History

Zbiroh Castle was in the possession of the Luxembourgs from 1333 to 1437. However, a substantial part of this period served as a pledge of the Rosenbergs. Zbiroh fell into the hands of the Luxembourgs in 1333, when 17 years old king and margrave Charles IV. redeemed it after his return from France and Italy. Because of its convenient location on the country road from Prague to Bavaria (later the imperial road Via Carolina) he used it on his diplomatic journeys. He also spent several times in the castle with his first wife Blanche of Valois. In 1336, Charles's father, King of Bohemia John of Luxembourg, pledged the castle to the Rosenberg family to pay off his war debts. The Rosenbergs arranged the promotion of Zbiroh to the town and gave it the coat of arms with the family five-petal rose. At that time Zbiroh went through a turbulent period of the Hussite wars, during which the castle was besieged and bombarded. The castle was returned to the Luxembourgs in 1431 when the pledge was redeemed by Charles's son, Roman Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg. At his invitation to Zbiroh, the legate of Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini, later famous Pope Pius II, stayed here.