Family tree Riny Doyle geboren Marinus van Waard » Boleslaw OF POLAND (± 1225-1279)

Personal data Boleslaw OF POLAND 

• Also known as Boleslaw the Pious.
• He was born about 1225.
• Title: Duke of Greeater Poland
• He died on April 14, 1279 in Kalisz, Poland.
• A child of Wladyslaw Odonic OF POLAND and Hedwig OF POMERANIA

Household of Boleslaw OF POLAND

He is married to Yolanda OF HUNGARY.

They got married in the year 1257.

Child(ren):

1. Elisabeth OF KALISZ  1263-1304 
2. Hedwig OF KALISZ  ± 1266-1339 

• The couple has common ancestors.



Notes about Boleslaw OF POLAND

Boleslaw the Pious (Polish: Boleslaw Pobozny) (1224/27 - 14 April 1279) was a Duke of Greater Poland during 1239-1247 (according to some historians during 1239-1241 sole Duke of Ujscie), Duke of Kalisz during 1247-1249, Duke of Gniezno during 1249-1250, Duke of Gniezno-Kalisz during 1253-1257, Duke of whole Greater Poland and Poznan during 1257-1273, in 1261 ruler over Lad, regent of the Duchies of Masovia, Plock and Czersk during 1262-1264, ruler over Bydgoszcz during 1268-1273, Duke of Inowroclaw during 1271-1273, and Duke of Gniezno-Kalisz since 1273 until his death.

He was the second son of Wladyslaw Odonic, Duke of Greater Poland by his wife Hedwig, who was probably daughter of Duke Mestwin I of Pomerania, or a member of the Premyslid dynasty. His name was very popular in the Piast dynasty, so it's unknown exactly after whom he was named. Very soon Boleslaw received the nickname of "the Pious" (Latin: Pius), given to him during his lifetime by the Chronicle of the Chapter of Poznan.

Certainly the first years of Boleslaw weren't easy, because he had to share the fierce dispute of his father against Wladyslaw III Spindleshanks (his own uncle) for his inheritance. However, is known that Wladyslaw Odonic took care properly for the upbringing of his offspring, evidenced by the fact that Boleslaw, like his older brother Przemysl I, was able to read and write Latin.

Wladyslaw Odonic died on 5 June 1239, and because Boleslaw was a minor at that time, he remained under the custody of his brother Przemysl I. At first the brothers' heritage was small, because only covered the northern Greater Poland, Ujscie and Naklo. In 1241, however, they effectively began to claim the lost lands by their father. By 1243 was recovered most of the Duchies of Poznan and Gniezno, in 1244 Kalisz, in 1247 Santok, and in 1249 Wielun. In 1244 Boleslaw supported his brother in the conflict that broke out between the local nobility and the clergy led by the Bishop of Poznan Bogufal II for the privileges granted by Wladyslaw Odonic in 1237. On 24 April 1245 was knighted by Przemysl I during the solemn Mass in honor of St. Adalbert[disambiguation needed] in Gniezno, celebrated by Archbishop Pelka.

The indivisibility of the Duchy certainly wasn't like Boleslaw and finally in 1247 he managed to persuade his brother to surrender his own Duchy. It was the land compressed between the Prosna and Przemet with the north of Warta River and thence to the Odra River: briefly speaking, this lands were the whole Duchy of Kalisz. This division, though rather injust for Boleslaw, was approved by the Church and after he protested, was threatened with the excommunication. Despite now he had his own district, Boleslaw didn't pursue a foreign policy, who continue under the hands of his brother, a fact revealed during the dispute with Duke Casimir I of Kuyavia for the possession of Ladzka, who was given to him by Henry II the Pious as a dowry of his daughter Constance -Casimir I's second wife-; this decision wasn't recognized by Wladyslaw Odonic's sons, but eventually they reconciled and even signed and an alliance with the Kuyavian Duke, which effectively ended with any attempt to change the ownership of the disputed land.

