Opole feud
The Opole feud was between the Opole dukes Johann I , Bolko IV , Heinrich († 1394) and Bernhard on the one hand and the Council of the City of Wroclaw on the other. The cause was a promissory note that the Bohemian King Wenceslaus IV had issued in favor of the Opole brothers but not redeemed.
prehistory
After the death of the Schweidnitz Duke Bolko II. In 1368 his nephews, the Opole Dukes Wladislaus II. And Bolko III. , received 10,000 marks from Emperor Karl IV . With the amount the inheritance claims of her deceased mother Elisabeth von Schweidnitz, who was a sister of Duke Bolko II, were to be settled. The payment of the amount should only take place after the death of the Dowager Duchess Agnes .
Opole feud
After the death of Bolko III. von Oppeln In 1382, his claim to the Schweidnitz inheritance of his mother Elisabeth von Schweidnitz was passed on to his sons Johann I, who held several episcopal offices, Bolko IV, Heinrich and Bernhard. They became increasingly impatient because of the inheritance claim for the long life of their great aunt, the Dowager Duchess Agnes. In 1389 they finally obtained from King Wenceslaus IV, who as the son of the Bohemian Queen Anna von Schweidnitz was the legal heir of the Duchy of Schweidnitz, a promissory note for an amount of 8,000 marks, which was to be paid immediately in eight annual installments. As guarantors for the promissory note, King Wenzel named the cities of Prague and Glatz as well as several Silesian cities as well as some Bohemian nobles , of which only the city of Wroclaw provided the promissory note with its seal. In the second half of the 14th century it was one of the most important trading cities in Europe, was a member of the Hanseatic League and had around 30 guilds .
Since the king was in default with the first installment, the Opole brothers attacked Breslau merchant trains for the first time in 1390, which passed through the Duchy of Opole to and via Krakow or over the Jablunka Pass to southeastern Europe. After the other installments were not paid or withheld, the council of the city of Breslau insisted on fixing his share, which was calculated and paid at 1428 marks. Nevertheless, the Wroclaw goods trains continued to be intercepted and looted. As early as 1404, the Polish King Władysław II tried an arbitration at the request of King Wenceslas. It was determined that the loss of interest by the Opole residents is to be equated with the property damage suffered by the Breslau residents, which was given as 13,000 marks. Although the Breslauers agreed to this monstrous arbitration, the raids began again in 1409. They led to the relocation of the trade routes leading through the Duchy of Opole, which meant that traffic through Upper Silesia practically came to a standstill.
In 1410, by order of King Wenceslas, the Wroclaws captured the eldest of the Opole brothers, Bishop Johann. Since the Silesian princes protested against the capture, Bishop Wenzel von Liegnitz imposed an interdict on the city of Breslau and forced them to unconditionally release the duke. After the release, the Dukes of Opole continued their raids. Only after the death of King Wenceslas in 1419 did the Opole feud extinguished in the turmoil of the Hussite Wars .
literature
- Historical Commission for Silesia (Ed.): Geschichte Schlesiens , Vol. 1, Sigmaringen, 1988, ISBN 3-7995-6341-5 , pp. 177ff., 192, 199.
- Günter Elze: Breslau. Biography of a German city . ISBN 37921-0521-7 , pp. 23-25.