Bolko I. (Opole)

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Bolko I of Opole , also Boleslaw (Boleslaus) I of Opole , Polish Bolko I. opolski , Czech Boleslav Opolský , (* around 1254/58; † May 14, 1313 ) was Duke of Opole from 1281 to 1313 . Politically, he was on the side of the Bohemian King Wenceslaus II , whose trust he enjoyed and who appointed him governor of Cracow in 1291 . 1292–1295 he was captain of Lesser Poland and in 1312 Krakow governor of the Bohemian King John of Luxembourg .

Origin and family

High grave of Bolkos II von Falkenberg and his brother Bolko II von Opole in the St. Anne's Chapel in the Opole Franciscan monastery

Bolko came from the Opole branch of the Silesian Piasts . His parents were Wladislaus I von Opole and Euphemia († after 1281), daughter of the Wielkopolska Duke Władysław Odon . Bolko married Gremislawa (or Agnes NN; † 1301) around 1280. The sons came from marriage

  1. Bolko von Falkenberg ,
  2. Bolko II of Opole ,
  3. Albert von Strehlitz .

Life

After the death of Bolko's father Wladislaus I von Opole in 1281, his duchy Opole-Ratibor was divided into four partial duchies and handed over to his four sons:

  • Mieszko I (1252 / 1256-1315) initially received the Duchy of Ratibor with the areas of Teschen and Auschwitz together with the youngest brother Primislaus, who was under Mieszko's tutelage . From the areas of Teschen and Auschwitz, the Duchy of Teschen was founded for him in 1290, of which he was the first ruling duke.
  • Casimir II. (1253 / 1257–1312) received the Duchy of Bytom and from 1286 also called himself Duke of Cosel ;
  • Primislaus (1258–1306) was initially under the tutelage of his eldest brother Mieszko, with whom he initially ruled the Duchy of Ratibor together and from 1290 alone .

The Duchy of Opole, reduced by the above areas, was given to the third-born son Bolko, who chose Opole as his permanent residence. The title Duke of Opole was also used by his three brothers. This should emphasize the togetherness of their areas. One year after taking over the government, Bolko founded the Cistercian monastery in Himmelwitz in 1282 . Other foundings include Lublinitz and Krappitz .

In the dispute of the Duke Henry IV. With the Wroclaw bishop Thomas II. , Who in 1282 again broke out and which is inter alia, the issues of property of 65 villages was that in no sovereign approval diocese land had been created, as well as the payment of the tithe , strove Bolko to settle the dispute. In April 1287 he brought the noble representatives of Duke Heinrich together in Opole for a conversation with the bishop, who had fled to Bolko's brother Mieszko I in Ratibor .

Politically, Bolko and his brothers turned to Bohemia . On January 9, 1289, Bolko's brother Kasimir von Beuthen was the first Silesian duke to accept the Bohemian fiefdom . During the internal Polish battles after the death of Duke Leszek II of Cracow , Bolko led, together with Primislaus / Primko I of Sprottau and Steinau, a Silesian relief army to Cracow , which, however, suffered a heavy defeat on February 26, 1289 by the troops of Bolesław from Płocks and Władysław Ellenlangs suffered. Primislaus / Primko was killed and Bolko was wounded and taken prisoner. On August 8, 1289, Bolko and other Silesian dukes met in Opava with King Wenceslaus, from whom they requested support for their political projects. Wenceslas ceded the previously Bohemian town of Schömberg and some villages to the Schweidnitz Duke Bolko I , who was also present .

On January 17, 1291, King Wenceslas II made an alliance with Bolko and his brother Mieszko in Olomouc . Both committed themselves to assist Wenzel in asserting his rights against everyone and vowed to personally participate in a possible campaign by Wenzel or, if necessary, to send their men. They also promised to open their castles to the king at any time. In the event of conquests, Wenceslaus promised them a reward. As early as the spring of 1291, Bolko and other Upper Silesian dukes participated in the capture of Krakow by the Bohemian troops of Wenceslas, who then installed Bolko as his governor in Krakow.

In August 1292 Bolko, together with his brother Casimir and the dukes Heinrich V von Breslau-Liegnitz and Bolko I von Schweidnitz, belonged to the company of King Wenceslas, who entered Kraków to the cheers of the German citizens and the nobility of Lesser Poland October 1292 in the camp near Sieradz Władysław Ellenlang forced to renounce Kraków and Sandomir . Four days later, Bolko, his brother Casimir, Nikolaus I of Troppau , Duke Bolesław of Mazovia and Przemysław II of Greater Poland and the bishops of Gniezno , Prague and Olomouc testified that Władysław Ellenlang accepted the Bohemian King Wenceslaus II as his liege lord have subjected. Then King Wenceslaus Bolko of Opole appointed governor of Lesser Poland. He held this office until 1295. He was succeeded by Duke Nikolaus I.

In the dispute between Władysław Ellenlangs and his brother-in-law Heinrich III. from Glogau , which ended on March 10, 1296 with a settlement, Heinrich von Glogau, who had gone over to the Bohemian party, and Bolko von Oppeln were each granted half of the land Klobusien ( land on the Warta ). At Pentecost 1297 Bolko took part in the solemn coronation of Wenceslas II in Prague together with other Upper Silesian dukes as well as Heinrich von Glogau and Bolko I von Schweidnitz. In the spring of 1298 he accompanied Wenzel II to Vienna for talks with Albrecht of Austria . After Albrecht was elected Roman-German king , he took part in his campaign against the deposed Adolf von Nassau , who was killed on July 2, 1298 in the battle of Göllheim . In 1300 Bolko and his brother Casimir belonged to the entourage of Wenceslas, who undertook an army campaign against Greater Poland and was then crowned King of Poland in Gniezno .

In 1311 Bolko supported together with the Kraków bishop Johann Muskata the uprising of the German citizenship of Kraków against Duke Władysław Ellenlang, led by the Kraków Vogt Albert . Presumably for this reason, the Bohemian King John of Luxembourg appointed Bolko of Opole as his Krakow governor in 1312. Bolko held this office until the reconquest of Krakow by Władysław Ellenlang. Shortly before his death in 1313, Bolko sold the citizens of Wroclaw to the pedestrian duty in the cities of his duchy.

Bolko / Boleslaus von Opole died after more than 30 years of successful government activity. His body was buried in the St. Anne's Chapel of the Opole Franciscan monastery, which he built. His duchy was divided among his three sons.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ From the sources of the Eastern and Western Warta to their union.
personal data
SURNAME Bolko I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Boleslaus I .; Boleslaw I .; Bolko I. opolski (Polish); Boleslav Opolský (Czech)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Opole (1281-1313); Governor of Cracow (1291, 1312); Governor of Lesser Poland (1292-1295)
DATE OF BIRTH around 1254-1258
DATE OF DEATH May 14, 1313