Henry Probus (Latin for the Righteous; Polish: Henryk IV Probus or Prawy; German: Heinrich IV. der Gerechte; c. 1258 – 23 June 1290) was a member of the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. He was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1266, as well as the ruler of the Seniorate Province of Kraków and High Duke of Poland from 1288 until his death in 1290.
Born to Henry III the White and Judith of Masovia, Henry inherited his duchy at a young age following his father’s death. During his minority, he was placed under the guardianship of King Ottokar II of Bohemia, an arrangement that significantly shaped Henry's early political orientation, strengthened his position among the Silesian Piasts and drew him into wider regional power struggles. The Duchy of Silesia was governed by regents comprising Silesian nobles and ecclesiastical figures and upon reaching majority in the early 1270s, Henry assumed direct rule. He sought to reduce the influence of the nobility and the Church in secular governance, aiming to centralise power in the ducal court. However, the dispute with Bishop Thomas II Zaremba, rooted in questions of jurisdiction and property rights, escalated into open confrontation and resulted in Henry's excommunication.
As Duke at Wrocław, Henry became known for his administrative reforms, which precipitated the economic and cultural development of towns under his rule. He granted and confirmed municipal privileges based on Magdeburg Law, encouraged trade, and promoted the settlement of skilled artisans and merchants. He also played a significant role in the broader politics of a fragmented Poland and pursued the long-standing ambition of integrating the Polish duchies into a unified entity. In 1290, following the death of Leszek II the Black of Kraków, Henry assumed the title of High Duke of Poland. His rule was short-lived, as he died later that same year under suspicious circumstances. Childless at his death, he left a testament that redistributed his territories among relatives; notably, Kraków passed to Przemysł II of Greater Poland, an important step toward the eventual reunification of the Kingdom of Poland.
Despite his relatively short life, Henry Probus left a lasting legacy as one of the most capable Silesian Piast rulers. He was remembered for his political ambition, administrative skill, and cultural interests; medieval sources attribute Latin poetry in the Codex Manesse to Henry, reflecting a court influenced by Western European chivalric and intellectual ideals. His death without legitimate heirs ended his direct line, but his reign remains an important chapter in the history of Silesia and the medieval Polish state.
Henry was the only son of Duke Henry III the White of Silesia-Wrocław by his first wife Judith, daughter of Duke Konrad I of Masovia.
A minor upon the early death of his father in 1266, Henry was placed under the guardianship of his paternal uncle, Archbishop Władysław of Salzburg. The Archbishop decided that the constant travels between Wrocław and Salzburg were inappropriate for a child, and, in 1267, sent Henry to Prague to be raised at the court of King Ottokar II of Bohemia. Ottokar, after Władysław's death in 1270, also took over Wrocław.
Shortly after the death of his uncle (who left him as his universal heir), Henry returned to Wrocław, where he found himself under the direct care of one of the closest advisers of his late father, Simon Gallicusa. Henry received a careful education, which may explain his subsequent interest in culture and poetry (there are reasonable suspicions that the Duke had asperger syndrome). The cooperation between Henry and King Ottokar II was exemplary. In 1271, Henry participated in an armed expedition against Hungary, which brought an attack on Wrocław by the Árpád princes and their allies, the Dukes of Greater and Lesser Poland.
In 1273 Henry was formally proclaimed an adult and by himself assumed the government of his Silesian Duchy of Wrocław, which, however, after the split between Opole, Legnica and Głogów only comprised the eastern part of the Lower Silesian lands. He began to follow a policy which was more independent from Bohemia, including in respect to friendly relations with his Upper Silesian cousin Duke Władysław of Opole and also with duke Przemysł II of Greater Poland.
Kidnapping of Henry by Bolesław II the Bald
Henry supported King Ottokar II in his fierce conflict with King Rudolph I of Germany in 1276, giving food and refuge to the Bohemian troops. When Ottokar was placed under the Imperial ban, Duke Bolesław II the Bald of Legnica took the occasion, had his nephew Henry seized at Jelcz and imprisoned him in 1277.
Fortunately for Henry, the reaction to his imprisonment was indignation. Ottokar's Polish allies, Duke Henry III of Głogów and Duke Przemysł II of Greater Poland, attempted to enforce Henry IV's liberation. The Bohemian king, however, only sent febrile appeals and requests for release. Henry's allies were defeated by Duke Bolesław II's son Henry V the Fat in the bloody Battle of Stolec (24 April 1277), where both Dukes Przemysł II and Henry III were captured.
Henry could obtain his freedom only at the end of the year, when he finally decided to capitulate after hearing the defeat of his main ally, King Ottokar II, against the Imperial and Hungarian troops at the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld. Henry was forced to give Bolesław II one-third of his duchy, including the towns of Środa Śląska and Strzegom and forced to pledge Krosno Odrzańskie, which he had obtained from the Dukes of Głogów in 1273–1274, in order to obtain the money for his ransom.
Ottokar II's death and Regency of Bohemia
While Henry himself did not take part in the Battle on the Marchfeld, he had sent reinforcements to King Ottokar II, whose death was a serious blow to the Wrocław duke. After hearing the news of Ottokar's death, Henry went to Prague and attempted to gain the guardianship of the king's son Wenceslaus II, as one of his closest relatives (Henry's paternal grandmother was Anna of Bohemia, a daughter of late King Ottokar I) and ally.
He was, however, not successful due to the actions of King Rudolph I of Germany, who, in his capacity as King of the Romans, had given the regency over Bohemia to the Ascanian margrave Otto V, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel. As compensation, the German king gave Henry IV the Bohemian County of Kladsko as a fief.
Homage to King Rudolph I in 1280
Upon the death of his Bohemian ally, Henry reconciled with King Rudolph I and, in 1280, went to his Austrian court in Vienna, where Henry tried to obtain for himself the Polish royal crown.
Some historians believed that the Duke of Wrocław took the opportunity from his homage to King Rudolph I to present him the possibility of becoming King of Poland. At that time, he also made an alliance with Duke Władysław of Opole, who promised to help Henry with the condition that his daughter (perhaps called Constance), who had recently married Henry, would be crowned with him as Polish queen if he would obtain the royal investiture.