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WENCESLAUS (1361-1419)

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Originally appearing in Volume V28, Page 518 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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WENCESLAUS (1361-1419) , See also:German See also:king, and, as Wenceslaus IV., king of Bohemia, was the son of the See also:emperor See also:Charles IV. and See also:Anna, daughter of See also:Henry II., See also:duke of See also:Schweidnitz. See also:Born at See also:Nuremberg on the 26th of See also:February 1361, he was crowned king of Bohemia in See also:June 1363, and invested with the margraviate of See also:Brandenburg in 1373. In See also:September 1370 he married See also:Joanna (d. 1386) daughter of See also:Albert I., duke of See also:Bavaria, and was elected king of the See also:Romans or German king at See also:Frankfort on the loth of June 1376, and crowned at See also:Aix-la-Chapelle on the 6th of See also:July following. He took some See also:part in the See also:government of the See also:empire during his See also:father's lifetime, and when Charles died in See also:November 1378 became See also:sole ruler of See also:Germany and Bohemia, but handed over Brandenburg to his See also:half-See also:brother See also:Sigismund. His reign was a See also:period of confusion both in See also:church and See also:state, and although he appears to have begun to See also:rule with excellent intentions, he was totally unfit to See also:cope with the forces of disorder. Germany was torn with feuds, the various orders for the See also:establishment of See also:peace were disregarded, and after 1389 the king paid very little See also:attention to German affairs. In 1383 he inherited the duchy of See also:Luxemburg from his See also:uncle Wenceslaus and in 1387 assisted his half-brother Sigismund to obtain the Hungarian See also:throne. For some See also:time Wenceslaus ruled Bohemia successfully, but he See also:fell under the See also:influence of favourites and aroused the irritation of the nobles. A See also:quarrel with See also:John II., See also:archbishop of See also:Prague, which led to the See also:murder of John's See also:vicar-See also:general, John of Pomuk, at the instigation of the king, provoked a rising led by See also:Jobst, See also:margrave of See also:Moravia, a See also:cousin 'of Wenceslaus; and in 1394 the king was taken prisoner and only released under pressure of threats from the German princes. Having consented to limitations on his See also:power in Bohemia, he made a further but spasmodic effort to restore peace in Germany. He then met Charles VI., king of See also:France at See also:Reims, where the monarchs decided to persuade the See also:rival popes See also:Benedict XIII. and See also:Boniface IX. to resign, and to end the papal schisms by the See also:election of a new pontiff.

Many of the princes were angry at this See also:

abandonment of Boniface by Wenceslaus, who had also aroused much indignation by his See also:long See also:absence from Germany and by selling the See also:title of duke of See also:Milan to Gian Galleazzo See also:Visconti. The consequence was that in See also:August 1400 the four Rhenish See also:electors met at See also:Oberlahnstein and declared Wenceslaus deposed. He was charged with attempting to dismember the empire to his own See also:advantage, with neglecting to end the See also:schism in the church, with allowing favourites to enrich themselves, and was further accused of murder. Though he remained in Bohemia he took no steps against See also:Rupert III. See also:count See also:palatine of the See also:Rhine, who had been elected as his successor. He soon quarrelled with Sigismund, who took him prisoner in 1402 and sent him to See also:Vienna, where he remained in captivity for nineteen months after abdicating in Bohemia. In 1404, when Sigismund was recalled to See also:Hungary, Wenceslaus regained his freedom and with it his authority in Bohemia; and after the See also:death of the German king Rupert in 1410 appears to have entertained hopes of recovering his former throne. Abandoning this See also:idea, however, he voted for the election of Sigismund in 1411, but stipulated that he should retain the title of king of the Romans. His concluding years were disturbed by the troubles which arose in Bohemia over the death of John See also:Huss, and which the vacillating king did nothing to check until compelled by Sigismund. In the midst of these disturbances he died at Prague on the 16th of August 1419. His second wife was See also:Sophia, daughter of John, duke of Bavaria-See also:Munich, but he See also:left no See also:children. Wenceslaus was a capable and educated See also:man, but was lacking in perseverance and See also:industry. He neglected business for See also:pleasure and was much addicted to See also:drunkenness.

