His parents were
John II "the Iron" and his wife Helen of Lithuania, a niece of King
Jogaila of Poland. Wenceslaus fought together with his father and other Silesian princes on the Polish side against the
Teutonic Knights in the
Hunger War in 1414. Although Wenceslaus and his older brother Nicholas V were probably already adults when their father died in 1424, their mother, Helen of Lithuania, acted as regent until 1428. From 1428 to 1449, she styled herself as
Lady of Pleß; presumably Pleß was her
Wittum. From 1428 to 1437, Wenceslaus and Nicholas V ruled their territory jointly. In 1437, it was divided, with Wenceslaus taking Ratibor and Nicholas taking
Duchy of Krnov,
Bruntál,
Rybnik,
Pleß and
Baborów. In late 1437, a majority of the Bohemian Estates elected
Albert II from the
House of Habsburg as the new King of Bohemia. A minority favoured his eleven-year-old rival
Casimir, the son of King
Jogaila of Poland. In 1438, Poland invaded Silesia and devastated the Duchies of Opole and Ratibor. After this, Duke Wenceslaus of Ratibor, as well as Duke
Wenceslaus I of Zator and his brothers Duke
Przemysław of Toszek and Duke
Jan IV of Oświęcim, were willing to accept Casimir as King, under certain conditions. Nevertheless, all Silesian Dukes paid homage to Albert II in
Wrocław in November 1438. After Nicholas V died in 1452, Wenceslaus took up the guardianship over his underage sons
John IV "the Elder" and
Wenceslaus III, jointly with their step-mother, Barbara Rockenberg, until 1464. From 1452 to 1462, she styled herself
Lady of Pleß; presumably Pleß was her
Wittum. Duke Wenceslaus of Ratibor died in 1456 and was buried in the church of the
Dominican monastery at Ratibor. == Marriage and issue ==