Bolko II the Small

Bolko II's tomb effigy.

Bolko II the Small also known of Świdnica (Polish: Bolko II Mały (Świdnicki), German: Bolko II. (Schweidnitz); b. ca. 1312 – 28 July 1368), was the last independent Duke of the Piast dynasty in Silesia. He was Duke of Świdnica from 1326, Duke of Jawor from 1346, Duke of Lusatia from 1364, Duke over half of Brzeg and Oława from 1358, Duke of Siewierz from 1359, and Duke over half of Głogów and Ścinawa from 1361.

He was the oldest son of Bernard, Duke of Świdnica, by his wife Kunigunde, daughter of Władysław I the Elbow-high, Duke of Kuyavia and since 1320 King of Poland. Like his grandfather, King (Elbow-high), Bolko II was of small stature; his nickname, "the Small" (Mały), reflects this and was used in contemporary sources.

Life

Early Years

After the death of his father in 1326, Bolko II succeeded him in all his domains, but together with his younger brother Henry II as co-ruler. Because both princes are still in his teenage years, they were at first aided by their two paternal uncles, Dukes Bolko II of Ziębice and Henry I of Jawor, as well as their mother Kunigunde, who in 1328 remarried with Rudolf I, Duke of Saxe-Wittenberg. Through this union, Bolko II gained a half-brother, Mieszko of Saxe-Wittenberg (b. ca. 1330 - d. 1350).

Attempts to secure the Independence of his Duchy

Since the beginning of his reign, Bolko II's main priority was the safeguard of his independence from his powerful relatives and neighbors, especially King John of Bohemia. The first serious attempt of King John to forced the Duke of Świdnica to submit was already in 1329. After a military and political successfully campaigns, King John forced almost all the Silesian rulers to paid homage to him; however, only two Dukes strongly refused to became his vassals: Bolko II and his uncle, Duke Przemko II of Głogów (husband of Bolko II's paternal aunt Constance). Prince świdnicki not yet felt the armed forces to fight to preserve their position, so decided to go to the Hungarian Charles Robert yard, there to defend the independence of its sovereignty. Then, in the short time he established contacts with the Polish king Wladyslaw Łokietkiem (his grandfather), in August of 1329 to go to Italy to the camp of Louis the Bavarian. Frequent travel Bolek II, in addition to its willingness to safeguard against zakusami Luxembourgs duchy, had also hidden meaning: to bring about peace and the alliance directed against the king and the Czech Wittelsbachami between Wladyslaw Łokietkiem.

In 1338 he was married to Agnes of Austria, daughter of Leopold I.

One of the first issues facing him was how to defend the independence of his small duchy, which gained a separate identity during the fragmentation of Poland,and was not yet controlled by Łokietek, nor by any of its other neighbours, which all looked forward to gaining control of the small Silesian duchies. Among the most aggressive of Bolko's rivals was John I of Bohemia of the House of Luxembourg, who succeeded in gaining control of much of Silesia. In 1329 Bolko tried to form a coalition against John by going to the court of Charles I of Hungary and contacting his grandfather, King Łokietek, and the pretender to the Holy Roman Emperor title, Ludwig Wittelsbach. His efforts proved unsuccessful in deterring John, who allied with the Teutonic Order (which was supposed to distract the Poles) and invaded Silesia again in 1331. Details of Bolko's actions during that war are not known, but John's progress through Silesia was not easy: the siege of Bolko's Niemcza and disputed Głogów took longer than he expected, and his forces were delayed in reaching the agreed meeting place with the Teutonic Orders at Kalisz.

In 1336, Bolko's political goals were set back when his relative Bolko II of Ziębice put himself under John's rule. This submission was in return for lifelong reign over the Kłodzko region, and was influenced by the declaration of the new Polish king, Kazimierz Wielki, who renounced some of his claims to Silesia. Bolko the Small nonetheless continued his course of pursuing alliance with Poland and Hungary against Bohemia. In 1338 he married Princess Agnes of Austria, of the Habsburgs, who were among the chief rivals of the Luxembourgs and had recently won over Austria and Styria. He gained some significant results, among them a trade agreement allowing merchants from his lands access to the Halych region. Eventually, on 1 January 1345, his mediation resulted in the official alliance of Wittelsbachs, Poland and Hungary.

Soon afterwards that year the Polish king imprisoned John's son Charles (the future Holy Roman Emperor). John in turn responded by invading Bolko's lands, and the Polish and Hungarian kings declared war on him. This allowed Bolko to repulse John's now divided forces during the siege of Świdnica, but he lost the fortress in Kamienna Góra (which he recaptured in 1348, using subterfuge and disguising his troops as merchants[1]). The war ended in a draw. John did not live to see the end of it; he died in 1346, pursuing knight's ideals in another war, at the Battle of Crécy. Ludwig died a year later. On 22 November 1348 peace was signed in Namysłów, although Bolko did not take part in those negotiations, eventually signing a different treaty on 16 August.

Bolko attempted to improve his relationship with the House of Luxembourg by a wedding of one of the daughters of his younger brother, Henry II of Świdnica, to the son of Charles. However, the death of Charles' son changed the plans slightly; now it was Charles who would wed Anna. Part of the wedding agreement was that Charles would inherit Bolko's lands in the (likely) case of his heirless death.

In 1346 Bolko received an inheritance of land from his relative Henry I of Jawor, and in the following years, due to the prosperity of his duchy, he bought much land from less prosperous dukes of Silesia. In 1358 he bought the gold mine in Złoty Stok, and half of the duchies of Brześć and Oława from Wacław of Brześć. In 1359 his new ally Charles allowed him to buy territories near the Czech border, including Frydlant. In 1360 he bought Kąty Wrocławskie, and received half of Głogów (and Ścinawa)—towns disputed due to inheritance between him and John. Charles, increasingly sure he would soon gain the property back, was now willing to pass it to his aging father-in-law. Finally, in 1364, Bolko bought the large town and lands near Łużyce, which became one of the most important and prestigious of his possessions.

In 1364 he was one of the monarchs invited to the Congress of Cracow, where he took part in the famous Wierzynek feast along with the host, King Kazimierz Wielki of Poland; King Louis I of Hungary; Valdemar III of Denmark; Pierre Lusignan of Cyprus; and Dukes Otto of Bavaria, Władysław of Opole and Bogusław of Słupsk.[2]

Bolko died in 1368 and was buried in Krzeszowice. He was the last of the independent Silesian dukes from the Piast dynasty[3], the line started by Władysław II the Exile. His lands were held by his wife until 1392; after her death they were incorporated into the lands of Bohemia by Wenceslaus, King of the Romans.

References

• Template:Polish
• Template:Pl icon BOLKO II MAŁY (ŚWIDNICKI) - picture, coat of arms, biography in form of a timeline, and other trivia
• Template:Pl icon Bolesław II Mały

Literature

• Joachim Bahlcke, Schlesien und die Schlesier, Langen-Müller-Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-7844-2781-2
• Grünhagen, H.: Geschichte Schlesiens, Breslau 1878

External links

• Piastowie Śląscy (Piasts of Silesia)