page_title: Henryk IV Probus
section_title: Poisoning
hierarchical_section_title: Henryk IV Probus / Death / Poisoning
caption_attribution_description: Henryk IV Probus tomb effigy
context_page_description: Henryk IV Probus was a member of the Silesian branch of the royal Polish Piast dynasty. He was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1266, and from also 1288 High Duke of the Polish Seniorate Province of Kraków until his death in 1290.
context_section_description: About the real cause of Henry IV's death, there are several independent sources: these are the tombs of the Silesian Dukes, the Chronicle of Jan Długosz, and later chroniclers, like the Bohemian Chronicle of Pulkawy and the Chronicle of Ottokar of Styria.
  According to Ottokar of Styria, who seems to be the most accurate in details, Henry IV aspired to the title of the King of Poland, asking the Pope for permission for a coronation. The negotiations were successful, and he sent to Rome 12,000 grzywnas as a present to the Pope. But when the envoy reached Italy it was noted that 400 grzywnas were stolen during the trip, and the Pope, infuriated, cancelled all negotiations with Henry IV. Although the embezzler was able to escape from the papal fury and the justice of the Doge of Venice, it is known that Henry IV wanted to punish him. In order to prevent the imminent revenge of the Duke it was decided to get rid of him: a false lawyer (brother of one of the Duke's doctors) was employed at the court of Wrocław, and slowly poisoned Henry IV. While another doctor, called Guncelin, recognizing the symptoms of poisoning, was able to rescue the Duke from an imminent death, causing severe vomiting and cleansing the body; but the assassin was not discovered, and this time put the poison in the knife used by Henry IV to cut his bread. The poison was finally detected, but it was too late to save the Duke. Henry IV died in the Catholic faith, deciding not to prosecute or punish his killers.
  This is a very long story of the Duke's death and only some elements are confirmed by other sources. Ottokar of Styria told the story in many details in agreement with that provided by the Kronika Zbrasławska. Other sources related that a chaplain named Aleksy, as a deputy of King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia had betrayed Henry IV's interests and tried to give the crown to the "King of Kalisz" Przemysł II. In this story the theft of the envoy to Rome was also mentioned, only the epilogue was a little different: here, the thief was killed by his own servants in the streets of Rome.
caption: Henry IV's tomb effigy in Wrocław. The picture was an attempt to reconstruct the medieval polychrome.
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