Bolko I. (Schweidnitz)

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Sarcophagus Bolko I in the prince chapel of the Grüssau monastery

Bolko I. von Schweidnitz (also Bolko I. von Jauer and Schweidnitz , Boleslaw III. Von Liegnitz , Polish Bolko I Surowy , Czech Boleslav I. Javorsko-Svídnický Surový ; * around 1253, † November 9, 1301 ) was Duke of from 1278 Schweidnitz and Jauer and 1286 Duke of Löwenberg .

Origin and family

Color reconstruction of the high grave Bolkos I von Schweidnitz-Jauer after Theodor Blätterbauer

Bolko came from the Silesian family of the Piasts . His parents were Duke Boleslaw II of Silesia , from 1248 von Liegnitz and Hedwig († 1259), daughter of Count Heinrich von Anhalt . In 1286 Bolko married Beatrix († 1316), a daughter of Margrave Otto V of Brandenburg . Children came from marriage

  1. Boleslaw (* 1285/90, † January 30, 1320)
  2. Judith / Jutta (* 1285/87; † September 15, 1320), ∞ Stephan I. von Niederbayern
  3. Bernhard II († 1326), ∞ Kunigunde († 1333), daughter of the Polish king Władysław I. Ellenlang
  4. Beatrix († 1322), ∞ Ludwig IV. Duke of Upper Bavaria, from 1314 Roman-German King
  5. Heinrich I († 1346), ∞ Agnes, daughter of the Bohemian King Wenceslaus II.
  6. Elisabeth († 1350/56), ∞ Wartislaw IV. Of Pomerania-Wolgast
  7. Margarethe (* before 1300)
  8. Bolko II. Von Münsterberg († 1341), ∞ Jutta, widow after Matthäus Csák IV., Who died while his father, the Trenčín castle lord Matthäus (III.) Csák , was still alive .
  9. Anna († 1332/34), Abbess of the Poor Clare Monastery in Strehlen

Life

Seal of Bolko I as Duke (dated 1298)

After the father's death in 1278, his possessions were divided. The second-born Bolko and his younger brother Bernhard I initially received the Duchy of Jauer together . This was previously assigned to the eldest brother Heinrich V during the father's lifetime in 1274/77 , who, however, received the Duchy of Liegnitz after the father's death . In 1281 Bolko separated the area of Löwenberg from the Duchy of Jauer for Bernhard , which also became the seat of its own duchy. After the death of Bernhard in 1286, Bolko inherited the Duchy of Löwenberg, which he reunited with his Duchy of Jauer. Nevertheless, he continued to use the name Duke von Löwenberg . Later, his brother Heinrich V, who had also been Duke of Wroclaw since 1290, ceded the southern part of the Duchy of Wroclaw along the mountains to him, so that the cities of Münsterberg , Frankenstein , Strehlen , Reichenbach and Schweidnitz belonged to his domain, which later became The principalities of Schweidnitz and Münsterberg corresponded. With the support of the Wroclaw bishops, Bolko campaigned for a further colonization of the mountainous border areas. At the same time, Bohemia also pursued the settlement of its areas bordering Silesia.

After the Bohemian King Wenceslaus II had his inheritance claims to Silesia repeatedly confirmed by the Roman-German King Adolf von Nassau in 1295, Bolko took a hostile attitude towards Wenceslaus. Bolko feared an invasion of the Bohemian king and therefore occupied the pass of Landeshut . Since he did not feel strong enough to defend himself, he placed his country under the protection of the Pope in 1296, which Boniface VIII confirmed in a document on February 1, 1296. With the clearing of the border forest from both the Bohemian and Silesian sides, the natural border with Bohemia ceased to exist. Therefore, to secure his land, Bolko laid out castle districts along the border, which should serve the national defense and had the cities fortified with ramparts and moats. Since Vriburg Castle near Freiburg did not meet the requirements of a protective castle, he built Fürstenberg Castle on the higher Fürstenberg , which became the ancestral seat of the Schweidnitz dukes. He added Fürstenberg to his title Duke of Silesia .

After the death of his brother Heinrich V in 1296, Bolko became the guardian of his underage children and thus also regent of the duchies of Breslau, Liegnitz and Brieg . The citizens of Wroclaw, who sought a connection with Prague, initially refused to recognize him, but submitted after the expected support from Bohemia did not materialize.

In addition to the existing Heinrichau and Kamenz Cistercian abbeys , Bolko founded the Grüssau monastery in 1292 as a successor to the Opatowitz Benedictines . In 1295 he founded a Poor Clare monastery in Strehlen .

Bolko died at the age of about 48 and was buried in the Grüssau monastery, of which he had been a generous patron. Under Abbot Benedikt II. Seidel, a mausoleum ( prince chapel ) was built next to the monastery church in 1735–1747 , in which the sarcophagi of Bolko I and his grandson Bolko II and marble sculptures of their wives were placed.

Bolko left behind three underage sons Bernhard , Heinrich and Bolko . Bolko's brother-in-law Hermann von Brandenburg took over the guardianship, which he had administered by his captain Hermann von Barby. King Wenceslaus took over the guardianship of the children of Henry V, who were still underage. This strengthened his influence in Silesia.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ order according to [1] family tree (Polish)
  2. ↑ In the older sources she is often referred to as the daughter of Duke Heinrich III. specified; s. the remarks in the lemma.
  3. ↑ According to the genealogy web link given, she was a daughter of Louis of Savoy, Baron von Vaud.
  4. ↑ Hugo Weczerka (Ed.): Handbook of historical sites. Volume: Silesia (= Kröner's pocket edition. Volume 316). Kröner, Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-520-31601-3 , p. 519f.
personal data
SURNAME Bolko I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bolko I. von Schweidnitz-Jauer; Bolko von Löwenberg; Bolko von Fürstenberg
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Duke of Schweidnitz
DATE OF BIRTH around 1253
DATE OF DEATH November 9, 1301