Catherine of Bohemia

Catherine of Bohemia
Catherine of Bohemia
Duchess consort of Austria and Bavaria;; Electress consort of Brandenburg
	Statue of Catherine of Bohemia and Luxembourg
Tenure	Consort in Austria; 13 July 1356 – 27 July 1365 ; Consort in Bavaria; 19 March 1366 – 15 November 1379
Born	19 August 1342; Prague, Bohemia
Died	26 April 1395 (aged 52); Perchtoldsdorf, Lower Austria
Spouse	Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria; Otto V, Duke of Bavaria
House	House of Luxembourg; House of Wittelsbach; House of Habsburg
Father	Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Blanche of Valois

Catherine of Bohemia (19 August 1342 – 26 April 1395) was an Electress of Brandenburg, the second daughter of Emperor Charles IV and Blanche of Valois.

Childhood and family

Catherine was born on 19 August 1342, the third child and second surviving daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and his first wife Blanche of Valois, a daughter of Charles of Valois. In 1348, Catherine's mother Blanche died, aged 32, leaving Charles IV without a male heir. In 1349, Charles married Anna of Bavaria, who bore one son, Wenceslas, who died as a baby. Anna died in 1353 without bearing any more children. That same year, Catherine's father married Anna von Schweidnitz, who bore Elisabeth and the son that Charles IV had waited for, Wenceslaus, King of the Romans. Charles became a widower for the third time in 1362, when Catherine was 20 years old, and married the 16-year-old Elizabeth of Pomerania the following year. Among Elizabeth's children were Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund and Anne of Bohemia, who married King Richard II of England.

Marriages

On 13 July 1356, Catherine married Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria. The marriage was a political one arranged by her father to make peace between Austria and the Holy Roman Empire. After nine years of marriage, Rudolph died. Catherine had not borne him any children, so his titles passed to his brother Leopold III, Duke of Austria.

On 19 March 1366, Catherine married a second time to Otto V, Duke of Bavaria, since the childless dukes Otto and Louis VI, Duke of Bavaria, had already promised Catherine's father the succession to Brandenburg in 1364. Otto and Louis had accepted the rule of the Electorate of Brandenburg (originally the Margraviate of Brandenburg) in compensation for renouncing their rights as co-Dukes of Bavaria in 1351. They were promoted to the electoral diginity in 1356.

Charles invaded Brandenburg in 1371, as Otto was neglecting the administration of its territories. Two years later, Otto officially resigned his rule of Brandenburg in return for a huge financial compensation and retired to Bavaria. This was the end of the Wittelsbach rule in Brandenburg. Otto kept the electoral dignity and was accepted as nominal co-regent of Bavaria by Duke Stephen II of Bavaria. Otto then spent his time in Wolfstein castle in Landshut enjoying a life of pleasure and amusements.