Vita Caroli
A Coalition Forms Against John
Louis the Bavarian assembles a coalition of kings and dukes against John of Bohemia and Charles of Moravia; John defiantly vows to crush whichever enemy strikes first.
After these events, and before much time had passed, Louis the Bavarian — who styled himself emperor — formed a powerful alliance against John, king of Bohemia, and Charles, margrave of Moravia, together with the king of Hungary, the duke of Austria, the king of Cracow, the margrave of Meissen, and the duke of Schweidnitz. All of them, within a single week, formally renounced their ties to John and Charles in their own letters, intending to invade them and pursue them as their chief enemies. When word of these developments reached him, King John was alarmed. He sent his solemn envoys — namely Lord Nicholas of Luxembourg, his closest counselor, and Lord Henry the treasurer of Neuburg, his protonotary — to Louis, so that he might meet with him to negotiate an agreement or truces between them, and settle on a date for doing so. Louis replied plainly: he wanted no truces with John, and would seek no parleys about an agreement with him. King John, however, on hearing this, said: "In the name of the Lord — the more enemies we have, the more spoils and plunder we shall take. And I swear by the Lord Jesus Christ that whichever of them attacks me first, I shall crush him so completely that all the rest will be terrified."
The Siege of Opava and John's Summons
Casimir of Cracow besieges Duke Nicholas of Opava, who appeals to John for aid; John rallies his barons to defend their vassal, overcoming their reluctance to campaign beyond Bohemia's borders.
Not long after this, Casimir, king of Cracow, invaded the city of Nicholas, duke of Opava—a city called Saar—and laid siege to it in hostile fashion. Nicholas immediately sent to King John in Prague and most urgently begged him to send several armed men, by whose help he might be able to free his own city, which had been surrounded and besieged by King Casimir. King John, having heard this, replied gladly: he had no wish to send any troops, but within four days he intended to come in person to help, with as great a multitude of armed men as possible. King John immediately summoned all the barons of the kingdom of Bohemia into one place, and with everyone listening, said: "Look, noble and valiant men, faithful and beloved, we must defend our kingdom and fatherland with sword and arms against those who are wrongfully attacking us and you." And since this Casimir, king of Krakow, has attacked us — to the disgrace of our kingdom of Bohemia and crown — the vassal and prince Nicholas, duke of Opava — in hostile fashion, and we consider this a grave offense against our majesty, nor ought we to bear lightly what those who submitted themselves to our dominion for the sake of peace and tranquility suffer as a grave wrong.1 So let no sloth or sluggishness be attributed to us, nor the sleepiness of idle rest be thrust upon us, and we wish and command each of you and all of you individually, that you immediately take up arms, equipped for war without delay, and follow us to repel that man's foolish insolence — the one who presumed to invade our prince and vassal, who, having gained our defense, ought deservedly to rejoice in the peace and tranquility. The barons then answered the king's words: "Lord king, it exists by our right and has been observed inviolably from ancient times, that we ought not to set out with arms outside the kingdom, but within the kingdom's boundaries, to defend and protect the kingdom itself against those who try to invade it in hostile fashion." To which the king said: "The duchy of Opava, like the other duchies of Poland, is recognized as having regard to the king of Bohemia and the crown of the kingdom; so I, girded for the journey, now go strictly and entirely to see which of you, seized by such audacity and reckless presumption, dares to remain behind me."2
The March and the Battle Before Cracow
John marches swiftly to Opava, his forces swelling along the way; Czenko of Lippa wins a fierce skirmish against the besiegers, and John besieges Cracow itself, laying waste to its lands.
