(Redirected from Wenceslaus I, Duke of Luxembourg)'Wenceslaus I' (also ''Wenceslas'', ''Venceslas'', ''Wenzel'', or ''Václav'', often called 'Wenceslaus of Bohemia' in chronicles) (
Prague,
25 February 1337 –
Luxembourg,
7 December 1383) was the first
Duke of Luxembourg from
1355. He was the son of
John the Blind,
King of Bohemia, and
Beatrix of Bourbon.
In
1353 Charles IV King of Bohemia, Count of Luxembourg and elected Holy Roman King, entrusted the
county, their father's inheritance, to his step-brother Wenceslaus. In
1355 when Charles was crowned
Holy Roman Emperor he raised Luxembourg to the status of a duchy. In
1352, Wenceslaus married
Joanna (
1322 –
1406), daughter of
John III, Duke of Brabant and
Limburg, and Marie d'Évreux. In 1355, Joanna inherited
Brabant and
Limburg. In order to guarantee the indivisibility of Brabant, Wenceslaus signed the
Joyous Entry, but had to fight against his brother-in-law
Louis II of Flanders, who asserted his share of the duchy. He failed to prevent the seizure of
Brussels by the
Flemings, but a certain
Everard 't Serclaes succeeded by an audacious coup in driving them out of the city. Thereafter, Wenceslaus had to face primarily internal disorders. In 1371, he underestimated his military powers and waged war with
Gulik, resulting in the humiliating defeat of
Baesweiler, losing a part of his army, and several noblemen. He was captured and suffered 11 months of captivity. He died in Luxembourg and was succeeded by
Antoine de Valois as duke of Brabant and by
Wenceslaus II as duke of Luxembourg. There are speculations that he might have died of
leprosy (Joanna stayed in
Brussels). His last wish was his heart to be displaced from his dead body and sent to his wife.
Wenceslaus I of Luxembourg wrote
troubadour poetry which were found by
Auguste Longnon in
Jean Froissart's ''Méliador'' in 1890s (Wenceslas was a
maecenas of this
chronicler). It comprises 79 poems (11
ballades, 16
virelais, 52
rondeaux)