Premislas II of Poland
Encyclopedia
Przemysł II (14 October 1257 – 8 February 1296) was the Duke of Poznań
, Greater Poland
, Kraków
and Pomerelia
, and then King of Poland from 1295 until his death. After a long period of polish High Dukes, and two nominal kings, he was the first to obtain the hereditary title of King, and for Poland the rank of Kingdom.
, daughter of Duke Henry II the Pious
of Silesia
.
Before 1277, he became a duke of Poznań, and after the death of his uncle Boleslaw the Pious in 1279, he became the duke of whole of Greater Poland
. Przemysł held a secret meeting and according to the Treaty of Kępno
(1282), he was co-ruler with Mestwin II, duke of Pomerelia
or Eastern Pomerania
. In 1283 that meeting place, the later Kępno
received from Przemysł city rights under the name of Langenfort/vort. In 1294 Przemysł became the successor at Gdańsk
. In 1287 this alliance had been extended to duke Boguslaw IV of Western Pomerania.
According to the last will of Henry IV Probus, duke of Silesia and high-duke of Poland, he inherited in 1290 the provinces of Kraków and Sandomierz
(both were called Lesser Poland
), but soon ceded them to Wenceslaus II, King of Bohemia. As he was the strongest Polish duke of the time, possessed the royal insignia from Kraków, and had support of the clergy for the unification of Poland, he was crowned king of Poland in 1295 by the archbishop of Gniezno, Jakub Świnka
, and five other bishops.
In 1296, he was kidnapped by men of the electors of Brandenburg, with some help from the Polish noble families of Nałęcz and Zaremba, and murdered on February 8 in Rogoźno
by Jakub Kaszuba. His kingship was short but the revived kingdom survived for the next 500 years.
According to medieval chronicles, he murdered his first wife Ludgarda because she could not bear him children. Ludgarda foresaw his intentions, and beseeched him to spare her life and send her away. He declined and is said to have had her strangled.
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
, Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
and Pomerelia
Pomerelia
Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...
, and then King of Poland from 1295 until his death. After a long period of polish High Dukes, and two nominal kings, he was the first to obtain the hereditary title of King, and for Poland the rank of Kingdom.
Biography
Przemysł was born to Duke Przemysł I of Greater Poland and ElisabethElisabeth of Wrocław
Elisabeth of Wrocław , also known as Elisabeth of Poland, was a daughter of Henry II the Pious and his wife Anna of Bohemia . She was a member of the House of Piast and was Duchess of Greater Poland by her marriage.- Family :Elisabeth was the seventh of ten children born to her parents...
, daughter of Duke Henry II the Pious
Henry II the Pious
Henry II the Pious , of the Silesian line of the Piast dynasty was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław and Duke of Kraków and thus High Duke of all Poland as well as Duke of Southern Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. During 1238–1239 he also served as a regent of two other Piast duchies: Sandomierz...
of Silesia
Duchy of Silesia
The Duchy of Silesia with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Piast dynasty in 1138, it fragmented into various Duchies of Silesia. In 1327 the remaining Duchy of Wrocław as well as most other duchies...
.
Before 1277, he became a duke of Poznań, and after the death of his uncle Boleslaw the Pious in 1279, he became the duke of whole of Greater Poland
Dukes of Greater Poland
The Duchy of Greater Poland was a historical state of Poland, which existed from 1138 until 1320.-History:At the death of Polish duke Boleslaus III the Wrymouth , according to his testament, his country was divided by his will into 4-5 hereditary provinces distributed among his sons, and the royal...
. Przemysł held a secret meeting and according to the Treaty of Kępno
Treaty of Kępno
The Treaty of Kępno was an agreement between the High Duke of Poland and Wielkopolska Przemysł II and the Duke of Pomerania Mestwin II signed on February 15, 1282, which transferred the suzerainty over Gdańsk Pomerania to Przemysł...
(1282), he was co-ruler with Mestwin II, duke of Pomerelia
Pomerelia
Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...
or Eastern Pomerania
Eastern Pomerania
Eastern Pomerania can refer to distinct parts of Pomerania:*the historical region of Farther Pomerania, which was the eastern part of the Duchy, later Province of Pomerania...
. In 1283 that meeting place, the later Kępno
Kepno
Kępno is a town in Poland. It lies on the outskirts of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, as it borders on Silesia and the Łódz Land, at the crossing point of two transport routes: north to south and east to west . As of December 31, 2009 Kępno had a population of 14,760...
received from Przemysł city rights under the name of Langenfort/vort. In 1294 Przemysł became the successor at Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
. In 1287 this alliance had been extended to duke Boguslaw IV of Western Pomerania.