He favoured the teaching of Huss, probably on See also:

political grounds, but exercised very little influence during the Hussite struggle. See Th. Lindner, Geschichte See also:des deutschen Reiches vom Ende des 141en Jahrhunderts bis zur See also:Reformation, part i. (See also:Brunswick, 1875—188o), and " See also:Die Wahl Wenzels," in the Forschungen zur deutschen Geschichte, See also:Band xiv. (See also:Gottingen, 1862—1886) ; F. M. Pelzel, Lebensgeschichte des romischen and bohmischen Konigs Wenceslaus (Prague, 1788—179o) ; F. Palacky, Geschichte von Bohmen, Bande iii. and iv. (Prague, 1864—1874) ; H. Mau, See also:Konig See also:Wenzel and die rheinischen Kurfiirsten (See also:Rostock, 1887). The See also:article by Th. Lindner in the Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, Band xli., should also be consulted for a bibliography, and also the same writer's See also:work, Das Urkundenwesen Karls IV. and seiner Nacl folger (See also:Stuttgart, 1882).

WEN-CHOW-FU, a prefectural See also:

city in the See also:province of Chehkiang, See also:China, and one of the five ports opened by the Chifu See also:convention to See also:foreign See also:trade, situated (28° 1' N., 120° 31' E.) on the See also:south See also:bank of the See also:river See also:Gow, about 20 M. from the See also:sea. The See also:population is estimated at 8o,000. The site is said to have been chosen by Kwo P'oh (A.D. 276—324), a celebrated See also:antiquary who recognized in the adjacent See also:mountain peaks a See also:correspondence with the stars in the See also:constellation of the See also:Great See also:Bear, from which circumstance the See also:town was first known as the See also:Tow or Great Bear city. Subsequently the See also:appearance in its vicinity of a See also:white See also:deer carrying a See also:flower in its mouth was deemed so favourable an See also:omen as to more than justify the See also:change of its name to Luh or Deer city. Its See also:present name, which signifies the " mild See also:district," and is correctly descriptive of the See also:climate, though not of the inhabitants, was given to it during the Ming See also:dynasty (1368-1644). The walls, which were built in the loth See also:century, are about 4 M. in circumference, 35 ft. in height, and 12 ft. broad at the See also:top. The streets are paved with See also:brick and are wide, straight and clean. The See also:gates, seven in number, were erected in 1598. Wen-chow is about 156o m. S.S.E. by road from See also:Peking and 600 m. E.S.E. of See also:Hankow.

The See also:

British See also:consul and the customs' outdoor See also:staff occupy foreign-built houses on See also:Conquest See also:Island, which lies abreast of the city. The neighbourhood is hilly and See also:pretty, while opposite the See also:north-See also:west See also:gate Conquest Island forms a picturesque See also:object. The island is, however, more beautiful than healthy. The See also:port, which was opened to foreign trade in 1876, has not justified the expectations which were formed of it as a commercial centre, and in 1908 the See also:direct foreign trade was valued at £19,000 only. There is no foreign See also:settlement at Wen-chow, and the foreign residents are mainly officials and missionaries. The See also:tea trade of Wen-chow-Fu, formerly important, has declined owing to care-less cultivation. A considerable native export trade in See also:wood, See also:charcoal, See also:bamboo, medicines, See also:paper umbrellas, oranges, See also:otter skins and See also:tobacco See also:leaf is carried on. The imports are chiefly See also:cotton See also:yarn and piece goods, kerosene oil, See also:palm-leaf fans, See also:aniline dyes, See also:sugar and matches.

End of Article: WENCESLAUS (1361-1419)

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