Jan Sokol of Lamberk was born during the reign of
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. His father was Jaroslav III of Knínice, who sometime after 1360 moved to the village of
Březník, and in 1370 likely built a castle there. Jaroslav became burgrave of
Znojmo in 1356 and Hofmeister of
John Henry, Margrave of Moravia in 1368. He later became involved in skirmishes between individual members of the ruling Luxembourg dynasty. The first verified mentions of Jan Sokol come from 1396, when he testified when donating property to his sister-in-law, the widow of Jaroslav of Lamberk. The first reports of his military actions are from 1397. Even before this year, Jan Sokol, together with and , plundered the estates of the
Diocese of Olomouc and
Kroměříž. They were subsequently
excommunicated from the Church by the Bishop of Olomouc, . After the intervention of Margrave
Jobst of Moravia, and promises of not harassing the land again, the new bishop lifted the excommunication in 1403. After the abduction of King
Wenceslaus IV, Jan Sokol's tactics combined with
John of Görlitz's political power contributed to his release. Jan Sokol was named
provincial governor, and counted
Henry III of Rosenberg,
Sigismund of Luxembourg, and
Albert II of Germany among his enemies. Jan Sokol inherited . He is known early in his career to have been in the service of
Prokop of Moravia during the
Moravian Margrave Wars, but he fought for Margrave Jobst when he seized the town of
Laa an der Thaya in 1407, and was part of the defense against
Leopold IV, Duke of Austria. Jan Sokol then entered the service of Leopold in his conflicts against
Ernest, Duke of Austria. By 1409, Jan Sokol was part of the retinue of King Wenceslaus IV. Together with men such as
Jan Žižka,
Matthew the Leader, and
Racek Kobyla, he waged a guerilla campaign against the
Rosenberg family, enemies of Wenceslaus.
Battle of Grunwald In 1410, Jan Sokol assisted the
Polish–Lithuanian coalition against the Teutonic Knights in the
Battle of Grunwald. Together with Stanislav of Dobrá Voda, he commanded the fourth Polish banner of St. George, consisting of about 1,500 horsemen. After the victory of the Poles, he participated in the conquest of further castles and became the administrator of
Radzyń Chełmiński Castle. After the
Peace of Thorn, the castle was returned to the Teutonic Knights.
Death Jan Sokol of Lamberk died on 28 September 1410 after a feast in
Toruń, to which he was invited by Polish King
Władysław II Jagiełło. The cause of death was allegedly improperly prepared fish, but it is speculated that he was intentionally poisoned. ==Legacy==