According to the last will of Henry IV Probus, duke of Silesia and high-duke of Poland, he inherited in 1290 the provinces of Kraków and Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
(both were called Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland is one of the historical regions of Poland, with its capital in the city of Kraków. It forms the southeastern corner of the country, and should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only a small, southern part of Lesser Poland...
), but soon ceded them to Wenceslaus II, King of Bohemia. As he was the strongest Polish duke of the time, possessed the royal insignia from Kraków, and had support of the clergy for the unification of Poland, he was crowned king of Poland in 1295 by the archbishop of Gniezno, Jakub Świnka
Jakub Swinka
Jakub Świnka was a Polish Catholic priest, the Archbishop of Gniezno and a notable politician and supporter of the idea of unification of all Polish lands under the rule of Władysław I the Elbow-high. His Coat of Arms was Świnka....
, and five other bishops.
In 1296, he was kidnapped by men of the electors of Brandenburg, with some help from the Polish noble families of Nałęcz and Zaremba, and murdered on February 8 in Rogoźno
Rogozno
Rogoźno is a town in Poland, in Greater Poland Voivodeship, about 40 km north of Poznań. Its population is 11,337 . It is the seat of the administrative district called Gmina Rogoźno....
by Jakub Kaszuba. His kingship was short but the revived kingdom survived for the next 500 years.
According to medieval chronicles, he murdered his first wife Ludgarda because she could not bear him children. Ludgarda foresaw his intentions, and beseeched him to spare her life and send her away. He declined and is said to have had her strangled.
Marriages
- 1273 Ludgarda, daughter of Henry I the Pilgrim, Duke of Mecklenburg; no children
- 1285 Rikissa, daughter of King Valdemar of Sweden; one daughter: Ryksa ElizabethElisabeth Richeza of PolandElisabeth Richenza of Poland was a daughter and the only surviving child of Przemysl II of Poland and his second wife Richenza of Sweden, herself a daughter of Valdemar I of Sweden and Sofia of Denmark.Her name at birth was Richeza; she adopted the name Elisabeth after her first marriage...
(1286–1335), married King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia in 1300, secondly King Rudolph I of BohemiaRudolph I of BohemiaRudolf I of Habsburg was Duke of Austria and Styria from 1298 and King of Bohemia and titular King of Poland from 1306 until his death...
in 1306 - 1293 Margaret of BrandenburgMargaret of BrandenburgMargaret of Brandenburg-Salzwedel was a Polish queen consort as the spouse of king Przemysł II of Poland and later a Saxon duchess consort as spouse of Albert III of Saxe-Ratzeburg...
, daughter of Albert II, Margrave of BrandenburgAlbert II, Margrave of BrandenburgAlbert II, Margrave of Brandenburg was a member of the House of Ascania. He was Margrave of Brandenburg from 1205 until his death in 1220.- Life :...
; no children
Realm of power
- 1277–1296 Duke of PoznańPoznanPoznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
- 1279–1296 Duke of Greater PolandGreater PolandGreater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
- 1290–1291 Duke of KrakówKrakówKraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
(Little PolandLesser PolandLesser Poland is one of the historical regions of Poland, with its capital in the city of Kraków. It forms the southeastern corner of the country, and should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only a small, southern part of Lesser Poland...
) - 1294–1296 Duke of Eastern PomeraniaEastern PomeraniaEastern Pomerania can refer to distinct parts of Pomerania:*the historical region of Farther Pomerania, which was the eastern part of the Duchy, later Province of Pomerania...
- 1295–1296 King of PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Ancestors
See also
- History of Poland (966–1385)
- Dukes of Greater PolandDukes of Greater PolandThe Duchy of Greater Poland was a historical state of Poland, which existed from 1138 until 1320.-History:At the death of Polish duke Boleslaus III the Wrymouth , according to his testament, his country was divided by his will into 4-5 hereditary provinces distributed among his sons, and the royal...
- Jakub ŚwinkaJakub SwinkaJakub Świnka was a Polish Catholic priest, the Archbishop of Gniezno and a notable politician and supporter of the idea of unification of all Polish lands under the rule of Władysław I the Elbow-high. His Coat of Arms was Świnka....
- Royal coronations in PolandRoyal coronations in PolandRoyal coronations in Poland officially began in 1025 and continued until 1764, when the final King of an independent Poland, Stanisław August Poniatowski, was crowned at St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw. Most Polish coronations took place at the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, but crownings also occurred...