Verkhuzlava of Novgorod

Werchuslawa of Novgorod ( Russian Верхуслава Всеволодовна , Polish : Wierzchosława Nowogrodzka * 1125, † March 15 at 1162), a princess who was Kievan Rus , a member of the princely family of Rurik , by marriage Princess of Mazovia and Cujavia , and since 1146 Grand Duchess of Poland .

She was the daughter of St. Vsevolod , who was Prince Novgorod and Prince Pskov by marriage to the daughter of Svyatoslav Davydovich , Prince Chernihivs .

Life

Nothing is known about Verkhoslava's early years. She was the only daughter among three children. She had two brothers, Ivan and Vladimir (who in several sources was confused with the husband of Princess Richeza of Poland ). Both died unmarried and apparently childless.

Around 1137 she was married to Bolesław , the son of the Polish prince Bolesław Schiefmund . The marriage was probably initiated by Bolesław's mother, Salome von Berg , who sought a Russian alliance against her stepson, who later became Władysław the displaced . Prince Vsevolod died on February 11, 1138 and Prince Bolesław III. followed him on October 28 of the same year. In his will, he divided his domain between his sons. Prince Bolesław received Mazovia and became Bolesław IV, Prince of Mazovia and Kujawy, while Werchuslawa became the prince's wife.

In 1141 Werchuslawa accompanied her husband to a congress in Łęczyca , which was convened on the initiative of her mother-in-law, the widow princess Salome. In 1146 Werchuslawa became the new Grand Duchess of Poland when her husband banished his older half-brother Władysław II and became the ruler of Cracow and the Grand Duke of Poland .

Verkhuslava probably died in the 1160s because on December 31, 1167, Grand Duke Bolesław IV named his second wife Maria. She was probably buried next to her husband in Płock Cathedral.

Princess Anastasias Gospels

After Verkhuslava's death, her husband gave a silver- bound gospel book called Princess Anastasias gospel book to a Cistercian monastery in memory of her . According to her chronicler Jan Długosz , Anastasia was the Latin or Greek equivalent of her name. He also called Werchuslawa the princess of Halych , who is said to have died in 1158 giving birth to her child. The wedding date 1151 given by the chronicler is incorrect. The gospel book was probably written around 1160.

family

According to almost all known sources, Verkhuzlava had their first child around 1156 after almost twenty years of marriage. This child, a boy, was named after his father and grandfather Bolesław. Before 1160 she had a second child, a girl, the later (1178) wife of Vasilko Jaropolkowitsch , the prince of Shumsk and the later prince Drohiczyns .

Earlier writings indicate that Bolesław IV's second son, Leszek, was born in his second marriage to Maria. However, following the discovery of coins on which Leszek referred to himself as the son of Anastasia, this theory was found to be incorrect.

Prince Bolesław died in 1172 at the age of sixteen. A year later (1173), Grand Duke Bolesław IV died and left the Principality of Mazovia-Kuyavia to his second and only surviving son Leszek at the age of eleven. His next brother, Mieszko the Old , Prince of Greater Poland, succeeded him as liege lord and ruler of Cracow and Gniezno .

literature

• Oswald Balzer , Genealogia Piastów , Volume II, Krakau 2005.
• Marcin Spórna and Piotr Wierzbicki, Słownik władców Polski i pretendentów do tronu polskiego , Cracow 2003.
• Subject: Polska, Skarby kultury , Katowice 2004.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Russia, Rurikids. Cawley, Charles. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy.
2. ^ "Complete Genealogy of the House of Rurik" . Marek, Miroslav. Genealogy.eu.
3. ↑ Borys Paszkiewicz, O matce Lestka Bolesławica i początkach mennictwa mazowieckiego, Przegląd Historyczny, Volume 92 (2001), pages 1-14.