In 1301 Kingdom of Poland was at the last stage of the final phase of its feudal fragmentation. The majority of the country was finally united under the rule of one power. These areas were controlled by king Wacław II from Przemyslidzi dynasty, who was both the king of Bohemia and Poland (and whose son - Wacław III - became the king of Hungary in 1301) since 1291, when he was elected to the throne in Cracow by mighty lords, magnates, knighthood and towns folk of Lesser Poland. They supported him and wanted him to be their ruler, because they thought that he might help them in reaching their main goal - uniting the whole country under one rule, with domination of Lesser Poland and capital city in Cracow.
They were not dissapointed.
Soon Lesser Poland ruled by Wacław II subordinated to its control Silesian duchys of Opole, Cieszyn and Racibórz ruled by dukes from Piast dynasty. Later forces of Wacław and lords from Lesser Poland attacked lands of duke Władysław Łokietek and conquered the Land of Sandomir, subordinating also the Land of Sieradz and the Land of Brześć Kujawski - which were ruled by Łokietek - who now became a vassal of Wacław II.
In 1299 Wacław II was finally supported and elected - but not with the same enthusiasm as in 1291 in Lesser Poland, rather because of necessity (it was known that both Wacław II and lords of Lesser Poland had planned to subordinate Greater Poland to their rule with use of strength, if it hadn't have wanted to join voluntarily) - by lords and knighthood of Greater Poland. Elites of Greater Poland dethroned Władysław Łokietek and elected Wacław II. Greater Poland and Pomerelia connected with Lesser Poland and other lands of the freshly reunited Kingdom.
Soon also feudal dukes of Cuiavia asked Wacław II for his protection and submited themselves to his rule. Finally - in 1301 - after the death of duke Bolko I Srogi - Wacław II gained direct control over the lands of Duchys of Wrocław, Legnica and Brześć in Silesia.
In the same year he crowned himself to the king of the Kingdom of Poland. A bit later he also married the only daughter of the previous king - Przemysł II (who was murdered by his political opponets in 1296) - Ryksa. Ryksa - princess from Polish Piast dynasty - was soon crowned to the queen of both the Kingdom of Poland and the Czech Kingdom.
Despite all of these succeses, Wacław II did not manage to completely eliminate and get rid of his political enemies in Poland.
Duke of the Duchy of Głogów - a strong and practically independent duchy in Silesia - Henryk III Głogowski - was his intense enemy and rival in his race to the crown of Poland (duke of Głogów was calling himself "Heir of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and lawful ruler of Silesia, Greater Poland and Pomerelia").
Also Mazovian duke (Bolesław II Mazowiecki) was hostile to him and was practically idependent in his peripherial but large and quite strong state.
There were also two other dukes from Piast dynasty, who were - in fact - not subordinated to his rule. These were duke of Jawor and Świdnica (Bernard Świdnicki) and duke of Bytom (Kazimierz Bytomski). But both of them - unlike duke of Głogów and duke of Mazovia - were keeping friendly relations with the king of Poland and his followers.
There was also one more threat to the rule of Wacław II - it was duke Władysław Łokietek, who - despite being defeated, loosing the majoirty of his lands and becoming a vassal of Wacław II - did not forget about his ambitions of becoming the king of Poland - and did not even think about giving them up.
Map of the Kingdom of Poland in 1301:
Legend:
1 - territories under control of the Kingdom of Poland with its king - Wacław II
2 - Duchy of Głogów ruled by Henryk III Głogowski, who wanted to become the king of Poland and was dangerous rival of Wacław II
3 - Duchy of Jawor and Świdnica ruled by duke Bernard Świdnicki, but in fact his mother together with her brother were ruling there, because Bernard was only 10 years old in 1301
4 - Duchy of Bytom with duke Kazimierz Bytomski
5 - Duchy of Mazovia ruled by duke Bolesław II Mazowiecki
Provinces and regions under control of the Kingdom of Poland and king Wacław II in 1301:
- Greater Poland
- Cuiavia (during the history of Poland it was very often considered as the part of Greater Poland)
- Land of Łęczyca (during the history of Poland it was always considered either the part of Greater Poland or the part of Mazovia)
- Land of Sieradz (during the history of Poland it was always considered either the part of Greater Poland or the part of Land of Sandomir)
- Lesser Poland (consisted of Land of Cracow + Land of Sandomir + Land of Lublin which was sometimes considered as the part of Land of Sandomir)
- Pomerelia with Gdansk
- the majority of Silesia with its capital city - Wrocław (Lands of Wrocław, Legnica, Opole, Racibórz, Cieszyn)
Last edited by Domen123; January 10, 2009 at 07:18 PM.
Denar PRINCES POLONIE of Bolesław I the Brave (circa 1000 AD):
According to different sources the bird visible on the coin is either an eagle in crown or a peacock in crown (but most sources say that it is an eagle):
Emblem of the Kingdom of Poland since 1295 - crowned silver eagle against a red background (red shield):
Banner of the Kingdom of Poland - 1312:
1333 - original majestic stamp of king Casimir III the Great:
Banner of the Kingdom of Poland - 1333 - 1370 (during the times of king Casimir III the Great):
Banner of the Kingdom of Poland - 1386 - 1434:
White eagle sculptured on the tomb of king Wladysław II Jagiełło (died in 1434):
Renaissance white eagle from the medal of king Zygmunt I the Old (1532):
Choose the emblem you like the most and make a nice symbol of the Kingdom of Poland.
Last edited by Domen123; February 27, 2009 at 05:16 PM.
@portvcale 1200
All this pictures show Polish warriors, not just those you circuled! Mazovia and Silesia are Polish provinces (Mazovians and Silesian are Polish - speaking folk), though Mazovia during many years of medieval period grabbed some autonomy from Poland, while Silesia since XIVc was first Bohemian then Hungarian tributary (before XIVc was Polish, the last pro-Polish independent Silesian state survived till late XIVc).
Loricatus is the Latin name used in Chronicles for Polish Heavy Druzhina.
Faction Thread - Kingdom of Poland
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