Bolesław I the Tall
| Bolesław I the Tall | |
|---|---|
Bolesław's tomb in Lubiąż
|
|
| Spouse(s) |
Zvenislava of Kiev Christina |
| Noble family | House of Piast |
| Father | Władysław II the Exile |
| Mother | Agnes of Babenberg |
| Born | 1126 |
| Died | 8 December 1201 Leśnica |
| Buried | Cistercian monastery in Lubiąż |
Boleslaus I the Tall (Polish: Bolesław I Wysoki) (b. 1127 – d. Leśnica, 7/8 December 1201) was a Duke of Wroclaw from 1163 until his death in 1201.
He was the eldest son of Władysław II the Exile by his wife Agnes of Babenberg, daughter of Margrave Leopold III of Austria and half-sister of King Conrad III of Germany.
Bolesław spent his childhood in the court of his grandfather and namesake, Bolesław III Wrymouth, in Płock. It was not until 1138, after the death of Bolesław III, that he moved with his parents to Kraków, which became the capital of the Seniorate Province, ruled by his father as High Duke and overlord of Poland.
The reign of Władysław II was short and extremely stormy. The conflicts began when the High Duke tried to remove his half-brothers, the Junior Dukes, from his districts. According to the chronicler Wincenty Kadłubek, the confrontation between the siblings was mainly instigated by Władysław II's wife, Agnes of Babenberg, who believed that her husband, as the eldest son, was the rightful sole ruler of the whole country. On the other hand, Salome of Berg-Schelklingen, widow of Bolesław III and Władysław's stepmother, who attempted to form alliances with foreign rulers and took every opportunity to secure the reign of her sons, feared that the Junior Dukes had been relegated from their positions to make way for Władysław's sons, the young Bolesław and his brother Mieszko.
The conflict erupted in 1141, when Salome of Berg, without the knowledge of the High Duke, decided to leave her sons the land of Łęczyca and tried to give her youngest daughter Agnes in marriage to one of the sons of Vsevolod II Olgovich, Grand Prince of Kiev. Władysław was, however, faster and gave the Grand Prince several additional political advantages, as a result of which the marriage of Bolesław with the daughter of Grand Prince Vsevolod, Zvenislava took place in 1142.
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