Vladislaus Henry

Who he is

Name

Vladislaus Henry (Vladislav Jindřich)

Title

Margrave of Moravia

Since

6 December 1197 (Znojmo also 1192-1194)

Born

about 1160 or 1165

Family

Přemyslid; brother of King Ottokar I; wife Heilwida; no children.

Confidence

high

Czech Wikipedia (Vladislav Jindřich): 'at first he again controlled only the Znojmo land and possibly the Brno land'; Znojmo castle was his residence. German Wikipedia (Znaim) for the end of the separate Znojmo appanage in 1197.

Overlord

King Ottokar I of Bohemia (see Moravia).

What it holds

• Znojmo castle, his residence, with its market settlement below (no town law until 1226) and the Premonstratensian abbey of Louka by the Thaya (founded 1190 by Conrad Otto).
• Vranov castle (Frain), a princely border castle over the Thaya, built by Bretislaus I and first named about 1100 in Cosmas's chronicle.
• Bítov castle (Vöttau), first named 1061 as the prince's and part of the defence against Austria; centre of the Bítov province.
• Brno castle and the market settlement by the Svratka ford (the settlement first named 1091; royal town only in 1243). Probably his.
• Břeclav castle (Lundenburg), a border castle built after 1041 by Bretislaus I, with its province on the lower Thaya near Austria and Hungary. Probably his.
• Hodonín castle on the Morava, first credibly named 1169 (town 1228), facing the Hungarian bank. Its attribution to the Brno land is not pinned.
• Within these lands but not his: the bishop of Olomouc's estates round Podivín and Vyškov (Church map), the abbeys of Rajhrad, Třebíč and the Premonstratensian nuns of Dolní Kounice (founded 1181).

How it was acquired

Znojmo was the appanage of Conrad Otto, who united Moravia in 1182 and died in 1191; Vladislaus Henry received the march in 1192, lost it in 1194-1195 to Henry Bretislaus's man, and recovered it by the agreement with Ottokar of 6 December 1197. Brno's own line ended with Spytihněv, blinded by Vladislaus Henry.

Allies and rivals

See Moravia. Across the Thaya: the counts of Hardegg, the lords of Seefeld at Feldsberg (Valtice, first named 1192) and the duke of Austria's Weinviertel (Laa, Retz), all Austrian ground in the aus records.

How things stand that morning

Held by the margrave on 1 January 1200: the Znojmo land surely, the Brno land probably. The Austrian frontier along the Thaya is quiet; no Austrian lord is known to hold a fief north of the Thaya that winter (the Austrian Weisen or Orphanus family holds Lednice only by 1222, and Henry of Liechtenstein receives Mikulov only in 1249).

Wealth

Vineyards and grain of the south; tolls at the Thaya and Svratka fords and at the castle markets; the road from the Danube to Brno.

Military

Castellans and the men of the castle districts; border castles at Vranov, Bítov, Znojmo and Břeclav facing Austria, Břeclav and Hodonín facing Hungary. No numbers.

Threats

• Austrian pressure on the Thaya border if the throne war turns the dukes against each other.
• Hungarian raids up the Morava if Emeric's civil war spills over.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 1209-1213The Olomouc land is joined to his own lands; all Moravia is his.Depends on: Ottokar handing it over. Stopped by: A breach between the brothers.
2. 12 August 1222He dies at Znojmo and is buried at Velehrad.Depends on: Natural death. Stopped by: Play.

Places of note

• Znojmo castle: The margrave's residence.
• Louka abbey: Premonstratensians, founded 1190 by Conrad Otto (Church map).
• Vranov castle: Border castle over the Thaya.
• Bítov castle: Princely castle, centre of the Bítov province.
• Brno castle: Centre of the Brno land.
• Břeclav castle: Border castle of the lower Thaya.
• Hodonín castle: Castle on the Morava facing Hungary.

Where the sources disagree

• The 1046 document that names Břeclav and Hodonín is called a forgery in English Wikipedia (Hodonín); Hodonín's first credible mention is 1169. The attribution of Hodonín and the south-east to the Brno or the Olomouc land is not pinned.

Evidence: The margrave's residence and his hold on Znojmo are well attested; his hold on Brno is 'possible' in the Czech account; castellans unnamed; the line between the Znojmo, Brno and Olomouc lands is drawn from later maps of the appanages.

On the map: The boundaries between the Znojmo, Brno and Olomouc lands are approximate; in 1200 they ran through castle districts and forest, not lines.

Primary sources for Moravia

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Jarloch (Gerlach), abbot of Milevsko, Jarloch of Milevsko (about 1200 to 1220). The last Bohemian narrative before 1200, continuing Vincentius of Prague. Read online
• The Austrian and Salzburg annals (kept in the 12th and 13th centuries, with continuations to the late 13th century). A family of monastic annals from Austria, Styria and Salzburg, printed together. Read online
• Charters and letters of the kingdom of Bohemia, volume 2, 1198 to 1230 (documents of 1198 to 1230, edited 1912). The critical edition of every Bohemian and Moravian charter and letter from Ottokar I's accession to 1230.