Heller - Ludmila von Podiebrad

Ludmila von Podiebrad ruled Liegnitz-Brieg as regent following the death of her husband Friedrich II in 1488, governing on behalf of her sons until they came of age. Her coinage is unusual for the period — female regents issuing coins in their own name in Silesia were rare, and this heller reflects the practical administrative authority she exercised over more than a decade of regency. The Podiebrad family connection, descended from the Hussite king George of Bohemia, gave Ludmila's rule a dynastic legitimacy that was politically necessary in the fractious Silesian ducal environment of the late fifteenth century.