Rikissa of Poland

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rikissa of Poland (also Richeza or Ryksa Bolesławówna ) (born April 12, 1116 , † after December 25, 1156) was a Polish princess from the Piast family . She was married three times, during the first and third marriage Queen of Sweden , mother of the Danish King Knut V and mother-in-law of his successor Waldemar I.

First marriage to Prince Magnus of Denmark

Rikissa was the eldest daughter of Bolesław III. Wrymouth with his second wife Salome von Berg . Her father sought an alliance with the Danish King Niels and married her in 1127/28 to the Danish Prince Magnus, who had been elected King of Sweden . Around 1130 she gave birth to her son Knut. However, Magnus could not assert himself against Sverker I and had to leave Sweden in 1130. In 1131 he murdered Knud Lavard , a competitor for the Danish throne. He fell in 1134 in the Battle of Fodevig against Knud Lavard's half-brother Erik Emune , who became King of Denmark after the murder of King Niel in Schleswig .

Second marriage to Volodar Gļebovič

Rikissa returned to Poland as a widow, where her father married her in 1135/36 with Volodar Gļebovič (around 1090 – after 1167), the prince of Minsk and Grodno from the Rurikids , who was in exile in Poland due to disputes over the throne in his homeland stayed. This marriage served to strengthen an alliance between Poland and Minsk against Denmark and the Kievan Rus . Her sons Wladimir (who succeeded his father as prince) and Wasilko as well as the daughter Sophia of Minsk were born from her . In 1145 this marriage was divorced and Rikissa returned with her daughter to Poland, where her brother Władysław II reigned. This divorce was possibly related to the fact that the alliance with the Kievan Rus, whose power was already on the wane with the death of Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh in 1125, no longer seemed necessary.

Third marriage to Sverker I of Sweden

In 1148 Ulvhild Håkonsdatter , the wife of Sverker I, who had driven Rikissa's first husband from Sweden, died. A little later Sverker married Rikissa, possibly to legitimize his claims to the Swedish throne. For Rikissa, this marriage made it possible for her as the Swedish queen to support her son from her first marriage, who had become King of Denmark as Canute V in 1146. Because Knut was after the abdication of Erik III. not the only candidate for the successor, but initially ruled together with his cousin Sven III. But after the joint Wendenkreuzzug , disputes broke out in 1,148. Knut fled to Sweden in 1150 and married his stepsister Helena Sverkersdotter.

In 1154 Rikissa's daughter Sophia was betrothed to Waldemar, the son of Knud Lavard. This had in the year with Sven III. overturned and now supported Knut. Knut and Waldemar were elected kings together. Sven was sent into exile. In 1157 Knut was murdered by his rival Sven, who had returned from exile, but who was defeated by Waldemar in the same year. Waldemar I, who was now sole ruler, married his bride. Among Rikissa's grandchildren from this marriage were two Danish kings, a Swedish and a French queen.

In Sverker's final years, his position as king was weakened. He was murdered for Christmas 1156. Rikissa survived his death but is no longer mentioned in the sources. From her marriage to Sverker she had a son, Burislev Sverkersson . Possibly she was also the mother of Sune Sik, the father of Ingrid Ylva .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ According to Olrik: Richiza , p. 92 she was born in 1106. You would then have to be the daughter of the first wife of Bolesław III. Be crooked mouth.
  2. ↑ Detlev Schwennike: European family tables . Verlag JA Stargardt, Marburg, 1980 New Series, Volume II, Plate 115
personal data
SURNAME Rikissa of Poland
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Richeza; Ryksa Bolesławówna
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish princess from the Piast family
DATE OF BIRTH April 12, 1116
DATE OF DEATH after December 25, 1156