KING WENCESLAS IV OF LUXEMBOURG'S REGULATION OF RELATIONS WITH GERMAN PRINCE AND IMPERIAL CITIES IN 1379 – 1389

The article highlights the issue of the regulation of relations with German princes and imperial cities by Wenceslas IV Luxemburg in 1379 – 1389. The topicality of the work lies in the lack of coverage and growing public interest in King Wenceslas IV and the key events of the specified period and region. In the Czech historical science of the 20th century, the activities of the king are considered mainly against the background of the Hussite revolutionary movement, and his figure remains in the shadow of the person of Jan Hus. The Holy Roman Empire was a motley conglomerate of cities and territorial possessions over which the power of the monarch only formally existed, where alliances were concluded with the aim of preserving peace and defence of trade relations, reducing levies and pledges. At first, Wenceslaus IV tried to introduce a system of agreements (landfrids) and establish ties with imperial cities at the regional level. The article also examines the issue of papal dual power, which Wenceslas IV decided to discuss at the imperial meeting, and the reasons for its postponement and transfer from Nuremberg to Frankfurt am Main. Due to various circumstances (such as ecclesiastical schism), the king was forced to seek an understanding with the electors and, thus, distance himself from solving the issue of cities. However, the princes themselves did not want to strengthen the central government, and the city treated the monarch's proposals with distrust because of his relations with the electors. Wenceslas IV's efforts were in vain. In 1388, the so-called urban warfare burst out. During the hostilities, the princes defeated the main forces of the Swabian and Rhine unions. The king took advantage of their defeat, and at the imperial meeting in Eger, a decision was made to ban urban associations. In the empire, a universal land freedom was declared, and the growth of social and political influence of cities was stopped for a long time. The collection of "Acts of the German Reichstag", which is one of the most detailed publications of documents on the history of the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, was used as a source.