Mieszko III.

Mieszko the old ( Polish Mieszko III. Stary ; * 1126 ; † March 13, 1202 in Kalisz ) was 1138–1177 / 79 and 1181 / 82–1202 duke in Greater Poland , and 1173–1177 and 1198–1202 as Mieszko III. Senior Duke of Poland . He came from the Piast dynasty .

Life

Mieszko was born around 1126 as the third son of Duke Bolesław III. Wrymouth of Poland and his second wife Salome von Berg were born and received Greater Poland as a duchy in their father's will . In 1146 he took part in the revolt of the brothers against Władysław II. The expellees and after his exile from Poland established close contacts with the Saxon princes: he took part in the Wenden Crusade in 1147 , where he went with Albrecht the Bear in the southern department . There was a conflict between him and Heinrich the Lion about the Polabenland, as both had claims to it. After the death of his brother Bolesław IV the Curly Haired Man in 1173, he ascended the Cracow throne. He used the titles dux maximus and dux totius Poloniae , among others . In domestic politics, he resorted to very strict tax measures, which aroused the hostility of the Lesser Poland magnates , who chased him out of Cracow in 1177 and appointed his youngest brother, Casimir II the Just , to the senior throne. Simultaneous riot of his own son Odon (Otto) in Greater Poland forced Mieszko to seek asylum and help from the dukes of Pomerania . In 1181 Mieszko succeeded in regaining part of Greater Poland with Gnesen and Kalisz , which became his capital , with the help of Pomeranian troops .

In 1191 Casimir the Just was involved in internal battles in the Rus ; Meanwhile, Mieszko recaptured Krakow and was again senior duke for a short time. In 1194, after the death of his brother Casimir, he again seized the Cracow throne and was again driven out by the Lesser Poland magnates, the majority of whom were supporters of the minor Leszek .

In 1198 Mieszko succeeded in returning to power as guardian of his nephew Leszek. He died on March 13, 1202 in Kalisz and was buried there.

family

Mieszko got married

1. ∞ approx. 1140 Elisabeth of Hungary (1128–1155), the daughter of King Béla II of Hungary from the house of the Árpáden and Helene of Serbia,

He had the following children with her:

• Odon (Otto)
• Stefan
• Ludmilla, she married Friedrich von Bitsch
• Judith of Poland, she married Bernhard III. (Saxony)
• Elisabeth, she married Duke Sobieslav II of Bohemia in her first marriage, and Conrad II, Margrave of Lusatia , in her second marriage

2. ∞ c. 1154 Eudoxia of Kiev , daughter of Isjaslav II of Kiev

The children from this marriage are:

• Boleslaw, Duke of Kujawien, this married a Dobrosława which commonly in Dobrosława of Schlawe is identified
• Anastasia, she married Bogislaw I of Pomerania in 1177
• Wladyslaw III. Thin leg

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Marek Derwich: Saxony and Poland in the 12th century. In: Jochen Luckhardt , Franz Niehoff (Hrsg.): Heinrich the lion and his time. Rule and representation of the Guelphs 1125–1235. Volume 2: Essays. Catalog of the exhibition in Braunschweig 1995. Hirmer, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7774-6900-9 , pp. 136-143.

predecessor	Office	successor
Bolesław IV. The frizzy	Senior Duke of Poland 1173–1177	Casimir II the Just
Leszek I the White	Senior Duke of Poland 1198–1202	Wladyslaw III. Thin leg