Hynce Ptáček of Pirkštejn

Hynce Ptáček of Pirkštejn (1404 – 27 August 1444) was a Czech nobleman, the highest Hofmeister and Münzmeister of the Kingdom of Bohemia and regent of Bohemia's royal cities.

Life
Hynce Ptáček of Pirkštejn came from a side line of the noble z Lipé family. He was the son of Jan Ptáček of Pirkštejn and Jitka of Kunštát. From 1420 he was in possession of Rataje nad Sázavou and he soon rose to the highest court master and mint master of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the acting regent of the royal cities. As a moderate representative of the Hussites he fought in 1434 in the Battle of Lipan on the side of Prague. After Sigismund's death in 1437 he and George of Poděbrady, his protégé and future provincial administrator and King of Bohemia, joined the influential group of nobles who boycotted the election of Sigismund's son-in-law Albert II to King of Bohemia. They tried to elect the Polish king Władysław III as the new king of Bohemia. They then nominated Władysław's brother Casimir IV Jagiello, who was only eleven years old at the time. Casimir was elected by the opposition group, but could not prevail against Albert II. Albert II died in 1439 without male heirs, leaving the throne empty.

In 1440, Hynce Ptáček of Pirkštejn along with other nobles founded the regional Landfrieden alliance, to maintain the peace. As leader of the alliance, Hynce Ptáček of Pirkštejn convened a meeting at Čáslav in 1441, where the alliance decided to take action against the robber baron Jan Kolda of Žampach, who had illegally occupied several possessions in East Bohemia.

Hynce Ptáček of Pirkstein died on 27 August 1444 and was buried in the St. Matthew's Church in Rataje nad Sázavou.

Marriage and issue
Hynce Ptáček of Pirkštejn married Anne of Neuhaus (d. 1452), daughter of Chief Mint Master Ulrich V of Neuhaus. With Anna, he had a daughter, Margaret of Pirkštejn, who married in 1463 Victor, Duke of Münsterberg, the second son of George of Poděbrady.