Procopius of Moravia

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Prokop of Moravia (* around 1355; † September 24, 1405 in Brno ) was a younger son of Johann Heinrich von Luxemburg , Margrave of Moravia, and his second wife Margarethe von Troppau and from 1375 to 1405 the "younger" Margrave of Moravia. Prokop's life was determined by the struggle against his brother Jobst of Moravia and the conflicts with his Bohemian cousins Wenceslaus IV and Sigismund of Luxembourg .

Life

The years 1355 to 1388

In 1355, Emperor Karl IV regulated the succession in Bohemia and in the countries of the Bohemian Crown in favor of his brother Johann Heinrich. At that time he had no sons, but Johann Heinrich had three sons and Karl tried to secure the rule of the Luxembourgers in Bohemia for the next generation with this succession plan. Three sons were born between 1361 and 1370, but he did not change the terms of his succession.

The problem of unsolved succession became acute with the death of Johann Heinrich in 1375. Now the emperor arranged his succession in favor of his sons, he only granted his nephews the inheritance in Moravia and excluded them from the succession in Bohemia. Johann Heinrich left his sons an orderly, prosperous and prosperous country. The eldest son Jobst was confirmed as Margrave and Lord of Moravia ( marchio et dominus Moravie ), the younger sons Prokop and Jan Sobieslav only received the title of "younger margraves" ( marchiones Moravie iunoris ) and were resigned with anus fiefs . This regulation led to intense tensions between the sons of Johann Heinrich. Jobst von Moravia curtailed his brothers' inheritance and tried to force them to renounce by force of arms.

The hostilities between the Bohemian and Moravian branches of the Luxembourgers broke out openly after the emperor's death († 1378). The sons and nephews of Charles IV were all striving for personal increase in power and greater income, expanded their positions in changing alliances regardless of family ties and thus destroyed the foundations of their rule. A serious conflict between Procopius of Moravia and his cousin Wenceslaus IV arose as early as 1379, after Procopius spoke out in favor of Pope Clement VII , who resided in Avignon , and Wenceslaus in favor of Pope Urban VI from Rome . decided.

In 1385 Sigismund of Luxemburg claimed the Crown of St. Stephen as heir for his wife Maria of Hungary and Wenzel, Jobst and Prokop were ready to support him. On July 13, 1385 Jobst and Prokop lent their cousin 190,000 guilders and Sigismund pledged the Altmark and the Priegnitz to them. However, the estates of Altmark and Priegnitz refused to pay homage to Jobst and Prokop, whereupon Sigismund left the area west of the Waag in today's Slovakia to his two cousins. This area belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary and Sigismund was not authorized to pledge it in 1385. But this did not bother anyone involved and Prokop occupied the country with his troops. On November 13, 1385, Wenceslaus IV forced the handover of the Kurmark and then appointed his youngest brother Johann von Görlitz as administrator of Brandenburg.

The years 1388 to 1400

In 1388 Sigismund pledged the Mark Brandenburg to Jobst of Moravia. He then appointed his brother Prokop as heir, but in 1395 he changed this regulation and designated his cousin Sigismund as heir.

From 1390 two factions emerged within the Luxembourgers. While Johann von Görlitz and Prokop of Moravia were loyal to Wenceslaus IV, Sigismund and Jobst planned the overthrow of the Bohemian king. The conflict intensified after the murder of Johannes von Pomuk (1393) and the ensuing alliance between Sigismund, Jobst and the Herrenbund under the leadership of Heinrich von Rosenberg . Although Johann von Görlitz managed to win the support of the Bavarian Duke Friedrich and Prokop found allies in Silesia and Pomerania for Wenzel IV, the Herrenbund, in alliance with Jobst of Moravia, succeeded in considerably weakening Wenceslas power in Bohemia.

In 1396, Sigismund of Luxembourg, King of Hungary since 1387, and his knight army in front of Nikopolis were defeated by the Turkish troops under Sultan Bayezid I. Prokop then invaded northern Upper Hungary (northern Slovakia) and occupied a number of castles. This and the death of Johann von Görlitz led to Prokop becoming the most important ally of the Bohemian king. During his absence from 1397 to 1398 Wenceslas IV transferred the office of the Bohemian imperial administrator to Prokop of Moravia.

The murder of some of Wenceslas's followers in June 1397 led in the following years to military conflicts between Prokop and his brother Jobst, whom he accused of having commissioned the murders. The quarrels between the brothers, the private feud between Prokops and the Bishop of Olomouc and the battle of the Lords' Union against the Bohemian crown led to the political destabilization of Bohemia and the decline of the Luxembourgers. The now obvious weakness of Wenceslas as King of Bohemia shook his position as a Roman king and strengthened the electoral opposition, which was now preparing Wenceslaus' deposition. The Luxembourgers remained divided, Jobst and Sigismund fought against Prokop for rule in the Lausitz.

The years 1400 to 1405

The deposition of Wenceslas as Roman king in 1400 led to the settlement of the armed conflicts in Lusatia. In 1401 both brothers, along with the Bohemian nobility and Wilhelm von Meißen , besieged Prague, where Wenceslaus had holed up after he had been deposed as Roman king. However, Wenzel drew his cousins ​​on his side by awarding Jobst die Lausitz and Prokop a large sum of money and resolving their dispute among themselves. Thereupon Prokop received the Silesian duchies Schweidnitz and Jauer as well as the county Glatz in exchange for his Moravian possessions .

As Wenceslas' allies, the brothers took up the fight against the Bohemian regent Sigismund of Luxembourg , appointed on February 4, 1402, during his journey to Rome, and seized the area between the Waag and the Danube belonging to Hungary. Prokop also made a close alliance with King Ruprecht and then tried to mediate between Wenceslaus and the Palatinate.

The political situation changed again after Sigismund had Wenzel arrested on March 6, 1402 in Vienna and placed under house arrest. Then Ruprecht von der Pfalz tried to win the two Moravian margraves as allies. He promised Jobst the royal crown of Bohemia and offered Prokop the margraviate of Moravia and military aid against Sigismund. Sigismund, now striving for the complete disempowerment of Wenceslas, sent Bohemian and Moravian troops against Prokop and besieged him on June 18, 1402 at Bösig Castle . Despite the promise of safe conduct, Prokop was arrested after his surrender and interned in Pressburg .

Wenceslaus IV managed to escape from his captivity on November 11, 1403. He regained power in Bohemia and deposed his brother as imperial administrator. Sigismund was unable to intervene immediately due to his conflicts in Hungary and Prokop was released from prison in February 1404. At the beginning of July 1404 Sigismund invaded Moravia with the two Austrian dukes Albrecht and Ernst , but as a result of the dysentery epidemic that broke out in the army, of which Albrecht was one of the victims, the campaign was ended prematurely. Meanwhile, Wenzel, Prokop and Jobst were reconciled and signed the Habsburg-Luxembourg inheritance treaty, according to which Bohemia would fall to the Habsburgs after its Luxembourg rulers died out .

On September 24, 1405, the unmarried and childless Prokop of Moravia died in Brno. His body was buried in the Königsfeld Charterhouse founded by his father in 1375 . His brother Jobst inherited all of his property and the political situation in Bohemia and Moravia calmed down. Jobst consolidated his rule in Moravia, Lusatia and the Mark Brandenburg region and supported Wenzel in his fight against Sigismund.

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personal data
SURNAME Procopius of Moravia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Procopius of Luxembourg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Margrave of Moravia
DATE OF BIRTH around 1355
DATE OF DEATH September 24, 1405
Place of death Brno