Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV (
May 14,
1316 –
29 November,
1378), of the
House of Luxembourg,
King of the Romans (as Charles IV, 1346 – 1378),
Holy Roman Emperor (Charles IV,
1355 – 1378),
King of Bohemia Charles I
1346 – 1378), Count of Luxembourg (1346 –
1353), Margrave of Brandenburg (
1373 – 1378). He was born in
Prague as
Wenceslaus, he later chose
Charles for his confirmation name.
From
1333 Charles started to administer his father's Crown lands due to the King's frequent absence and in
1334 he became Margrave of Moravia. He was elected as a rival King of the Romans to Emperor
Louis IV and succeeded his father
John of Luxemburg as King of Bohemia and Count of Luxembourg in 1346 as his mother was
Elizabeth (Eliška), heiress of Bohemia, daughter of King
Wenceslaus II and sister of King
Wenceslaus III of the
Přemyslid dynasty. Charles was crowned as emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire in
1355. After
1349, Charles IV was uncontested ruler of the Holy Roman Empire till his death in
1378.
During his reign imperial policy refocused on the dynastic sphere and abandoned the ideal of the Holy Roman Empire as a universal monarchy. In 1353 Luxembourg was granted to his brother Jobst. Charles IV concentrated his energies chiefly on the economic and intellectual development of Bohemia, founding the
Charles University of Prague in
1348 and encouraging the early humanists — he is known to have corresponded with
Petrarch, whom he invited to visit his residence in
Prague. Petrarch, however hoped (to no avail) to make Charles move his residence to
Rome, to take up the tradition of the ancient
Roman Empire. As he became fond of Prague, art and architecture flourished in his capital, owing to his activity as a builder and patron; construction of the
Charles Bridge and of the
Hradčany, completion of
Saint Vitus Cathedral by
Peter Parler are among the best examples. From the reign of Charles IV dates the first flowering of manuscript painting in
Prague. In
1356 he issued the
Golden Bull, which codified the procedures for imperial elections, but had the disastrous effect of causing minor princes who were left out of the electoral process to lose allegiance to the empire. In 1373 he inherited the Margravate of Brandenburg.
His French education left a lasting mark on Charles. His father, known as John the Blind, king of Bohemia, was an ardent francophile and patron of the composer and poet
Guillaume de Machaut — he died at
Crécy in
1346 while fighting on the French side. Charles's sister
Bona, married the eldest son of
Philip VI of France, the future
John II of France, in
1335. Thus, Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg was the maternal uncle of King
Charles V of France, who solicited his relative's advice at
Metz in
1356 during the
Parisian Revolt. This family connection was celebrated publicly when Charles IV made a solemn visit to his nephew in
1378, just months before his death. A detailed account of the occasion, enriched by many splendid miniatures, can be found in Charles V's copy of the
Grandes Chroniques de France.
The Emperor was literate and fluent in five languages -
Latin,
Czech,
German,
French and
Italian.
Charles married four times. His first wife was Blanche,
1316–
1348), daughter of
Charles,
Count of Valois, a half-sister of
Philip VI of France. They had two daughters,
* Margaret (
1335 -
1349), who married
Louis I of Hungary; and
*
Katharina (
1342 -
1395), who married
Rudolf IV of Austria and
Otto V, Duke of Bavaria, Elector of Brandenburg.
He secondly married Anne (Anna), (
1329–
1353), daughter of the Count Palatine
Rudolph II and they had one son,
* Wenceslas, who died young.
His third wife was Anne of
Schweidnitz, (
1339–
1362), daughter of Duke
Henryk II of Schweidnitz and
Katharina of Anjou, by whom he had two children,
*
Wenceslaus (
1361–
1419), Charles's successor as Emperor and king of Bohemia, and
* Elisabeth (
19 April 1358–
4 September 1373), who married to
Albert III of Austria.
His fourth wife was
Elizabeth of Pomerania,
1345 or
1347–
1393), daughter of Duke
Bogislaw V of Hind Pomerania and
Elisabeth of Poland. They had six children:
*
Anne of Bohemia (
1366–
1394), who married
Richard II of England*
Sigismund (
1368–
1437), emperor, king of Hungary and Bohemia and margrave of Brandenburg.
*
John, Duke of Görlitz (
1370–
1396).
* Charles (
13 March 1372–
24 July 1373).
* Margaret (
1373–
1410), who married
John III,
Burgrave of Nuremberg.
* Heinrich (
1377–
1378).
In the present
Czech Republic, he is still regarded as
Father of the Country (
otec vlasti,
pater patriae), a title first coined by Vojtěch Raňkův of Ježov (
Adalbertus Ranconis de Ericinio), a significant intellectual and the only Czech rector of the Sorbonne, at the emperor's funeral.
