Bolko V the Hussite

Bolko V the Hussite (Polish: Bolko V Husyta) (ca. 1400 – 29 May 1460) was a Duke of Opole between 1422–1424 (as a co-ruler with his father), ruler over Głogówek and Prudnik since 1424, Duke of Strzelce and Niemodlin from 1450 and ruler over Olesno since 1455.

He was the eldest son of Duke Bolko IV of Opole by his wife Margareta, possibly member of the House of Görz.

At a young age Bolko V was sent to the University of Prague, where he learned of the social and religious views of Jan Hus. Soon after (probably before 1417) he returned to Upper Silesia and ca. 1418 married with Elizabeth (d. aft. 2 September 1452), daughter of Wincenty Granowski (d. ca. 1410) by his wife Elisabeth of Pilica, who had recently become Queen of Poland after her marriage to King Władysław II Jagiełło. The wedding with the King's stepdaughter brought to the Dukes of Opole the immense wealth of the Pilica family and the alliance with the royal court at Wawel Castle.

In 1422 Bolko V was named by his father as co-ruler of the Duchy of Opole, and two years later (1424), thanks to the resignation of both his father and uncle Bernard, he became the independent ruler over Głogówek and Prudnik.

In 1428 Silesia was invaded by Hussite troops. In the capital of his domains, Głogówek, Bolko V decided at first to fight against them. However, almost immediately, the young Duke, at that time in Gliwice, not only decided to admit the Hussites into his city in order to avoid the destruction of his duchy, but also took the occasion to enrich himself with the secularization of the local churches (one of his first decisions was the cancellation of the building of a Kolegiata in Głogówek, which began by orders of Bolko IV). After a solemn oath, Bolko V vowed to support the Hussites, and he sent his army to help them. The cooperation with the Hussites was not just material, but also ideological. One aim of the duke was the policy of a gradual Germanization of Silesia, and the national teachings of Jan Hus fit in with this purpose. Later in that year, Bolko V took over all the goods of the Church in his Duchy.

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