Nicholas I (Opole)

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Nikolaus I of Opole (Polish Mikołaj I opolski ; Czech Mikuláš I. Opolský ; * around 1420; † July 3, 1476 ) was Duke of Opole from 1437–1476 , as well as Duke of the Opole subduchies of Falkenberg and Strehlitz . He came from the Opole branch of the Silesian Piasts .

Origin and family

His parents were Duke Bolko IV of Opole (1363–1437) and Margaretha of Gorizia (–1437). In 1442 Nikolaus married Magdalena (* between 1425 and 1430; † September 10, 1497), daughter of Duke Ludwig II of Liegnitz (1380–1436) from his second marriage to Elisabeth of Brandenburg . The marriage had ten children:

  1. Ludwig (* around 1450; † between May 23, 1475 and September 4, 1476)
  2. John II of Opole-Ratibor († 1532)
  3. Nicholas II of Opole († 1497)
  4. Boleslaus / Boleslaw († before January 27, 1477)
  5. Bernhard († before January 27, 1477)
  6. Machna (* between 1442 and 1450; † between 1468 and April 26, 1472); ∞ (before February 23, 1463) Duke Primislaus III. by Tost († 1484)
  7. Elisabeth († August 29, 1507), 1473 abbess of St. Clare of Breslau
  8. Magdalena († 1501); ∞ (January 13, 1478) Duke Johann III. d. J. von (Troppau) -Ratibor († 1493)
  9. Katharina († August 26, 1507), nun of St. Clare in Breslau
  10. Daughter (* 1481; † August 1507), nun of St. Clare in Breslau

Life

After the father's death in 1437, the eldest brother Bolko V took over the government of the Duchy of Opole. Nikolaus and his brother Johann, who died in 1439, became co-regents. In October 1438 Nikolaus paid homage to the young Prince Casimir , who was proposed as his successor by Bohemian nobles after the death of Emperor Sigismund, together with his brother Johann, his uncle Bernhard von Falkenberg († 1455) and other Silesian princes in the field camp near Strehlitz but could not prevail against Sigismund's son-in-law Albrecht II . Nicholas paid homage to this on December 3, 1438 in Breslau.

Since when his father-in-law Ludwig II von Liegnitz-Brieg died in 1436 the dowry of his wife of 10,000 guilders due to Nicholas had not yet been paid out and the now widowed mother-in-law had been married to Duke Wenzel I of Teschen since 1438/1439 , Nikolaus obtained it In 1443 the city of Brieg and the Duchy of Brieg itself were pledged .

After the death of his brother Bolko, who died without legitimate heirs, the Duchy of Opole fell to the Crown of Bohemia as a settled fief in 1460 . Only after Nikolaus ceded the share of Troppau acquired by Bolko to the Bohemian King George of Podebrady, he was enfeoffed with the Duchy of Opole. With the acquisition of Troppau Georg von Podiebrad was able to strengthen his influence in Upper Silesia . With the Kollegiatstift Oberglogau ( Klein Glogau ), which his brother Bolko, who was an active Hussite , had withheld, Nikolaus brought about a compensation. At the same time he reunited Oberglogau, which had been transferred to Bolko by his father in 1425, again with the Duchy of Opole, but, like Bolko, also dubbed the Duke of Opole and Lord of Klein Glogau . After Vladislav II was elected King of Bohemia in 1471, a Polish army invaded Silesia , which also harassed the area of ​​Nicholas. Kreuzburg , Pitschen and Brieg were looted.

Nikolaus died on July 3rd, 1476. His body was buried in the church of the Opole Franciscan monastery. He was succeeded as Duke of Opole by his son John II of Opole-Ratibor , with whom the Opole branch of the family died out in 1532.

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personal data
SURNAME Nicholas I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mikołaj I opolski (Polish); Mikuláš I. Opolský (Czech)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Oppeln, Falkenberg and Strehlitz, Lord of Klein Glogau
DATE OF BIRTH around 1420
DATE OF DEATH July 3, 1476