And so King John, that same night, withdrew from the mountains of Chuthnis with five hundred helmeted soldiers, where he had spoken such words with the barons of the kingdom, and hurried day and night toward Duke Nicholas of Opavia. And immediately the barons and all the nobles of the kingdom followed him, and before he reached the said duke he had two thousand helmeted soldiers, not counting archers and other properly armed men. These men the noble Czenko of Lippa anticipated with three hundred armed men, getting there faster by running, and with Hungarians and others who had besieged the duke's city at the command of King Casimir, he renewed the fierce battle — and he pursued those who were taking flight all the way into the city of Cracow. And in that same flight three hundred Hungarians were killed and sixty noble men were captured. The rest he pursued so eagerly that he himself and a great part of his men would have entered the very city in a fury of spirit; but they were held back within the city itself by the gate of the tower, which had been lowered. King John, however, bore these things with deep bitterness of spirit, because he himself had not taken part in such a conflict — since he would have taken the city without any resistance. Nevertheless, that very day he immediately besieged Cracow with a great army, and by laying waste the entire land — the suburbs having been ravaged — he devastated the greatest part of it.
The Duel That Never Was and the Peace
Casimir proposes a single combat to settle the conflict; John, being blind, offers to fight on equal terms if Casimir is also blinded; instead, a three-week truce is arranged, debts are forgiven, and a comprehensive peace is established among all the former enemies.
Then Casimir, king of Cracow, announced to King John that, to avoid endangering many people, he should be shut in alone, by himself, in a chamber, and that whoever defeated the other there would obtain his proposal concerning him. And because King John was then completely blind, it was announced to him that if he himself were made blind, then with equal arms he would most willingly enter the duel. After this, at Casimir's request, truces of three weeks were immediately arranged between them. With these pending, the whole matter of their enmities was smoothed over, so that Charles, margrave of Moravia, would be released entirely and freed from the ten thousand marks of silver by which Casimir had long before granted him as a loan. And so, with the matter of dissension extinguished, the tranquility of peace was placed and established between them. In the establishment of this peace, indeed, all those princes who had previously distrusted King John himself and Charles, margrave of Moravia, were unanimously included.
Read the original Latin
Hiis itaque gestis, non longo temporis spacio transacto Ludovicus Bavarus, qui se imperatorem nominavit, cum rege Ungarie, duce Austrie, rege Cracovie, marchione Misnensi et duce Suidnicensi fortem super Johannem, regem Boemie, et Karolum, marchionem Moravie, ligam construxerunt, qui omnes dictum Johannem et Karolum in una septimana suis litteris diffidarunt, volentes eos invadere et tanquam eorum capitales persequi inimicos. Super quibus novis rex Johannes territus sollempnes suos nuncios, videlicet dominum Nicolaum de Lucemburg, suum intimum consiliarium, et dominum Henricum thesaurarium de Niuemburg, suum protonotarium, misit ad Ludovicum, ut cum eo ad tractandum de concordia aut treugis inter eos statuendis ad aliquem terminum conveniret. Qui simpliciter respondit: quod nullas cum eo vellet habere treugarum inducias nec aliqua cum eo querere concordie parlamenta. Johannes vero rex hoc audito, dixit: "In nomine domini, quanto plures habuerimus inimicos, tanto plura spolia et predas capiemus; et ego iuro per dominum Jesum Christum, quod quicumque eorum me primus invaserit, hunc taliter obruam, quod omnes alii terrebuntur."
Post hoc non longo tempore transacto Cazimirus, rex Cracovie, Nicolai, ducis Opavie, civitatem nomine Saar invasit et hostiliter obsedit. Qui statim ad regem Johannem in Pragam misit et ut aliquot viros armatos, quorum adiutorio civitatem suam per regem Cazimirum circumvalatam posset liberare, transmitteret, instantissime supplicavit. Rex Johannes hoc audito letabundo respondit animo: nullam sibi velle transmittere gentem, sed intra quatuor dies sibi velle in adiutorium venire propria in persona cum multitudine maxima armatorum.
