Hynek z Poděbrad; Hynek Minsterberský; * May 18, 1452 in Prague ; † July 1, 1492 in Podiebrad ) was an Imperial Count and Count von Glatz . 1462–1471 he held office together with his older brothers Viktorin and Heinrich the Elder . Ä. as Duke of Münsterberg . Together with them he also owned the Duchy of Opava from 1465 to 1472 . Heinrich d. J., who also emerged as a writer, temporarily held the office of provincial administrator of Bohemia .

Family and career

Heinrich d. J. von Münsterberg came from the second marriage of the Bohemian King Georg von Podiebrad to Johanna von Rosental . He received a humanistic education and took part in competitions and knightly tournaments. As King of Bohemia, who could not inherit his crown, Georg reached in 1459 for his second oldest son Viktorin and in 1462 for the sons Heinrich the Elder. Ä. and Heinrich d. J. at the emperor Friedrich III. their appointment as imperial counts. Georg, for his part, had previously appointed these three sons as Counts of Glatz and enfeoffed them with the County of Glatz and the Duchy of Münsterberg and, from 1465, with the Duchy of Opava, which he had acquired in 1464.

In 1471 Heinrich d. J. with Katharina, a daughter of the Saxon Elector Wilhelm of Saxony . Shortly afterwards his father died. Although Heinrich had been on his side politically and religiously from a young age, he now turned to the Catholic faith. Georg's successor Vladislav pledged to protect Georg's sons and to take over their debts.

According to an inheritance plan, Georg's possessions were divided up in 1472. Heinrich d. In addition to Podiebrad and Kostomlat , J. received possessions in Silesia . His mother also bequeathed him Lichtemburk , Mělník and Teplitz .

On the recommendation of his mother, who also partially represented him, Heinrich was elected provincial administrator in the regional assembly of Benešov in 1472 . In contrast to his mother, however, he sided with the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus . The reason for this was presumably the hesitant repayment of the debt by Vladislav, while Matthias Corvinus did this without hesitation. The rule of Kolín , which Heinrich had received from his older brother Viktorin, was acquired by Matthias Corvinus in 1475 for 20,000 ducats, who stationed his Hungarian occupation troops there. After Heinrich appointed the Corvinus follower and despot Racek Kocovský to the administrator of Konopiště, followers of Vladislav joined with those of Matthias Corvinus. In 1478, the Treaty of Brno brought about a reconciliation between Vladislav and Heinrich.

Heinrich prepared the agreements for the appointment of Vladislav as King of Bohemia and played an important role in pacifying religious and other legal disputes in Bohemia. In 1488 he took the side of the Silesian princes, who rose up against Matthias Corvinus. After the suppression of the uprising, he had to cede his inheritance claims to Podiebrad and Kostomlat to Johann Corvinus , an illegitimate son of Matthias Corvinus. Heinrich was granted a lifelong usufruct there.

Heinrich d. J. died in Podebrady Castle. His body was transferred to Glatz and in the church of his brother Heinrich d. Ä. donated Franciscan monastery. In 1558 he and eight other members of the family who were also buried there were reburied in the parish church of Glatz.

The main heir was Heinrich d. Ä., Who also took care of Heinrich's widow and her children.

progeny

• The daughter Anna (1471–1517), who married Heinrich IV von Neuhaus in 1493, came from her marriage to Katharina von Sachsen .
• With his lover Katharina Vojkova von Štítar and Straßnitz ( Kateřina Vojkova ze Štítar a ze Strážnice ) he had several children, including Friedrich, to whom he later bequeathed Kostomlat.

Literary activity

Heinrich was also active in literature. In his works he dealt with contemporary history, the conversion to Catholicism, property disputes and its political stance. His poems about luck, virtue, chivalry and wisdom correspond to the style of the late Middle Ages and the beginning Renaissance . He translated several short stories and also wrote entertaining prose.

On his travels with King Matthias Corvinus he got to know numerous humanists. It was through him that the works of Giovanni Boccaccio became known in Bohemia, which he translated from German into Czech.

Works

• Májový sen ( May Dream )
• Frantova práva
• Veršové o milovníku

Web links

• http://www.cesky-jazyk.cz/zivotopisy/hynek-z-podebrad.html
• http://genealogy.euweb.cz/bohemia/podieb.html