Wenceslaus IV (1361–1419)

Holy Roman Emperor 1378–1400 and King of Bohemia 1378–1400 and 1404–19. He succeeded his father Charles IV, but proved an incompetent ruler, and in 1394 the Bohemian nobles rebelled and took him prisoner. In 1400 four German electors formally deposed him from the Imperial throne. However, he managed to recover Bohemia in 1404, and kept control of it until his death.

Wenceslaus IV overtly supported the Pope in Rome, but also secretly negotiated with the secessionist papacy in Avignon. He was the elder brother of Sigismund, who became Holy Roman Emperor in 1411.