In 1249 Boleslaw, dissatisfied with the excessive tutelage of his older brother, persuaded him to make a new division of their patrimony. He received the Duchies of Kalisz and Gniezno, with the addition of Wielun, who shortly after returned under the rule of Wladyslaw Odonic's sons. Apparently, the new division was made pacefully, because later in that same year the brothers together gave support to Konrad I of Glogów against his brother Boleslaw II the Bald. However, on 19 May 1250 took place an unexplained event, who was related by the Chronicle of Greater Poland:
Przemysl captured his brother Boleslaw and took all his lands and castles.
The conflict certainly wasn't trivial, since Boleslaw regained its freedom only on 20 April 1253, thanks to the pressures of the powerful Greater Poland clergy. The final reconciliation between the brothers occurred in May of that year at a meeting in Pogorzelica near Giecz, where (thanks to the mediation of the Archbishop of Gniezno, Pelka), Boleslaw could recover his Duchy of Kalisz-Gniezno. Since them the cooperation between the brothers took place without problems, but Boleslaw was still aparted from the foreign politics. On 8 May 1254 Boleslaw took part in the national Congress of Piast princes at Kraków on occasion of the canonization of St. Stanislaus, were was also decided to form a coalition against Swantopolk II, Duke of Pomerania. Among the princes who participated were: his brother Przemysl I, Casimir I of Kuyavia, Siemowit I of Masovia, Wladyslaw of Opole and Boleslaw V the Chaste. In September of that year Boleslaw participated in the expedition against Henry III the White launched by his brother and Konrad I of Glogów.

On 4 June 1257 Przemysl I died, aged only 36. With his brother's death, new horizons opened to Boleslaw. First of all, he became in the undisputed sole rule over the whole Greater Poland. Although the posthumous son of his brother, Przemysl II, was born on 14 October of that year, until he was declared an adult, his guardianship was taken by Boleslaw. The first of Boleslaw's new foreign politics was his marriage in 1258 with Princess Jolenta (Helena), daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary. This union resulted in a permanent bond between Boleslaw and Hungary, who was reflected in the assistance given to them in the conflict with Bohemia after the extinction of the House of Babenberg. For Boleslaw, this alliance cost him a complete devastation of Greater Poland during the winter of 1267-1268 by troops of King Ottokar II of Bohemia during his return from an expedition against the Prussians. One of the stages of this war was also the trip taken by Boleslaw together with Boleslaw V the Chaste and Leszek II the Black in the autumn of 1273 in order to visit Wladyslaw of Opole, an ally of the Premyslid dynasty.

During 1258-1261 Boleslaw was involved in a long and destructive war against Casimir I of Kuyavia and his ally Swantopolk II for the castellanie of Ladzka. To this end, the Greater Poland Duke allied with Wartislaw III, Duke of Pomerania-Demmin, Siemowit I of Masovia, Boleslaw V the Chaste and Roman Danylovich, Prince of Navahradak. The war ended in a full victory and Ladzka returned to Greater Poland. The formal treaty was signed on 29 November 1259; however, Casimir I delayed in fulfilled the provisions of the agreement, which led in 1261 to a new military expedition.

On 23 June 1262 Siemowit I was killed at the hands of the Lithuanian troops and his eldest son Konrad II was taken prisoner. Both Konrad II and his younger brother Boleslaw II are minors at that time; for this reason, Boleslaw became in regent of their domains (Duchies of Masovia, Plock and Czersk) for the next two years, until 1264, when Konrad II obtain his freedom and return to Masovia.

In 1268 Boleslaw interfered again in the Kuyavian affairs. Casimir I's son, Duke Ziemomysl of Inowroclaw, followed a policy of close contacts with the Teutonic Order and Duke Sambor II of Pomerania (who became in his father-in-law). This caused a deep insatisfaction among the local nobility, who called Boleslaw for help. The Greater Poland Duke quickly took Radziejów, Kruszwica and the castle in Bydgoszcz; however, the rapid action did Ziemomysl regain temporary control of this lands.

Despite this success, Ziemomysl continue with his German-Pomeranian politics, who caused a new revolt from his subjects, who called again Boleslaw for help: in 1271 he invaded the Duchy of Inowroclaw and forced Ziemomysl to escape. Boleslaw retain the Duchy until 1273, when he gave it to Ziemomysl's brother Leszek II the Black, except Radziejów and Kruszwica, who remained in Greater Poland.

Since the beginning of his sole rule, Boleslaw established contacts with the Margraviate of Brandenburg, ruled by the House of Ascania; with this, followed the policy of his brother Przemysl I, who even betrothed his eldest daughter Constance with Conrad, son of Margrave John I. Three years after Przemysl I's death (in 1260), Constance and Conrad were formally married. As a dowry, Brandenburg received the castellany of Santok (but without the important main city) with the consent of a wiec reunited in Greater Poland, which took place on 1 July 1260 in Poznan.

