Wacław of Płock

Wacław von Płock (also Wenzel von Plo (t) zk , Polish Wacław Płocki ; * 1293 ; † 23 May 1336 ) was sovereign Duke of Mazovia in Płock from 1313 and vassal of the Bohemian crown for his duchy from 1329 . Wacław was the son of Bolesław II (1251-1313), Duke of Mazovia from his marriage to the Kunigunde of Bohemia (1265-1321), daughter of King Ottokar II. Přemysl . Wacław came from the noble family of Piasts in his male line .

Life

The ducal seal of Duke Wacław von Płock

The Duchy of Mazovia divided into three sub-duchies (Warsaw-Czersk, Rawa and Płock), political situation in the years 1313-1345, the Duchy of Wacław highlighted in yellow (Polish map)

Wacław was the youngest son of Duke Bolesław II and his wife Kunigunde of Bohemia. His own domain, the Masovian partial duchy of Płock, was only granted to him after his father's death.

During his reign he pursued a policy aimed at a balance between local powers (and for their own protection). His duchy bordered the Teutonic Order to the north and the Kingdom of Poland of King Władysław I. Ellenlang to the south and west . In 1320 he took part in the curia trial against the Teutonic Order in Inowrocław , where he testified against the knightly order in the dispute about Pomerania , which had been conquered by the Teutonic Order with Danzig in 1308 . He concluded several agreements with its neighbors, so the contract in Golub from April 14, 1321 with the country Master of the Teutonic Order in Prussia , Friedrich von Wildenberg, in which he undertook to the country champion, not the German knights enemy troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania free passage granted by his duchy. Despite the treaty, he continued to have good contacts with Lithuanian rulers. As a result, his area was spared by the Lithuanian troops, and he got the hand of Elisabeth, daughter of Grand Duke Gediminas , which temporarily strengthened relations between Mazovia-Płock and Lithuania.

In 1325 Wacław gave up his policy of equilibrium and neutrality. King Władysław I. Ellenlang had his royal Polish troops march into the duchy. The background to the invasion is unknown. In response, on January 2, 1326 in Brodnica , Wacław concluded a defensive alliance directed against the Kingdom of Poland with the dukes (who were his brothers) Trojden I (1284 / 86–1341), Duke of Mazovia in Warsaw - Czersk and Siemowit II ( 1283–1345), Duke of Mazovia in Rawa .

In 1327 war broke out between the Teutonic Order and the Kingdom of Poland, whereupon Duke Wacław sided with the Teutonic Knights, which provoked a renewed invasion of royal Polish troops. With military assistance from the Teutonic Order, Wacław was able to throw back the Polish king's troops, but a counter-offensive against Kujawy , which was part of the Kingdom of Poland , failed.

In 1329 Wacław changed sides and openly spoke out in favor of Poland from King Władysław I. This change of sides took revenge in the same year, when the united Bohemian-German knightly armies invaded his duchy and besieged Plock under the personal leadership of King John of Luxembourg , who, like the Teutonic Order, was in dispute with the King of Poland. Against the background of military inferiority and hardly hoping for relief from King Władysław I, Wacław surrendered and on March 29, 1329 made the vassal oath to the Bohemian king, who claimed to be King of Poland.

In the years after 1329 Wacław increasingly withdrew from active politics and died on May 23, 1336. He was buried in the Cathedral of Płock .

Marriage and offspring

From his marriage to Elisabeth of Lithuania (1302-1364), daughter of Grand Duke Gediminas, whom he married in 1316, he had a son and a daughter:

• Bolesław III. (1322 / 1330–1351), from 1336 Duke of Mazovia in Płock;
• Anna (after 1316–1363), through marriage to Duke Heinrich V the Iron , Duchess of Glogau , Sagan and Steinau ;