A little blog hoping to shine a light on the wars, events and people of Medieval and Early Modern Central and Eastern Europe, which are often overshadowed by their Western Peers.
My name is Louie and I hope to bring light to Medieval Central and Eastern European places, events and culture.
Sure you may have heard of Agincourt, Hastings and the Fall of Granada, but just as much happened in this time in the East.
When the Hussites or the Teutonic Order finally do appear, it's only ever as a footnote, so I will dive as deep into these topics as I can.
I am from England, and don't speak a lick of Czech, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Polish, German etc. (although I do dabble in other languages), but I will try to avoid using anglicised people and place names.
Feel free to suggest and request any topics you'd like me to make a post about!
The half Luxemburger, half Czech Holy Roman Emperor who turned Prague into a European Centre for politics, education and art, and brought about the Golden Age of Bohemia
Early life
Charles IV was born in Prague, 1316 and baptised Václav (Wenceslaus), to King Jan Lucemburský (John the Blind) and Queen Eliška Přemyslovna (Elisabeth) of Bohemia. Following conflict between his parents - likely an attempted plot from his mother to overthrow his father - Charles was moved to the Parisian court of Charles IV of France. Here he would meet Blanche of Valois, his future wife. Their marriage was arranged shortly after and in honour of his new uncle-in-law, Charles IV of France.
At this point, Charles had surprisingly little in terms of formal schooling, but he quickly picked up a deep understanding of politics from Paris' intellectual atmosphere and exposure to scholars at the Paris University. It would be here that he would meet Pierre Roger, a Benedictine abbot. Charles was so captivated by him that he asked the abbot to become his tutor, from whom he would learn - among other subjects - Latin, Roman History and Law.
Time in Italy
In the spring of 1331, Charles would accompany his father on a campaign into Italy and for two years, whilst his father left on other business, Charles was left in charge of many northern Italian cities. These cities were rebellious and cautious of his rule, but his participation in municipal discussions, alongside Roger's education, helped him maintain control.
Time as Margrave
In October of 1333, Charles would finally make his return to Prague. By this point in time he hadn't stepped foot on Czech soil for 11 years and had completely forgotten the Czech language, but as a gifted scholar he quickly picked it back up within a few years. In 1334, his father gifted him the title of "Margrave of Moravia", which allowed him royal authority in absence of the King (Which was often. King Jan is known contemporarily as an "alien king" who rarely actually visited his own realm, greatly preferring life in Paris and fighting abroad). In his long, absence the nobles of Bohemia had grown in power, and by the age of only eighteen, Charles was effectively ruling a country of men who saw him as a threat to their power.
Charles sought as many allies as he could find, and one was his own mother's half-brother. Between late 1333-1335, the two would recover the royal prestige and power that had been lost through his father's absence through relatively peaceful diplomacy with Czech nobles, but in 1335, his father suddenly returned to Bohemia and stripped Charles of all of his powers. Instead of rebelling against his father, Charles accepted this fate with dignity, Within months Jan restored Charles's authority, recognising the necessity of his son's administration.
King of the Romans
In 1341, Charles was officially named the heir to the Bohemian throne, and thanks to his work as Margrave, Prague was made an individual Archbishopric in 1343 by Pope Clement VI (Who just so happened to be his childhood tutor and friend, Pierre Roger). In 1346, an alliance between his father and Clement VI led to the excommunication of the Holy Roman Emperor, Louis IV. Charles was elected the next Emperor. However, his ascension wasn't without opposition. Louis IV believed himself to still be the rightful emperor and warned that Charles would face civil war from his followers in the region, but Louis died a year later, thankfully preventing any war.
That same year, King Jan died. He allied himself with France during the Hundred Years War and, despite being completely blind at this point, charged the British at Crécy, where he was killed in battle. This finally made Charles King of Bohemia. Shortly afterwards Charles would move the capital of the Holy Roman Empire to Prague.
Legacy
Prague quickly developed to match this new title. The "Nové Město" (New Town) was constructed, a new district of Prague modelled after the more refined streets of Paris. The University of Prague was also built in a successful attempt to turn Prague into an international centre for education, and this would later be renamed Charles University in honour of Charles IV. The security of his reign would also inspire confidence in the safety of the Prague Groschen, an already valuable currency due to Bohemia's central location, cementing it as one of the major currencies of the Holy Roman Empire and parts of Eastern Europe.
Charles would pass away in 1378. He would be succeeded as King of Bohemia by his son Václav IV (Wenceslaus IV). Václav would also have been crowned Holy Roman Emperor, but he failed to attend his own coronation in Rome, and the seat was left essentially vacant until Charles' other son and Václav's brother Zikmund (Sigismund) was crowned in 1433, a decade after becoming King of Bohemia himself.
