Vladislaus III of Moravia

Vladislaus III, also called Vladislaus Henry III (c. 1227 – 3 January 1247),[1] was the margrave of Moravia and duke of Austria from 1246 until 1247.[2][3]

Vladislaus was born around 1227.[1] A member of the Přemyslid dynasty, he was the eldest son and heir of Wenceslaus I, King of Bohemia, and his wife Kunigunde, daughter of Philip of Swabia, King of Germany. His younger brother was the latter King Ottokar II.[4] He was named after his uncle and great uncle, who were also margraves of Moravia.[5] When his other uncle, Přemysl, died in 1239, Wenceslaus took control of Moravia. In 1246, he appointed Vladislaus margrave.[6] Pope Innocent IV wrote a letter to Vladislaus on 24 November 1246 concerning the activity of the papal collector Gotfryd.[7]

As Duke Frederick II of Austria was without a male heir, Wenceslaus sought to acquire the Duchy of Austria by arranging the marriage of Vladislaus with the late duke's niece Gertrude, daughter of Duke Henry II of Mödling, second son of Duke Leopold VI of Austria. Frederick was forced to consent to this arrangement under duress. In 1246, however, Frederick reneged, alleging that the couple was related within the prohibited degree. Wenceslaus obtained a dispensation from the pope.[8] The wedding took place after Frederick's death later that year.[9][10] He was recognized as duke and is so titled in contemporary Austrian sources.[3][11] He received the homage of the Austrian nobility, but died suddenly on 3 January 1247, before he could take possession of the duchy.[1] His death was most likely natural.[1] He had no children in his short marriage.[11] According to the Anonymous Austrian Chronicle:

The Annals of Prague give substantially the same account:

Vladislaus was succeeded in Moravia by his younger brother, who soon rebelled against their father.[14][15] After his death, she married Prince Roman Danylovych.[9] As a result, central Europe was plunged into the War of the Babenberg Succession.[10]

  1. ^ a b c d "77. schůzka: Vzpoura syna proti otci" (in Czech). Czech Radio. 24 May 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  2. ^ Martin Wihoda, Vladislaus Henry: The Formation of Moravian Identity (Brill, 2015), p. 297.
  3. ^ a b Jeremi K. Ochab, Jan Škvrňák and Michael Škvrňák, "Detecting Ottokar II's 1248–1249 Uprising and Its Instigators in Co-witnessing Networks," Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History 55, 4 (2022): 189–208, at 191. doi:10.1080/01615440.2022.2065397
  4. ^ Wihoda (2015), p. 234.
  5. ^ Wihoda (2015), p. 234.
  6. ^ Wihoda (2015), p. 268.
  7. ^ Mikolaj Gladysz, The Forgotten Crusaders: Poland and the Crusader Movement in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries (Brill, 2012), p. 292.
  8. ^ Robert H. Vickers, History of Bohemia (Charles H. Sergel, 1894), pp. 223–224.
  9. ^ a b Wihoda (2015), p. 274.
  10. ^ a b Robert Antonín, "The Foreign Policy of the Last Premyslids: A First Attempt at Unifying Central Europe?", in Paul Srodecki, Norbert Kersken and Rimvydas Petrauskas (eds.), Unions and Divisions. New Forms of Rule in Medieval and Renaissance Europe (Routledge, 2022), pp. 143–157, at 143–144.
  11. ^ a b Kamil Krofta, "Bohemia to the Extinction of the Premyslids", in The Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. 6: Victory of the Papacy (Cambridge University Press, 1957), pp. 422–446, at 437–438.
  12. ^ "Anonymi Chronicon Austriacum", in Adrian Rauch (ed.), Rerum Austriacarum Scriptores, vol. 2 (Vienna, 1793), p. 247.
  13. ^ "Annales Bohemiae 1196–1278 = Letopisy ceské od roku 1196 do roku 1278", in Josef Emler (ed.), Fontes rerum Bohemicarum, Part 2 (Prague, 1874), pp. 282–303.
  14. ^ Wihoda (2015), p. 268.
  15. ^ Nora Berend, Przemysław Urbańczyk and Przemysław Wiszewski, Central Europe in the High Middle Ages: Bohemia, Hungary and Poland, c.900–c.1300 (Cambridge University Press, 2013), p. 411.