Casimir III (Kuyavia)

Kasimir von Gniewkowo (Polish Kazimierz III Gniewkowski ; * around 1280 , † after 1347 ) was from 1306 vassal of the crown of Poland , 1306-1309 governor in the Duchy of Pomerania with seat in Tczew and as Casimir III. in the years 1314–1332 and 1343–1347 Duke of Kujawien in Gniewkowo . He was a nephew of the Polish king Władysław I. Ellenlang and like him from the noble family of the Kujaw Piast .

Life

The ducal seal

Casimir was the youngest son of Duke Siemomysław of Kujawien in Inowrocław and Salomea of ​​Pomeranian , daughter of Duke Sambor of Pomeranian in Tczew and Mathilde of Mecklenburg.

At first he was under the tutelage of his mother Salomea and from 1302 he formally carried out the first state business. He actively supported the reunification policy of his uncle Władysław I. Ellenlang, whose feudal man he became from 1306. In recognition of his loyalty he received the governorship of the Duchy of Pomerania, which he lost due to the annexation of 1309 to the Teutonic Order . The Grand Master Siegfried von Feuchtwangen refused to return the duchy to him, despite repeated requests. From 1309 he was in dispute with Bishop Gerward von Leslau together with his older brother Przemysław , which only ended with an agreement in 1311. Due to an inheritance, after the death of his mother Salomea, he received rule over Gniewkowo, whose duke he became in 1314. As a loyal vassal and ally of the Polish king, his name is mentioned in a document from 1325 in which Poland formed an alliance with the Dukes of Pomerania .

In a war of the Teutonic Order against Poland, his duchy got at the center of the action, which he lost completely to the Teutonic Knights in 1332. It is not known what Duke Casimir did in the years after the loss of his duchy or where he stayed. His name only appears in 1339, during the trials against the Teutonic Knights in Warsaw and in 1343 in the Kalisz peace tract , which finally enabled him to return to his native Kujawy.

Duke Casimir died after 1347. The exact date of his death and his place of burial are unknown. His son Władysław succeeded him in the office of the Duke of Kujawy in Gniewkowo.

marriage and family

Casimir was married to a woman of unknown name and had several children with her, two of whom are mentioned by name in the sources:

• Elisabeth (approx. 1315–1353 / 73), married to Stjepan II. Kotromanić from the house of Kotromanić , Ban of Bosnia, mother of the Hungarian Queen Elisabeth of Bosnia , grandmother of St. Hedwig of Anjou ;
• Władysław (approx. 1327–1388), Duke of Kujawia in Gniewkowo, pretender to the throne of the Kingdom of Poland;

Web links

Kasimir III., Duke of Inowraclaw and Gniewkowo on portal: genealogie-mittelalter.de (German)