After the death of his father in 1397, the widowed Duchess Katharina moved with her children to
Kożuchów, which together with
Zielona Góra was her
dower. Between 1397 and 1401 Duke
Rupert I of Legnica was in charge of the princes and the duchy. This was a difficult task, as Henryk VIII had left his lands in a difficult financial situation. Rupert I gradually began to pay off Henryk VIII's creditors and improve the general situation of the duchy. The regent gave special aid to the duchy's main towns: Głogów, Krosno Odrzańskie and Szprotawa. When his older brother
Jan I came of age in 1401, he assumed guardianship of his younger brothers and full government of the duchy. In 1403 the brothers received the lands of their uncle,
Henry VI the Elder, on the resignation of his widow, Hedwig of Legnica, who had ruled them as a dower since 1393. The formal division of the duchy took place in 1412: Henryk IX together with his brothers
Henry X Rumpold and
Wenceslaus received the Duchy of
Głogów (which included half of Głogów,
Świebodzin,
Krosno Odrzańskie and
Szprotawa). In 1417 a new partition treaty was signed, this time in the Duchy of Głogów: Henryk IX and Henryk X Rumpold kept Głogów and Szprotawa, but gave their younger brother Wenceslaus the towns of Świebodzin, Krosno Odrzańskie and
Bytnica (these areas were returned to him after Wenceslaus's death in 1431). Henryk IX and Henry X Rumpold ruled together, but the government remained in the hands of Henryk IX. Henry X Rumpold remained in the service of the Kings of Bohemia and Hungary and of the
Emperor Sigismund, on whose orders he fought against the
Hussites and undertook diplomatic missions to
Denmark, where he died in 1423 shortly before marrying a relative of King
Eric. After his brother's death, Henryk IX ruled the duchy alone. He had previously received the towns of Kożuchów and Zielona Góra on the death of his mother in 1420, but this inheritance did not meet with the approval of his older brother Jan I and led to a brief war between the sons of Henry VIII. The conflict was successfully ended by Henryk IX, who was able to keep the towns (the dispute was eventually settled by Elector Rudolf III of Saxony, who left both princes with their lands intact). According to contemporary chronicles, Henryk IX was a mild man of peaceful disposition. In his youth he was proposed as
Bishop of Wroclaw, but he did not accept. During his reign the turbulent
Hussite Wars took place, in which the Duchy of Silesia was involved, but he managed to keep peace in Głogów. In 1416 Henryk IX mediated in a dispute between the sons of
Przemyslaus I Noszak, Duke of Cieszyn. In 1420 the Great Congress of Silesian Princes was held in
Wrocław. The princes paid tribute to the Emperor Sigismund. In 1423, together with his brother Jan I and other Silesian princes, Henryk IX attended the Congress of Pressburg (now
Bratislava), where he discussed the further division of Poland with the
Teutonic Order and the
Lusatian towns. Special emphasis was placed on renouncing the policy of King
Władysław II Jogaila of
Poland, who supported the Hussite rebels. Collaboration with the
House of Luxembourg enabled Henryk IX to obtain parts of the inheritance of his maternal grandfather, Władysław of
Opole, but economic instability and the subservience of the Dukes
Bernard of Niedmolin (Falkenberg) and
Bolko IV of Opole finally convinced the Emperor on 16 September 1435 to confirm the decision in favour of the Dukes of Opole taken at an arbitration in
Prague on 2 July 1417, which obliged Henryk IX to return to the Dukes of Opole the lands taken from him. In the early months of 1425, the Hussite retaliatory expedition to Silesia began to be organised. The reaction of the Silesian rulers varied: some of them let the Hussites pass (such as
Bolko V the Hussite), while others, such as Henryk IX, fought against them The entry of the Hussite troops into the Duchy of Głogów caused great destruction. Henryk IX sought the help of the Polish king, Wladyslaw II Jogaila. In return for the king's protection against the Hussites, he made him his heir, but these efforts did not produce any major results. The next Hussite invasion in 1431 was repelled by Henryk IX. In 1433 he took part in the war against the Hussites with troops from Poland and the Teutonic Order. In the next war against Bohemia in 1438–1439, Henryk IX supported
Albert V of Habsburg and paid homage to him on 3 December 1438. Early the following year, despite having a much smaller army, he managed to repel the Greater Poland troops at the
Odra River crossings. Henryk IX's reputation in Silesia was enormous; in September 1444, for example, he acted as a mediator in the conflict between the dukes of
Oleśnica. Two years later, in 1446, he was able to take control of
Lubin when its rulers, Dukes
Jan I and
Henryk X, pledged the land to him. On 19 April 1458, Henryk IX joined the alliance of Silesian princes and cities against the new
Bohemian king,
George of Poděbrady. However, after the general recognition of the new Bohemian ruler in the following year, he finally paid homage to him in
Świdnica. The formal investiture of King George of the Duchy of
Opole took place on 26 October 1463. However, in the face of strong opposition from both Dukes Henryk IX and
Nicholas I, on 29 April 1464 the king finally decided to compromise and renounced all his claims to Opole in exchange for 14,000 pieces of gold. During his reign, Głogów witnessed important events: on 17 May 1462, King
Casimir IV of Poland and King George of Bohemia met in the city. They agreed that after George's death the Bohemian throne could pass to Casimir IV's son. During this important meeting, the disputes between Poland and the Duchy of Głogów were also discussed. All disputes between them were settled after another congress in
Babimost and
Gościkowo (Paradyż). Despite his fruitful cooperation with the Bohemian king, Henryk IX was
excommunicated by the Pope on 23 December for accepting the nomination of the Polish prince as heir to Bohemia. At the end of his reign, Henryk IX concentrated all his energies on his war against his nephew
Jan II the Mad, in order to restore the Duchy of Żagań to his eldest nephew and Jan II's brother,
Balthasar. At present there is little information about the governmental activities of Henryk IX. However, new laws, decrees, etc. were issued by him in Głogów. Economic problems continued during this period. Henryk died on 11 November 1467 in
Krosno Odrzańskie and was buried in the mission chapel in
Kożuchów. ==Marriage and issue==