Sophie of Bavaria

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Wenceslaus IV and Sophie of Bavaria. Miniature from the Wenceslas Bible , 14th century

Sophie Euphemia von Bayern ( Czech Žofie Bavorská ; * 1376 ; † November 4, 1428 in Pressburg ) from the Munich line of the House of Wittelsbach was the second wife of the Bohemian King Wenceslaus IV.

Life

Sophie was the only daughter of Duke Johann II of Bavaria-Munich and his wife Katharina von Görz . She grew up with his older brother Friedrich von Bayern-Landshut at Trausnitz Castle . In 1388 Friedrich, who, like Wenceslaus , who also reigned as Roman king until 1400, liked to hunt, took his niece to Prague . The wedding between the twelve-year-old Sophie and the fifteen-year-old king, who was widowed after the death of her relative Johanna von Bayern, took place on May 2, 1389 in Prague.

Probably also because this marriage, like the one between Wenzel and Johanna, had previously remained childless, Sophie was only crowned Queen of Bohemia eleven years later, on March 15, 1400. Her husband, the king, did not attend the coronation. Sophie often stayed in the lands she received as a dowry . From 1402 she followed the teachings of the preacher Jan Hus , who became her confessor and whom she defended for a long time at court. Her husband, too, had initially promoted the Bohemian Wycliffists, whose spokesman Hus appeared, against the German-speaking Prague clergy. In 1419, before Wenzel's death, Pope Martin V even accused her of heresy .

After Wenceslas' death in 1419, Sophie was appointed regent of Bohemia by King Sigismund , a half-brother of her deceased husband, in which the Hussite Wars were meanwhile raging. After trying unsuccessfully to achieve peace in the country , however, she renounced this office. Sigismund was crowned King of Bohemia in 1420, Sophie retired to Pressburg . There she died on November 4, 1428. Sophie von Bayern was buried in St. Martin's Cathedral in Bratislava .

According to a historically improbable legend, which was documented as early as the 15th century, the later bridge saint Johannes Nepomuk was Sophie's confessor in 1393 (according to another legend, Queen Johannas). Allegedly, Nepomuk was not tortured and thrown from the Charles Bridge built by her father-in-law Charles IV into the Vltava because he had turned against Wenceslas church policy, but because he had refused to break the secret of confession and tell the king what his wife was doing Sophie had confessed to him. John Nepomuk was built in 1721 beatified and in 1729 canonized . Today he is considered the patron saint of Bohemia and Bavaria .

literature

  • KOPIČKOVÁ, B., Mnichovský fascikl č. 543. Korespondence královny Žofie z období březen 1422 - prosinec 1427. In: Mediaevalia Historica Bohemica 8, 2001, p. 121-138.
  • Vladimír Liška: Ženy českých panovníků ve faktech, mýtech a otaznících . XYZ, 2012, pp. 161-178.
  • ŠMAHEL, F. - BOBKOVÁ, L. (eds.), Lucemburkové. Česká koruna uprostřed Evropy , Praha: NLN 2012, str. 758-762.
  • Gabriele Schlütter-Schindler:  Sophie von Wittelsbach. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-428-11205-0 , p. 586 ( digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Sofia of Bavaria  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The previously given date of death 1425 was refuted by the discovery of letters from the queen from the years 1422-1427. B. Kopičková, Mnichovský fascikl č. 543. Korespondence královny Žofie z období březen 1422 - prosinec 1427. In: Mediaevalia Historica Bohemica 8, 2001, p. 121-138.
predecessor Office Successor
Johanna of Bavaria Queen of Bohemia
1389–1419 		Barbara from Cilli
personal data
SURNAME Sophie of Bavaria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sophie Euphemia of Bavaria; Žofie Bavorská (Czech)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION second wife of the Roman and Bohemian king Wenceslaus
DATE OF BIRTH 1376
DATE OF DEATH November 4, 1428
Place of death Bratislava