Johann (Glogau-Steinau)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johann von Steinau (also Johann von Glogau-Steinau ; * 1296/1300 ; † 1361/1365 ) was Duke of Glogau and Lord of Greater Poland from 1309 to 1312 together with his four brothers . From 1312 to 1318/19 he was together with the brothers Heinrich IV. And Primislaus / Primko Duke of Glogau and from 1323 to around 1336 Duke of Steinau . He came from the Glogau branch of the Silesian Piasts .

Life

Johann's parents were Heinrich III. von Glogau († 1309) and Mechthild († 1318), daughter of Duke Albrecht of Braunschweig-Lüneburg . In 1316 and 1324 he married Margareta († 1337), a daughter of Duke Bogislaw IV of Pomerania and widow of Duke Nikolaus von Rostock . The marriage remained childless.

After the death of their father Heinrich III., Who in addition to his Silesian possessions was also the master of almost all of Greater Poland , Johann and his brothers Heinrich IV († 1342), Conrad I († 1366), Boleslaus († 1320) and Primislaus inherited / Primko II. († 1331) in 1309 its territories. They initially administered these jointly until 1312 under the tutelage of their mother Mechthild.

To prevent their territories from being fragmented, Johann and his brothers initially divided their inheritance into two parts on February 29, 1312. Johann and his eldest brother Heinrich and the younger brother Primislaus / Primko received the larger western area with the towns of Steinau, Sagan , Grünberg , Crossen and Posen . They also owned Glogau , Beuthen and Freystadt , which, however, were initially assigned to their mother as personal belongings for her life . The eastern area with the towns of Gnesen , Kalisz , Oels and Wohlau went to the second-born Konrad I and the third-born Boleslaus for joint administration. After the last two had lost their Greater Poland territories to Władysław I. Ellenlang in 1314 and Boleslaus, who had been Duke of Oels since 1312 , died in 1320, Henry IV, Conrad I, Johann and Primislaus / Primko II re-divided the entire property in 1322 on, whereby Johann Steinau received.

In 1318 Johann's brother Heinrich IV protested at the same time for his brothers and other Silesian dukes against the collection of St. Peter's penny in the form of poll tax, which was not common in Silesia at that time . The objection to the papal chair in Avignon was rejected by the Pope. As the dukes continued to refuse to pay, an interdict was imposed on the diocese of Wroclaw . On June 23, 1323, Henry IV addressed the Pope on behalf of his brothers under the title "Duke of Silesia, Heir of the Kingdom of Poland, Lord of Glogau and Posen" and assured him that he and his brothers would pay the Peter pfennigs had now ordered in their lands. At the same time he asked the Pope for his protection in case the emperor or the Roman king wanted to extend their feudal sovereignty over Heinrich's and his brothers lands.

As part of the struggle of the Curia against the Wittelsbacher , the Pope called on August 10, 1325 Johann von Steinau, who was allied with the Pomeranian princes through his marriage, to oppose the possession of the Mark Brandenburg by the Wittelsbacher Ludwig the Bavarians .

With the feudal deeds issued in Breslau on April 29, 1329 and May 9, 1329, Johann and his brothers Heinrich IV von Sagan and Conrad I von Oels voluntarily entered into a feudal relationship with the Crown of Bohemia , whereby they were granted special inheritance benefits. Only her youngest brother Primislaus / Primko refused to become a Bohemian vassal , but died on January 11, 1331 from a poison attack by his subjects. The legal heirs of Primko were Johann and his brother Heinrich IV. Primko's widow Konstanze was entitled to the city of Glogau as a personal asset. After her death, one half of the city should each fall to Johann von Steinau and his brother Heinrich IV. However, Johann von Steinau had sold his right to his share of the inheritance to the Bohemian King Johann von Luxemburg before Primko's death . He therefore appeared in Glogau in September 1331 to take over the inheritance that had been bought from Johann von Steinau. At the same time he defied Henry IV's claim to inheritance and Constance's right to the treasure and forcibly confiscated the entire Duchy of Glogau as a settled fiefdom . In order to create a fait accompli, he released the citizens from the oaths they had given to the dukes and confirmed their previous privileges. He appointed a Bohemian governor to manage the duchy. This made Glogau the first Silesian duchy directly subordinate to Bohemia. In the same year Johann von Steinau accompanied his sovereign Johann von Luxemburg on his train against Poland and supported him in the siege of Posen.

In 1334 Johann von Steinau made an undertaking to his brothers Heinrich IV and Konrad I not to sell any more territories without their consent. Nevertheless, on the occasion of a visit to Prague on January 29, 1336, he agreed with the Bohemian King John of Luxembourg that after John's death the Duchy of Steinau should be given to him in exchange for the lifelong use of half of Glogau. However, because of the protests of his brothers, this contract was not concluded. However, Johann's brothers did not succeed in pledging Lüben to Boleslaus III. to turn away from Liegnitz . In order to prevent further pledges and sales, Johann's brothers Heinrich IV and Konrad I acquired the Duchy of Steinau in 1337, granting it lifelong use there. Nevertheless, in the same year Johann sold the Weichbild Guhrau to the Bohemian king.

Since, after the death of his brother Heinrich IV. In 1342, Johann supported his son and successor of the same name, Heinrich V, “the Iron” , who tried to obtain the Glogau inheritance withheld from his father and therefore refused to pay homage to the Bohemian King John of Luxembourg, his son Margrave Karl IV moved with his army in the Glogau region. He was supported by the Polish king Casimir the Great , who devastated Steinau.

Johann von Steinau has pledged, sold or assigned parts of his property several times out of recklessness or wastefulness. From 1358 until his death in 1365 he lived at Grünberg Castle. Except for small areas, his remaining possessions came to his nephew Heinrich V von Glogau-Sagan. John's body was buried in the family crypt of the Leubus monastery.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Johann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Johann von Glogau and Steinau
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Glogau and Steinau
DATE OF BIRTH between 1296 and 1300
DATE OF DEATH between 1361 and 1365