Statim rex Johannes omnibus regni Boemie baronibus in unum convocatis, omnibus audientibus dixit: "Ecce viri nobiles et strenui et fideles dilecti, oportet, ut regnum nostrum et patriam contra nos et vos iniuriose insultantes gladio et armis defendamus. Et quoniam iste Cazimirus, Cracovie rex, nobis in contumeliam regni nostri Boemie et corone vasallum et principem Nicolaum, ducem Opavie, hostiliter invasit, in quo maiestatem nostram graviter reputamus offensam, nec leviter ferre debemus, quod gravem paciuntur offensam, qui se pacis et tranquillitatis gracia nostro dominio subdiderunt. Ne ergo nobis pigricie ascribatur segnicies et ociose quietis sompnolencia impingatur, volumus et mandamus vobis singulis et singulariter universis, ut statim arma capiatis, ad bellum expediti sine mora nos sequamini ad propulsandam illius stultam proterviam, qui principem et vasallum nostrum presumsit invadere, qui nostra defensione potitus merito deberet pacis tranquillitate gaudere." Barones vero ad regis verba responderunt: "Domine rex, de iure nostro existit et ab antiquis temporibus inviolabiliter observatum, quod extra regnum non debemus armis proficisci, sed intra regni limites ipsum regnum contra eos, qui hoc hostiliter invadere conantur, pro viribus defendere et tueri." Quibus rex dixit: "Ducatus Opavie sicut alii Polonie ducatus ad regem Boemie et coronam regni respectum habere dignoscitur; unde ego accinctus ad iter iam vado districte et omnino visurus, quis vestrum tali captus temeritatis audacia et presumcione temera, ut retro me manere presumat."
Itaque rex Johannes eadem nocte cum quingentis galeatis de montibus Chuthnis, ubi talia verba cum baronibus regni habuit, recessit et ad ducem Nicolaum de Opavia die et nocte festinanter properavit. Et statim secuti sunt eum barones et regni nobiles universi, et antequam ad dictum ducem veniret, habuit duo millia galeatorum exceptis sagittariis et aliis decenter armatis. Quos nobilis Czenko de Lippa cum trecentis armatis cicius currendo prevenit et cum Ungaris et aliis, qui de [Cazimiri] regis mandato ducis civitatem obsederant, bellum fervidum instauravit, quos fugam capientes usque in civitatem Cracoviam insecutus est. Et in eadem fuga trecenti Ungari interfecti sunt et sexaginta viri nobiles captivati. Reliquos vero sic insequebatur avide, ut ipse et magna pars suorum ipsam civitatem intrarent animo furibundo; qui cancello turris demisso, fuerunt in ipsa civitate retenti. Rex vero Johannes hec valde ferebat amaro animo, quod ipse disturbio tali non interfuit, quia civitatem sine omni resistencia acquisisset. Statim tamen eodem die Cracoviam cum magno obsedit exercitu, et iacendo ibidem totam terram depopulatis suburbiis parte maxima devastavit.
Tunc Cazimirus, rex Cracovie, nunciavit regi Johanni, ut ad evitandum multarum personarum pericula secum solo solus in stuba clauderetur, et quis ibi alium vinceret, suum propositum de eo obtineret. Et quia rex Johannes omnino tunc excecatus erat, nunciavit sibi: quod se excecare faceret, tunc paribus armis libentissime vellet intrare duellum. Post hoc petente Kazimiro statim fuerunt treugarum trium septimanarum inter eos inducie procurate. Quibus pendentibus tota inimiciciarum materia fuit complanata, ita ut Karolus, marchio Moravie, de decem marcarum millibus argenti, que sibi dudum Cazimirus in mutuo concesserat, quietus dimitteretur omnimodo et solutus. Et sic extincta dissensionis materia fuit inter eos pacis tranquillitas posita et firmata. In qua quidem pacis firmacione omnes isti principes, qui prius ipsum regem Johannem et Karolum, marchionem Moravie, diffidaverant, fuerunt unanimiter comprehensi.
Notes
Vita Caroli (Autobiography of Emperor Charles IV) companion
Charles opened his memoir with a devotional, not a battle. Start your days the same way.
Chosen Portion gives you the practice Charles commended to his sons: a short reading on the things that outlast thrones, every morning.
Charles IV began his autobiography by commending Scripture meditation to his heirs before recounting a single battle; Chosen Portion makes that same meditation the first act of your day.
- A daily 5-10 minute reading from texts that formed Christian rulers
- The complete 20-chapter Vita Caroli, modern readable, on your phone
- A consistent morning routine within 2 weeks of installing