John of Luxembourg (part 2) ****************************************************************************************** * ****************************************************************************************** By Anna Košátková and Drahomír Suchánek The settlement at the assembly in Domažlice was crucial for further John’s reign in Bohemi partial agreement with a part of the aristocracy, led by Henry of Lipá – an exchange of ca was agreed on, and Henry moved to Moravia. However, John’s wife Elisabeth wasn’t happy wit as she refused to give up the strong royal position of her ancestors. She therefore sided Waldeck, and together they took over Prague for some time. John of Luxembourg saw Elisabet attempt at removing him from the throne (Elisabeth would rule as a regent for Prince Wence action, conquered Prague and forced Elisabeth to leave for Mělník. The pretender Wenceslas from his mother and later raised in Paris in the household of John’s sister Mary, wife of Charles IV. The relationship of John and Elisabeth tried many times later on. They became closer in 13 had been hurt at a tournament, but this harmonic period, during which son John Henry and t Elisabeth and Anna were born, ended up in yet another surge of disputes. Elisabeth never a John had started using the services of Henry of Lipá, and accepted his position of the mos in the kingdom. Another source of disputes was Henry’s partner and former queen Elisabeth most serious, however, was the accusation that Elisabeth, together with her stepbrother Jo preparing a coup against the king. After Volek had been arrested and interrogated violentl fled to Bavaria to her daughter Margaret, and left her husband finally. Even though Volek cleared of all charges and Elisabeth had to return in 1325, she never returned to her husb from political and social activities, and died in 1330. When John of Luxembourg left the country and Elisabeth of Bohemia withdrew from public lif in the country settled a bit – people around Henry of Lipá took over crucial land offices of the royal property. John used Henry’s influence and services and focused on foreign pol since the early 1330s, the dissatisfaction of some aristocrats and clergyman with uncontro Henry and other lords increased. The solution was to involve the king’s oldest son Wencesl special legation required his return to the country in 1333. At the time, Charles ruled ov domain of Luxembourg, and also protected John’s interests in the northern Italy. The year 1333 was the beginning of a successful effort to improve the situation in the Cze long suffered by John’s absence and thus also by the absence of strong royal power. Prague Charles a loan for the initial reconstruction, and then the aristocracy allowed him to col that enabled him to pay off part of the pawned royal property. In 1334, Charles received t Murgrave of Moravia from his father, which was the necessary legal framework for Charles’s Bohemian territory. A lot of attention was paid to the arrival of Charles’s wife Blanche o party, which improved the prestige and the social influence of the court. The politics of Murgrave Charles developed hopefully, only to reach its limits when John r country (August 1335). Apparently, part of the aristocracy accused Charles of too independ stating he wanted to usurp power for himself. Also the difficult relationships between Cha Blanche and the second wife of John of Luxembourg, Beatrix of Bourbon, whom John married i causing tension. Since August 1336, Charles stopped using the seal of the Murgrave of Mora Tyrol to protect the interests of his younger brother John Henry. The estrangement between reached its top when John’s youngest son Wenceslas was born (1337), which could compromise to the throne. Charles’s position was restored when John left the country. Charles returned to Moravia an son reconciled. All John’s monarchial activities were gradually limited by his damaged sig illness of the Luxembourg house. In the 14th century, no treatment for any damages of this highly appreciated were the influences of Arabian medicine, practiced mainly at the Facult the University of Montpellier in southern France. In his autobiography, Charles IV states 1340s, “…my father, who had already lost one eye and started suffering with the other, lef Montpellier to meet the doctors there, yet he went completely blind.” This was one of the pressed Charles’s right to the Bohemian throne (as the “Junior King”) at the land assembly the same time, the conflict between the Luxembourg and Wittelsbach house broke out (the di of Bavaria), so both Luxembourgian kings continued to coordinate their motions. The final years of John’s life were dedicated to the struggle to ensure the power for his accordance with the papal interests, he accepted Charles’s candidacy for the Roman-German during the visit of both Luxembourgian kings in Avignon in 1344. During the same visit, th of the Prague archiepiscopate was negotiated. In June 1346, Charles was elected the Roman- John reaped the benefits of his skillful diplomacy; he managed to bring the Luxembourgian the pinnacle of power. Yet he didn’t live long enough to see the ceremonial coronation of the Hundred Years’ War broke out, he joined the campaign as faithful ally of France. On Au John took part in his last battle of Crecy, where the French army was completely defeated. the chronicler Jean Froissart, both Luxembourgian kings entered the fray alongside other F but John soon got lost. The details of the king’s death are unknown. After his relics were between several places, John of Luxembourg was buried in Virgin Mary’s Cathedral in Luxemb The image of John of Luxembourg in the Czech historiography, from František Palacký via Jo Spěváček, is that of the wayward knight king, a “foreigner” who didn’t really care about w in the Kingdom of Bohemia. But this is not really true. This brief outline of his diplomat clearly indicates that this aging “bohemocentrical” view should be revised. John was one o that managed to make the Kingdom of Bohemia a regular part of politics in Central and West thus prepared the way for his son Charles IV. Bibliography: BENEŠOVSKÁ, Klára. Královský sňatek: Eliška Přemyslovna a Jan Lucemburský 1310. Praha: Gal BOBKOVÁ, Lenka. Územní politika prvních Lucemburků na českém trůně. Ústí nad Labem: Univer Purkyně, 1993. SPĚVÁČEK, Jiří. Jan Lucemburský a jeho doba 1296–1346: k prvnímu vstupu českých zemí do sv Evropou. Praha: Svoboda, 1994. SPĚVÁČEK, Jiří. Král diplomat, 1296–1346. Praha: Panorama, 1982. URBAN, Jan. Kresčak 26. srpna 1346. Praha: Paseka, 2000.