Bolesław II of Poland

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Bolesław II the Bold. Drawing by Jan Matejko.

Bolesław II the Bold (Polish: Bolesław Śmiały, also known as Szczodry, "the Generous," and Okrutny, "the Cruel"; 1039-1081) was duke of Poland in 1058-1076, and king of Poland from 1076 to 1079.

1 Biography
2 Footnotes
3 See also

[edit] Biography

[edit] International politics

He inherited the Duchy of Poland after the death of his father, Casimir I<ref>His mother was Dobronega (Marie) of Kiev.</ref>, in 1058, while his brothers became governors of the several provinces, although enjoying a large autonomy. He also lost Pomerania, which regained its independence. The beginning of his reign also coincides with the first appearance of coinage in Poland.

In 1060-1063 in intervened in Hungary to aid Béla I of Hungary and his sons against the Holy Roman Empire. In 1061 Béla, with the support of Polish troops, gained the power in Hungary. He also fought against Vratislaus II of Bohemia, who had gained that throne in the February of the same year, by refusing to pay the annual homage to Bohemia and spurring the Czech nobility to revolt against him. In 1063, Bolesław even besieged the Moravian city of Hradec but, defeated, he was forced to retreat. Relationships with Vratislaus were however settled when the latter married Świętosława, Bolesław's sister.

Also in 1063 Bela died: Bolesław's return in Hungary could not defend the cause of his son Géza against the German troops of Emperor Henry IV, who installed Solomon on the Hungarian throne.

In 1069 Iziaslav I of Kiev and Gertruda (the daughter of Mieszko II of Poland) were overthrown. The military campaign of Bolesław brought them back in power in Kiev. In 1071 Bolesław attacked again Bohemia. As the Polish refused any attempt of arbitrate by Henry IV, the question was settled by an armistice between the two belligerents: however Bolesław, ignoring the treaty, renovated his attack in 1072 and refused to pay the tributes from Silesia to the Holy Roman Empire.

[edit] King of Poland

When Gregory VII, an enemy of the Emperor, became pope in 1073, Bolesław saw in him a natural allied, and started to apply Gregory's reforms in the archbishop of Gniezno and started negotiations to obtain a Royal crown. In 1075 a revolt in Saxony, spurred by Bolesław, forced Henry to retreat from that region (the Emperor crushed the revolt soon later); the Polish seized the occasion to launch an invasion against Henry's vassal, Vratislaus, alongside his Russian ally Vladimir II Monomakh.

Thanks for his support to the Papal cause during the Investiture Controversy, Bolesław gained the royal crown of Poland in 1076, along with recognition of the title. Rulers of Poland had long desired to reign continuously as did their royal neighbors in Hungary, but like their neighbors in Bohemia they were only occasionally granted recognition as king by their nominal liege lord, the Emperor. The latter's humiliation at Canossa in 1077 included also the Imperial recognition of Bolesław's royal title. However, the new power of Bolesław caused a revolt from the Polish magnates, adversaries of a too strong monarchic power.

[edit] Fall

In that year Bolesław's troops helped two pretendants to gain the throne: Ladislas, another son of Béla, in Hungary, and again Iziaslav in Kiev. In 1078, returning from the latter campaign, he conquered Red Ruthenia. As his power commenced to look excessive to his local and foreign opposers, they set up a plot, aiming to replace him with his younger brother Władysław Herman. When Bolesław received news of the plot, he had Stanislaus of Szczepanów (bishop of Kraków and future saint), whom he suspected to be a leader of the conjurers, arrested and executed (April 11 1079).

As a result of his murder of Stanislaus, the nobles and prelates of reign revolted: Bolesław was deposed and forced into exile to Hungary, together with his wife and his son Mieszko. He died there in 1081, being buried in the Benedictine Abbey of Osijek (modern Croatia). He was succeeded in power by his brother Władysław.