Wenceslaus I of Zator

Wenceslaus I of Zator (Polish: Wacław I Zatorski; c.  1418 – before 29 July 1468), was a Duke of Oświęcim during 1434–1445 (with his brothers as co-rulers) and Duke of Zator from 1445 until his death.

He was the eldest son of Duke Casimir I of Oświęcim by his first wife Anna, daughter of Duke Henry VIII of Żagań.

At the time of his father's death in 1434 Wenceslaus I was already grown enough to assume the government of the Duchy by himself and to take the guardianship of his younger brothers Przemysław and Jan IV.

For unknown reasons he didn't assisted to the Congress of Będzin on 15 October 1434, where, among other things, were defined the frontiers between Lesser Poland and Silesia; which more surprising that there was present his stepmother Margareta.

However, this doesn't mean that the Dukes of Oświęcim avoided contacts with Poland, as already on 6 October 1438 in Toszek they undertook to consider the Polish King Casimir IV as King of Bohemia, though at least two other Silesian Dukes were also candidates for the throne. Thanks to their support to King Casimir IV, Wenceslaus I and his brothers received the land of Zator.

On 9 February 1440, the castellan Dziersław z Rytwian made a military expedition against the Dukes of Oświęcim, which took place probably due for the treaty of Toszek. The surprise of Wenceslaus I and his brothers was so great that the Polish forces managed to take Zator virtually without resistance. The peace was finally signed on 26 October of that year; under the terms of the peace treaty, Zator returned into the hands of the Dukes of Oświęcim, in return for which Dziersław z Rytwian received the Polish town and fortress of Barwałd. The next step was done on 8 January 1441, when Wenceslaus I was compelled to pay homage to the Polish king and a further diminution of his power in the government on behalf of his younger brothers.

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