He was the second son of Duke Bolko III of Münsterberg by his wife Euphemia, daughter of Duke Bolesław of Bytom. The death of his older brother Nicholas (on 9 November 1405) made him his father"s heir. Like his father, he didn"t need a regent, since he was an adult at the time.
Like his father and grandfather, he remained a faithful vassal of the House of Luxembourg.
Bolko III died in 1410 and was succeeded by John. Henry II died childless in 1420 and since then John ruled over Münsterberg alone. During the first years of his rule the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War took place.
On 6 January 1420 John was present in the Reichstag of Breslau (Wrocław), where he spent a major disincentive to the Polish sentence in the process against the Teutonic Order.
The previous politics of his predecessors was negligible, so when John assumed the government over his Duchy, he only had the town of Münsterberg. Thanks to this union, John obtain a huge dowry and the needed financial autonomy.
Moreover, despite the hostile politics of King Sigismund, Elizabeth successfully continued with his many Polish contacts, even after his remarriage with the Duke of Münsterberg. The union proved to be childless, so John was the last male representative of Münsterberg branch of the Piast dynasty.
However, for unknown reasons, John broke the ceasefire, and with this he began his participation in the war.
lieutenant"s unknown where John was buried. On the alleged place of the Duke"s death was built a Chapel during 1904–1905 designed by Ludwig Schneider. After his death, and according to the treaty of 1343, the Duchy of Münsterberg was annexed by the Kingdom of Bohemia.
