Casimir of Bytom

Casimir of Bytom (Polish: Kazimierz bytomski; b. 1253/57 - d. 10 March 1312), was a Duke of Opole during 1282-1284 (with his brother as co-ruler) and Duke of Bytom from 1284 until his death.

He was the second son of Władysław, Duke of Opole-Racibórz, by his wife Euphemia, daughter of of Władysław Odonic, Duke of Greater Poland.

Life

Little is known about Casimir's first years of life. By 1264 he was knighted by King Ottokar II of Bohemia and with this began his politic activities with his father.

After the death of his father in 1282, Casimir inherited the Duchy of Opole with his brother Bolko I as co-rulers. The common rule between them lasted until 1284, when they decided to made the formal division of their domains: Casimir took the towns of Bytom (the main city and now capital of his Duchy), Koźle, Toszek, Gliwice and Siewierz.

About the independent rule of Casimir, there are little notices. Certainly at the end of the 1280s he and his brothers Mieszko I and Przemysław supported the Bishop of Wrocław, Thomas II Zaremba in his conflict with Henry IV Probus, the powerful Duke of Wrocław —their other brother Bolko I unexpectedly supported Henry IV—. The causes of the bad relations between Władysław Opolski's sons and the Duke of Wrocław possibly started when Henry IV repudiated his wife Constance (sister of the Opole-Racibórz brothers) and send her back home. The reasons for this repudiation are disputed among the historians, but probably was for the suspected Constance's infertility.

The difficult relations with Henry IV Probus brought a much greater enemy into the Silesian affairs. On 10 January 1289 Casimir was the first Silesian Duke to paid homage to the Bohemian King Wenceslaus II in Prague. The direct arguments who caused that Casimir made this radical step are unclear. In any event, the Dukes of Cieszyn and Racibórz soon followed the example of Casimir and also paid homage to the Bohemian crown (some historians believed that this could be the detonant of the bloody Battle of Siewierz on 26 February of that year).

In subsequent years, Casimir remained as a faithful ally of King Wenceslaus II in his Poland politics, although the close cooperation with the Bohemian Kingdom didn't give him a direct benefit (except his presence during the King's trips to Sieradz in 1292 or the coronation of Wenceslaus II in Prague in 1297).

In 1303 Casimir decided to give his sons separate districts, which further contributed to reduce the already small Duchy of Bytom: Bolesław received Toszek and Władysław obtain Koźle).

The extinction of the Premyslid dynasty after the death of King Wenceslaus III in 1306 caused that the Duke of Bytom stopped his homage to the Bohemian crown. From that moment, Casimir had a significant change in his foreign politics, became more closely associated with the new Duke of Kraków, Władysław I the Elbow-high. The marriage of Casimir's daughter Maria with the Hungarian King Charles Robert in 1306 surely increased the prestige of both Casimir and his Duchy.

In the internal politics Casimir was a strong guardian of the Church, especially with the Order of the Holy Sepulchre installed in Miechów, who received many privileges from him. He was also ordened the built of castles from considerable size in Bytom and surrounding towns, thanks to the revenues obtained from the silver mines in Bytom.

Casimir died on 10 March 1312. It's unknown where he was buried, but is possibly that he could occur in the monastery of Czarnowąsy in Opole, who was generously supported by the Duke.

Marriage and Issue

Between 1275-1278 Casimir married with Helena (d. by 1323), whose origins are unknown. Given by her name and the chose of her children's names, historians believed that she had a Russian or Lithuanian origin; according to the Genealogist Kazimierz Jasiński, she maybe was a daughter of Duke Lev I of Galicia by his wife Constance, daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary. Helena was probably named was after Constance's sister Blessed Jolenta Helena of Poland, wife of Bolesław the Pious, one of the Greater Poland Dukes. However, this theory wasn't count with many supporters. They had six children:

1. Bolesław (b. 1276/78 - d. 17 January 1329).
2. Władysław (b. 1277/83 - d. by 8 September 1352).
3. Maria (b. 1282/84 - d. Temesvár, 15 December 1315), married in 1306 to King Charles I Robert of Hungary.
4. Siemowit (b. 1292 - d. aft. 1 July 1342).
5. George (b. 1300 - d. by 1327).
6. Mieszko (b. ca. 1305 - d. bef. 9 August 1344).