Bolesław III Wrymouth

Bolesław III Wrymouth. Drawing by Jan Matejko.

Bolesław III Wrymouth (Bolesław III Krzywousty; b. 20 August 1086 – d. 28 October 1138) was Duke of Poland from 1102 until his death.

He was the eldest and only child of Duke Władysław I Herman by his first wife Judith, daughter of Vratislaus II of Bohemia.

Life

Early Years

By 1085 Władysław I Herman's authority in Poland was greatly in part thank to his father-in-law Vratislaus II. In 1086 Władysław was forced to call Prince Mieszko, the only son of Boleslaw II the Bold and then the legitimate heir of Poland. At a price to recognize his authority Wladyslaw Herman entrusted to him probably the Krakow district. Władysław maybe accepted this situation for the absence of hereditary descendant by his own. His first-born son Zbigniew was illegitimate, and, because for this, he wasn't recognized by the Church as his heir.

According to Gallus Anonymus in his Chronica Polonorum, the Duke and his bohemian wife Judith travel to the sanctuary of Saint Giles in the Provence district of Saint-Gilles, with extravagant gifts (including a gold statue with the size of a baby) and pray for the birth of offspring.

On 20 August 1086, the needed and long-waited heir, Boleslaw, was finally born; but three months later, on 25 December, his mother Judith died. Three years later (1089) Władysław remarried with Judith of Swabia, daughter of Emperor Henry III and widow of King Solomon of Hungary. Through these marriage, Boleslaw gained only three or four half-sisters; in consequence, he remain as the only legitimate son and heir.

The birth of Boleslaw change completely the political situation in Poland. Mieszko, the former heir, was now an obstacle to Boleslaw, and this was likely the real cause of the misterious and unexpected death of the prince in 1089. Later in that year, Władysław's illegitimate son Zbigniew was sent to Saxony, were was confined in the convent of Quedlinburg, in order to make him a monk and in consequence, deprived of his rights to succession. With these facts, Władysław eliminate two potential pretenders to the Polish throne and protect the heritage of the minor Boleslaw and undermine the growing opposition against him. The Duke fell under the influence of the Palatine Sieciech, which may be tried his own exaltation to the throne. Also, he was the first guardian of Boleslaw. His power began to wave around 1100 and with the support of the Duchess Judith-Sophia, Sieciech was stripped to all his lands and banished from the country.

Duke of Poland

Władysław I Herman died on 4 June 1102 and was succeeded by Boleslaw, at that time only a sixteen-years-old boy. Zbigniew took the Seniority over the government as High Duke of Poland and rule alone until 1107, when Boleslaw rebelled against him and succesfully expelled him of the country.

Zbigniew sought refuge with the Emperor Henry V, who decided to support him against Boleslaw. In the Battle of Hundsfeld (24 August 1109), the Imperial forces were defeated by the Polish forces led by Boleslaw. Zbigniew took refuge again in the Holy Roman Empire, but in 1112 he returned to Poland, were Boleslaw had him blinded and died shortly after.

Boleslaw defeated the Pomeranians at the Battle of Nakło (1109) and pledged allegiance to emperor Henry in 1110.

In several gruesome attacks Boleslaw III ravaged Pomerania and murdered so many people, that for years later heaps of bones were left still unburied. In an attack during the winter of 1120-1121 he conquered Stettin, the capital city of the Pomeranians and is said to have put 18000 people to death, and to have additionally transported to Poland another 8000 people together with their wives and children. He took control of largely depopulated Pomerania (1119-1123), thus again gaining Polish access to the Baltic Sea for a short time. Boleslaw then tried to Christianize what was left of Pomerania's population after the massacre. He failed to find any willing Polish bishops, who all turned it down, and was able to convince a Spanish bishop, Bernard, who was chased away.

Bernard retired to Bamberg where he saw to it that Otto of Bamberg would take up the mission to the Pomeranians. Otto succeeded in 1124. The local government of the Duke of Pomerania was left in place.