However, the expected peace thanks to this marriage was short-lived. In early 1265 Brandenburg occupied the main city of Santok and broke the previous agreement. Thanks to an immediate diplomatic intervention, Boleslaw soon signed a new treaty with Brandenburg, under which Greater Poland burned the fortress build in Drezdenko, and Brandenburg also burned his fortress in Santok. But in 1269 the war with Brandenburg erupted again. They built a fortress in Sulecin, and in response Boleslaw made the same thing in Miedzyrzecz. The invasion to Miedzyrzecz launched by the Margraves of Brandenburg has been successfully repulsed by Boleslaw, who in December 1269 could advanced until Lubusz (in addition, during this expedition were burned several fortresses, included the newly built in Sulecin). Both sides made a new agreement and were restored the fortress in Santok (from Brandenburg) and Drezdenko (from Greater Poland). Unfortunately, the latter was captured by Brandenburg in 1270. For this reason, in the spring of 1271 Boleslaw organized a major military expedition against Santok and Neumark (ravaging this land terribly), but he can't recover the lost domains.

The war with the House of Ascania wasn't limited to the border areas of Greater Poland. By 1272 Boleslaw entered in an alliance with Mestwin II, Duke of Pomerania-Gdansk; one year later (in 1273), he renewed his homage to Brandenburg and promised his help to the Margraviate against all his enemies, except the Duke of Greater Poland. In the same year was launched another expedition against Brandenburg. Although the nominal leadership of the troops was given by Boleslaw to his young nephew Przemysl II, the expedition was actually headed by experimented commanders such as the voivode of Poznan, Przedpelk Lodzia, and the castellan of Kalisz Janek. They successfully reconquered both Drezdenko and Strzelce. The last campaign against Brandenburg during Boleslaw's lifetime took in the summer of 1278, when the Greater Poland troops advanced until Myslibórz and eventually recovered Santok.

Boleslaw continued the policy of Przemysl I and maintain in their positions the nobles appointed by him. Also developed good relations with the Church, but also trying to influence the appointment of the most important religious posts, but not at the cost of major annoyance. His generosity to the clergy, allowed to the Franciscans to established in 1259 to Gniezno. Also, during his rule was started the monastery of Poor Clares in Gniezno, who remained unfinished even at the time of Przemysl II's death.

On 16 August 1264 Boleslaw granted the first written privilege to the Jews of Greater Poland (the Statute of Kalisz). It regulated the judicial authority over the Jewish population, and Jewish credit and trading activity. The comparatively liberal statute served as a basis for Jewish privileges in Poland until 1795.

In 1273, after the victorious expedition against Brandenburg, Przemysl II began to claim his own separated Duchy. Unable to faced the powerful pressure, Boleslaw agreed to this and given his nephew the district of Poznan. To bind Przemysl II with his politics, Boleslaw arranged the marriage of his nephew with Ludgarda, daughter of Henry I the Pilgrim, Duke of Mecklenburg. In addition, Ludgarda was a granddaughter of Duke Barnim I of Pomerania, and thanks to this union the alliance with Western Pomerania was reinforced. Dukes of Greater Poland political path, however, soon spread, as Przemysl II became involved with Henry IV Probus, and Boleslaw, using the imprisonment of Henry IV in 1277, tried to force financial concessions. Boleslaw supported this policy with the marriage of his firstborn daughter Elisabeth with Henry V the Fat, Duke of Legnica.

Boleslaw died on 14 April 1279 in Kalisz and was buried in the Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul in Poznan.

In 1258 Boleslaw married with Jolenta (Helena) (b. 1244 - d. 16/17 June aft. 1304), daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary. They had three daughters:
1.Elisabeth (b. 1261/63 - d. September 1304), married in 1273 to Henry V, Duke of Legnica.
2.Hedwig (b. 1270/75 - d. 10 December 1339), married in January 1293 to Wladyslaw I the Elbow-high, Duke of Kuyavia and since 1320 King of Poland.
3.Anna (b. 1276/78 - d. bef. 1300), a nun in Gniezno.

After his death without male heirs, all the Greater Poland Duchy passed to his only nephew Przemysl II. Crowned King of Poland in 1295 but murdered the next year, with his death the Greater Poland branch of the Piast dynasty became extinct.

Source: Wikipedia

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