The Bohemian Poděbrady family (Czech: Páni z Poděbrad) was a noble family in Bohemia, arising from the Lords of Kunštát. After Boček of Kunštát (d. 1373) had acquired the Lordship of Poděbrady by marriage, he called himself "Boček of Kunštát and Poděbrady". The most prominent member of the family was George of Poděbrady, who was king of Bohemia. His sons were raised to imperial counts and Counts of Glatz. They founded the Silesian branch of the family, the Dukes of Münsterberg (Czech: Knížata z Minsterberka).
History
Among the members of Poděbrady and Münsterberg branches of the family were some of the most important political figures in the Kingdom of Bohemia in the 14th through 17th century. Among their possessions were Poděbrady in central Bohemia and the eastern Bohemian dominions Litice Castle and Hummel and parts of the territory of the former monasteries at Opatovice and Pardubice.
After the death of Hynek Krušina of Lichtenburg, Lord of Glatz in 1454, George of Poděbrady acquired most of the possessions Hynek left behind, under a preliminary contract Hynek had signed shortly before his death. These included the Častolovice inheritance, which included the Lordship of Glatz, which George raised to a county in 1459. In 1456, he bought the Duchy of Münsterberg from Ernest of Opava. This gave him significant influence in Silesia, which would provide the political and economic basis for his descendants. They founded as Dukes of Münsterberg, Oels, Bernstadt and Opava the Silesian branch of the family known in Czech as Paní z Poděbrad a Minsterberka. Even after they lost the Duchy of Münsterberg and sold the County of Glatz in 1501, the Silesian branch of the family continued to call themselves "Duke of Münsterberg" and "Count of Glatz" until the branch died out in 1647.
Henry (Hynek) of Kunštát and Poděbrady (died after 1376), son of Boček I.
Ješek of Kunštát and Podebrady (died after 1393), son of Boček I.
Boček II of Kunštát and Poděbrady (d. 1417) was from 1403 to 1408 Oberstlandschreiber ("chief administrator") of Bohemia. His sons were:
John of Kunštát and Poděbrady and (died between 1407 and 1409), acquired Kost Castle, Mydlovar Castle and the Lordship of Kostomlaty through his marriage to Elizabeth of Wartenberg (Eliska z Vartemberka). After his early death, the Poděbrady branch of the family lost John's possessions.
George of Poděbrady was King of Bohemia. He increased his property with the Lordship of Glatz, which he raised to a county in 1459, as well as the Silesian Duchy of Münsterberg. After George's death in 1471 his possessions were divided by his four sons in 1472. Three of them founded the Silesian branch of the family as Dukes of Münsterberg. They and their male offspring also held the title of Count of Glatz, even though they sold the county itself in 1501.
Genealogy of the Silesian line of the Dukes of Münsterberg (offspring of George of Poděbrady)
Boček IV of Poděbrady (1442–1496) eldest son of George of Poděbrady, the last member of family to use the title of Duke of Poděbrady
Charles II, Duke of Münsterberg-Oels (1545–1617), Duke of Münsterberg and Oels, Count of Glatz, gained the North Moravian Lordship of Šternberk through marriage in 1570; in 1587 he inherited the South Moravian Lordship of Jevišovice
Henry Wenceslaus the Elder, (born: 1575 in Šternberk – died: 1591 in Rome)
Margareta Magdalene (born: 1578 in Šternberk – died: 1578 in Šternberk)
George (born: 1587 in Oleśnica – died: 1587 in Oleśnica)
Charles (born: 1590 in Oleśnica – died: 1590 in Oleśnica)
Ondřej Felcman, Radek Fukala u. a.: Poděbradové. Rod českomoravských pánů, kladských hrabat a sleszkých knížat. Nakladatelství Lidové Noviny 2008, ISBN978-80-7106-949-2
Lydia Baštecká, Ivana Ebelová, 'Náchod', Náchod 2004, ISBN80-7106-674-5, p. 43-58