Bolesław also defeated troops of the Emperor Henry V, who came to the aid of Boleslaw's brother Zbigniew of Poland in (1109) at the Battles of Głogów and Psie Pole (the latter is known as the Battle of Hundsfeld). Boleslaw sought to keep his older brother from gaining the throne.

In the years 1113-1119 he had taken control over Pomerania.

Boleslaw ceased his tribute to the emperor upon his death in 1125.

File:Herb Piastów.PNG

White Eagle 1295 used by Przemysł II later referred to as Piast Eagle Coat of Arms.

In 1130 in alliance with the Danish prince Magnus I of Gothenland, Bolesław threatened Rügen. Polish forces delivered by Danish fleet compelled Ranis to recognize his rule over the island, but ultimately failed to accomplish that goal.

In 1135, Boleslaw finally gave his belated oath of allegiance to the new Emperor Lothair II (Lothar von Supplinburg), and paid twelve years past due tribute. The emperor granted Boleslaw parts of Western Pomerania and Rügen as fiefs, however the emperor was not in control of these areas and Bolesław also failed to subdue them.

Boleslaw also campaigned in Hungary 1132– 1135, but to little effect.

Before his death in 1138, Boleslaw Wrymouth published his testament dividing his lands among four of his sons. The "Senioral Principle" established in the testament stated that at all times the eldest member of the dynasty was to have supreme power over the rest and was also to control an indivisible "senioral part": a vast strip of land running north-south down the middle of Poland, with Kraków its chief city. The Senior's prerogatives also included control over Pomerania, a fief of the Holy Roman Empire. The "senioral principle" was soon broken, leading to a period of nearly 200 years of Poland's feudal fragmentation.

Marriages and Issue

By 16 November 1102 Boleslaw married firstly with Zbyslava (b. ca. 1085/90 - d. ca. 1112), daughter of Grand Duke Sviatopolk II of Kiev. They had three children:

1. Władysław II Wygnaniec (b. 1105 - d. Altenburg, 30 May 1159).
2. A son (b. ca. 1108 - d. aft. 1109).
3. A daughter (b. ca. 1111 - d. ?), married in 1124 to Vsevolod Davidovich, Prince of Murom.

Between March and July of 1115, Boleslaw married secondly with Salome (b. bef. 1101 - d. 27 July 1144), daughter of Henry, Count of Berg-Schelklingen. They had thirteen children:

1. Leszek (b. 1115 - d. 26 August bef. 1138).
2. Ryksa (b. 1116/17 - d. aft. 25 December 1155), married firstly ca. 1129/30 to Magnus the Strong, pretender of Sweden and Denmark; secondly bef. 18 May 1136 to Volodar of Polatsk, Prince of Minsk; and thirdly aft. 1143 to King Sverker I of Sweden.
3. A daughter (b. bef. 1119 - d. ?), married in 1131 to Conrad, Count of Plötzkau and Margrave of Nordmark.
4. Sophie (b. 1120/21 - d. 10 October 1136).
5. Casimir (b. 9 August 1122 - d. 19 October 1131).
6. Gertruda (b. 1123/24 - d. 7 May 1160), a nun at Zwiefalten (1139).
7. Bolesław IV the Curly (b. ca. 1125 - d. 3 April 1173).
8. Mieszko III the Old (b. 1126/27 - d. Kalisz, 13 March 1202).
9. Dobronegra Ludgarda (b. 1129 - d. aft. 26 October 1147), married ca. 1142 to Dietrich, Margrave of Niederlausitz.
10. Judith (b. 1130 - d. 8 July 1175), married firstly in 1136 to Ladislaus of Hungary (later King Ladislaus II), who repudiated her bef. 1148; and secondly on 6 January 1148 to Otto I, Margrave of Brandenburg.
11. Henryk (b. 1131 - d. 18 October 1166).
12. Agnes (b. 1137 - d. aft. 1182), married in 1151 to Mstislav II Kyjevský, Prince of Vladimir and Volynia and Grand Prince of Kiev since 1168.
13. Casimir II the Just (b. 1138 - d. 5 May 1194).

See also

• Piast dynasty
• History of Poland (966-1385)

External links

• Map of the feudal dissolution