Richeza of Sweden, Queen of Poland

Richeza of Sweden
Coat of arms of the Bielbo Dynasty of Sweden
Duchess consort of Greater Poland
Tenure	1285–1292?
Predecessor	Ludgarda of Mecklenburg
Successor	Margaret of Brandenburg
High Duchess consort of Poland
Tenure	1290–1292?
Predecessor	Matilda of Brandenburg
Successor	Judith of Habsburg
Born	c. 1270
Died	c. 1292 (aged 21–22)
Burial	Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul, Poznań
Spouse	Przemysł II
Issue	Richeza-Elisabeth, Queen of Bohemia and Poland
House	Bjelbo
Father	Valdemar of Sweden
Mother	Sofia of Denmark

Richeza of Sweden (Swedish: Rikissa Valdemarsdotter, Polish: Ryksa szwedzka, Ryksa Waldemarówna; b. between 1265 and 1270 – d. before 1292), was a Swedish princess member of the House of Bjelbo and by marriage Duchess of Greater Poland during 1285-1292 and High Duchess consort of Poland during 1290-1291.

She was a daughter of Valdemar, King of Sweden and Sophia of Denmark, daughter of the King Eric IV.

Her exact date of birth is unknown, but is generally placed as the third daughter and fifth child born of her parents' marriage (at all, they had seven children, two sons and five daughters). She was certainly born before 1273, because by that year she and her sister Katharina were considered for possible marriage with Otto, only son and heir of John, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg. However, the marriage negotiations ended without results.

In 1275, King Valdemar was deposed by his brother Magnus, and a year later his wife Sophia divorced him and returned to Denmark. Apparently, young Richeza and her siblings remained in Sweden probably under the care of their father. Her marriage by proxy with Przemysł II, Duke of Greater Poland, took place in the Swedish city of Nyköping on 11 October 1285. In the same ceremony, Richeza's younger sister Marianne (or Marina), was married to a German nobleman, Count Rudolph II of Diepholz. Richeza's marriage, concluded through the mediation of the House of Ascania, rulers of Brandenburg, was performed without the consent of her father, ex-King Valdemar.

In the proxy marriage the Polish Duke was represented by the notary Tylon, one of his closest subjects. There is no information about when and where the formal marriage took place between Przemysł II and Richeza.

Traditionally, Richeza and Przemysł II's marriage is described as happy. Their only child was born on 1 September 1288 in the city of Poznań: a daughter, named Richeza, who later became in Queen consort of Bohemia and Poland as a wife of Wenceslaus II and after his death, of Rudolph III of Habsburg.