Konrad IV the Elder

Conrad IV arrests his brother Conrad VII.

Despite the fact that he was the oldest son and had a strong possibility of inheriting all of his father's duchy, Konrad IV chose to follow a religious path. He grew rapidly in the church hierarchy. By the end of 1399, he became the cleric of Wrocław. One year later he was elected to the office of canon of Wrocław and provost of Domasław/Domslau, but he failed; however, this did not discourage him, who in 1410 was finally chosen as canon of Wrocław. From 1411 to 1417 he held the office of provost of the chapter. In 1411 Konrad IV concentrated all his efforts to his election as Bishop of Warmia. To this end, he even undertook the long journey to Rome, and although the expedition was unsuccessful, as compensation he received a master's degree and a papal notary. In 1412 he was appointed Canon of Olomouc.

After the resignation in 1417 of the Bishop of Wrocław, Duke Wenceslaus II of Legnica, Pope Martin V appointed Konrad IV on 17 December 1417 as the new Bishop of Wrocław. He was ordained as bishop on 22 January 1418 at the hands of John Tylemann, suffragent of the Kolegiata of St. Nicholas in Otmuchów.

In addition to holding a clerical role, Konrad IV also was interested in politics. In 1402 he joined the new alliance between the Silesian princes. In 1409 he stood with his father at the side of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia at the conclusion of a truce between Poland and the Teutonic Knights. In 1412 Konrad IV acted as mediator in the conflicts between the Dukes of Opole, King Wenceslaus IV and the city of Wrocław. Finally, in 1416 together with his brothers, he joined the alliance with the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Michael Küchmeister von Sternberg, against the Kingdom of Poland.

In 1412, after the death of his father, Konrad IV became Duke of Oleśnica together with his younger brother Konrad V Kantner as co-ruler. In 1416, hoping ascend in his church career, Konrad IV renounced in favor of Konrad V and his other younger brothers the government of almost all the duchy, but maintained the control over the towns of from most areas of the duchy of maintaining control over Kąty (Kanth), Bierutów (Bernstadt), Prudnik and Syców.

His years as a ruler over the Diocese of Wrocław and the Duchy of Nysa-Otmuchów coincided with the turbulent period of the Hussite Wars, which largely determined the politics of the duke-bishop.

At the beginning of 1420 Konrad IV, together with the other Silesian princes, reunited in the Silesian Sejm in Wrocław and paid tribute to Emperor Sigismund. He then went with his sovereign to Prague, where the emperor was crowned King of Bohemia. The duke-bishop's fidelity to the House of Luxembourg was strong, even years later when they lost the German Kingdom and retained only the authority over Silesia. Konrad IV was also involved in organized a crusade against the reign delinquency over the Silesian lands, which ended with the occupation of Broumov.

In 1422, due to his merits, Konrad IV was appointed Governor of Silesia by the emperor and was officially entrusted with organizing the fight against the Hussites.

In January 1423 Konrad IV, along with other Silesian princes, was present during the negotiations from an eventual alliance between the Emperor Sigismund and the Teutonic Order against King Władysław II of Poland. Under the terms of the agreement, in the event of the defeat of the Polish Kingdom territorial acquisitions were guaranteed to the Silesian princes. In the end, the treaty was not honored because King Władysław II, after a meeting with the emperor in Kežmarok, obtained his refusal to participate in the alliance. The bishop followed the example of his sovereign and in April 1424 he went with his brother Konrad V to Kalisz, where they reestablished his relations with Poland.

By 1425 he led a new crusade against the Hussites organized by the Kingdom of Bohemia; however, this also ended in a disaster.

Since 1427 the Hussites engaged in a retaliatory expedition against the lands of Emperor Sigismund's allies; during this trip, they destroyed Lusatia, Złotoryja and Lubań.

