Nicholas II, Duke of Opava

Nicholas II of Opava
Duke of Opava
Seal of the Duke Nicholas II
Born	1288
Died	8 December 1365
Noble family	Opava
Spouse(s)	Anna of Ratibór Hedwig of Oleśnica Jutta of Opole-Falkenberg
Father	Nicholas I, Duke of Opava
Mother	Adelheid of Habsburg

Nicholas II of Opava (also: Nicholas II of Troppau, Nicholas II of Ratibór; Czech: Mikuláš II. Opavský; 1288 – 8 December 1365) was Duke of Opava (German: Troppau) from 1318 to 1365 and Duke of Ratibór from 1337 to 1365 and Burgrave of Kladsko (German: Glatz) from 1350 to 1365 and also chamberlain of the Kingdom of Bohemia.

Nicholas II of Opava was a member of the Opava branch of the Bohemian noble Přemyslovci family. His parents were Duke Nicholas I of Opava, who had held Opava since 1269, and Adelheid of Habsburg, a niece of King Rudolf I. He was a supporter of King John of Luxembourg of Bohemia, who gave him Opava as a fief in 1318 and at the same time raised it to an independent duchy. He moved the ducal residence from Hradec nad Moravicí (German: Grätz) to Opava (German: Troppau). Also in 1318, he married with Anna, the only sister of Duke Leszek of Ratibór. Since Leszek left no offspring, the Duchy of Ratibór reverted to the Bohemian Crown after Leszek death in 1336. King John gave it to his loyal vassal Nicholas II in 1337. With his dual power base in Opava and Ratibór, Nicholas became one of the most powerful princes in the upper Oder area. With the acquisition by Nicholas, Ratibór came under a foreign ruler and due to the personal union, Opava became more oriented towards Silesia. In 1337, the princes of Opole also claimed Ratibór; King John sold them the Moravian town of Prudnik (German: Neustadt) instead. In a document dated 1350, Nicholas II is mentioned as Burgrave of Kłodzko. In 1355 he had to give up Koźle and Gliwice, which had been transferred to Duke Leszek.