King Albert II in the Bohemian Lands (1421-1439)

Albert V (II as King), Duke of Austria and later King of the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia and Hungary is one of the most significant rulers of the Central European history of the 15th century. Notwithstanding, within the framework of historical science he has always been in the shadow of his father-in-law, Emperor Sigismund. Let alone 19th-century publications, there exist no biography of Albert and the research oriented to his person shows essential gaps. The submitted project would partly fill these gaps, particularly concerning the reign of Albert V (II) in the Bohemian lands: his pledge lordship over the towns of ?eské Bud?jovice (Budweis), Znojmo, Jihlava, Jemnice and Poho?elice, his rule as a margrave of Moravia (since 1423, or rather spring 1424) and finally his royal rule in Bohemia (1437-1439). The project is aimed at two main objectives. The first is the preparation of an abstracts volume with German- language abstracts of Albert`s charters from Bohemian and Moravian archives. Regarding the period before Albrecht`s election as king, all charters would be collected; as for the period from 18th March 1438 to Albert`s death, only charters not included in the 12th volume of the Regesta Imperii currently prepared by Günther Hödl would be taken into consideration. That is why the abstracts volume would be published as a supplement and appendix volume to Regesta Imperii XII within the framework of this enterprise. The second objective of the project is the preparation of a monograph on the reign of Albert in the Bohemian lands, which would feature tools of Albert`s ruling practice in the war-stricken area and his warfare rather than a detailed event-based description. Therefore, the planned monograph would analyse particularly the following aspects: Albert`s issuing of charters for Bohemian and Moravian recipients, his itinerary in the Bohemian lands, prosopography of Albert`s followers from the Bohemian and Moravian nobility as well as Austrian noblemen and burghers who were active in ruler`s administration in Bohemia and Moravia, Albert`s policy towards towns and church in Bohemia and Moravia, financial importance of pledged towns, Margravate of Moravia and Kingdom of Bohemia for Albert (income from the Bohemian lands and war costs), organization and financing of war in the Bohemian lands. Not least, communication between Albert and his Moravian and Bohemian subjects and the issue of textualization of administration and warfare would also be dealt with. On the one hand, the project would contribute considerably to provincial history of Bohemia, Moravia and Austria. On the other hand, from the general Europe-wide perspective, it would extend our knowledge of the late medieval rule in times of war.

This project aimed at publishing all charters and letters issued by King Albert II (V), which are today preserved in Czech archives and libraries, in the form of scientific abstracts. Based on this source edition the project also studied Alberts rule in the lands of the Bohemian crown. In the course of this project extensive archival research was conducted. This research enabled the publication of a supplement volume to Günther Hödls Regesta Imperii XII. The volume contains c.40 abstracts of charters dating from Alberts short reign as German and Bohemian king which were left out in Hödls publication. In addition, it assembles c. 220 abstracts of charters dating from Alberts reign as duke of Austria and margrave of Moravia. This era is outside the period covered by Regesta Imperii XII. Thus the new volume provides a rich and valuable supplement to Hödls edition.As for the research into Alberts rule in the lands of the Bohemian Crown, the project produced an extensive study of the marriage between the duke and the daughter of Emperor Sigismund, Elizabeth of Luxemburg. Through this marriage Albert stepped for the first time onto the Bohemian political stage, as he became lord of Ceské Budejovice and four Moravian towns, which he received in pledge. A thorough analysis of the marriage contracts showed how remarkably harsh the financial conditions were, which Albert had to accept in order to ensure his marriage to Elizabeth, heiress of the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary. In 1421 Albert not only had to obligate himself to pay his future father-in-law vast sums, but also to support him militarily against the Hussites. However, over time Albert succeeded in nearly completely revising the marriage contracts. In the autumn of 1423 he even managed to force Sigismund to hand over the margraviate of Moravia to him.It is very likely that it was the Jews of the duchy of Austria that had to bear the immense cost of this dynastic marriage. In 1420/21 the Austrian Jews fell victim to a large-scale pogrom, the so-called Viennese Gesera, during which the ducal treasury extensively confiscated Jewish property. The project dedicated a comprehensive study to these events. This study showed that it was most probably Alberts need to raise large sums of money at this point which lay at the heart of the pogroms motivations, while religious arguments merely served as justifications.The same cold-hearted pragmatism was at work during Alberts rule as margrave of Moravia and later king of Bohemia. A comprehensive analysis of this rule proved impossible during the span of this project. However, the project leader produced a monograph about the truces that were regularly concluded between Alberts Moravian followers and the local Hussites.