Why did Charles IV, king of Bohemia, marry again?

Why did Charles IV, king of Bohemia, marry again?

He married four times in total.

ideas:
He wanted to have a son and his wifes were only giving him daughters.
His wifes died during giving birth to a child or because of a disease.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_IV,_Holy_Roman_Emperor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanche_of_Valois
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Bavaria
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_von_Schweidnitz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_of_Pomerania

Edited by younghistorian - 25-May-2015 at 04:58

His first three wives all died at an early age, through illness or in childbirth. His last wife survived him by 15 years.

Each of his first three wives provided him with sons (four in total), but at the time of his third wife dying in childbirth along with the son she was bearing, Charles only had one son alive. There was no reason to suppose this child would be immune from the fate of his brothers, so marrying a fourth time in order to have more sons was a sensible decision. His choice of which bride to have was dictated by politics.

Originally posted by Centrix Vigilis And as an ad hominem...in the original intent of the Latin translation...it also highlighted his obvious fertility success with multiple partners...given the numbers arrived at.

But looking at those numbers highlights the transient nature of life. Of the seven children he had from his first three wives, five died before their father.

And to be honest, for a man who was married to a succession of young, fertile fillies for nearly half a century, to produce only 13 children in all that time is not a very high fertility rate on his part.