In order to neutralize the threat of the Hussites, the Silesian princes and some main cities (like Wrocław and Świdnica) asked the Bishop of Wrocław for mutual aid and offered him the leadership of the coalition. The fear of the cities and princes was demonstrated the following year, when a Hussite army under the command of Prokop the Great entered Silesia. Most of the princes concluded further arrangements with the Hussite leader, who, in return for a high ransom and free passage through their territories, guaranteed them the inviolability of their properties.

Despite the open betrayal by some of the princes, Konrad IV decided to fight, counting with some troops commanded by Duke Jan of Ziębice. The battle was in Stary Wielisław near Nysa on 27 August 1428. The Hussite forces crushed the coalition troops; the Duke of Ziębice was killed in the battle but Konrad IV managed to escape.

After the battle, Prokop the Great's army spent time in the depths of Silesia and started to burn and destroy most of the land of Lower and Upper Silesia, mainly focusing on the goods of the Bishopric of Wrocław (except the areas which belonged to the princes and cities that previously had treaties with them). In order to obtain some protection, the duke-bishop became closer to one of the main Hussite leaders among the Silesian princes, Duke Bolko V of Opole.

In subsequent years, despite the defeat of 1428, Konrad IV tried to continue the war against the Hussites in Silesia, counting with the majority of the Wroclaw nobility.

By 1430 since the Northwestern went another expedition of Hussites, supported by the Polish mercenary Sigismund Korybut. Konrad IV had to accept the loss of two important fortresses in Niemcza and Otmuchów (which were regained five years later only after he bought them from Hussite commanders).

Finally, in 1432 the duke-bishop's personal patrimony, the Duchy of Oleśnica, was seriously damaged: Oleśnica was burned, including the monasteries of Lubiąż and Trzebnica.

In order to secure the possessions of the church, in 1433 Konrad IV decided to renew the Union of Silesian princes (Związek książąt śląskich) on which he stood as his leader again.

In 1437 the Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, Sigismund, died. His death brought Bohemia and Silesia into civil war. The dying emperor designed his son-in-law Albert V of Habsburg as his heir in all his possessions, but part of the electors decided to choose the younger brother of the King of Poland, Casimir. Konrad IV stood at the side of Albert V and in 1438 the decisive battle took place. The Polish army tried to encourage the Silesian princes to recognize the authority of Casimir as King of Bohemia after a quick attack, but the duke-bishop, together with his brother Konrad V persuaded the Polish troops to retreat (which happened, but mainly as a result of the unexpected arrival of the powerful Austrian army).

The relative calm in Silesia lasted less than two years. In 1440 a double election for King of Bohemia again occurred: this time with the posthumous son of Albert V, Władysław, and the King Władysław III of Poland and Hungary. The case was much more embroiled this time, as the two candidates had many supporters (among them, Konrad IV maintained his support for the Habsburg cause and his younger brother Konrad VII the White stood at the side of the Polish king). The subsequent long-term fight ruined all the Silesian lands, moreover after a new expedition of the Hussites in 1444.

The long wars and interference of Konrad IV in political affairs contributed to the bishopric's deep debt (which was at the time of his death 8,500 Hungarian guilders), a difficult situation to leave his successors.

Financial matters, particularly encouraging Pope Eugene IV to condemn the simony in Basel. This was used by the chapter and after knew that Konrad IV collected huge sums of money from the Western and Orthodox churches in the diocese. They decided on 1 August 1444 the formal deposition of the duke-bishop. The official reason was his enormous personal debts and a lack of funds for maintenance of his court. However, Pope Eugene IV refused to approve the decision and with the Bull of 21 July 1445 ordered his reinstatement as bishop.

Final reconciliation between Konrad IV and the chapter occurred only in 1446 and under pressure from the military troops of the duke-bishop. This enabled him to arrange the diocesan statutes, which reformed the life of the Church of Wrocław.

Konrad IV died on the evening of 9 August 1447 in Jelcz and was buried in the Wrocław Cathedral.