Genealogy
(Under construction)
Historical notes on Poland, Genealogical data
AD 810-1223
"Piast" Kings of Poland
For younger generations of ancestors who are descended from this family:
| see page on | Alsace |
|---|
Poland is named after the "Polans", a large Slavic tribe of farmers who inhabited the pole (plains) in Eastern Europe, south of the Baltic Sea. Their most important neighbours were the Germans and the Bohemians in the west, the Tatars and the Hungarians in the south, the Baltic tribes and the Kiev "Russians" in the east. The first ruling Polish dynasty is named after its legendary founder Piast. The history of Poland may be called quite dramatic. Through the ages, there have been times of freedom, peace and prosperity, but also quite a number of times where it was simply wiped off the map and annexed by its more powerful neighbours. The last time Poland lost its independence is still in living memory of all who survived the Second World War, which started when Hitler's Nazi-Germany attacked Poland from the west in 1939. The country was defenseless against modern "Blitzkrieg", and the end came when Stalin's Soviet-Russia attacked from the east. But in 1945, Germany suffered an annihilating defeat and surrendered unconditionally to the Allied Forces, including Russia. Stalin pushed the Polish border far back west to the Oder river, undoing all of Germany's gains over the past ten centuries. Stalin pushed the Russian border to the west as well, annexing the eastern part of Poland which he had conquered early in the war. The new Poland became an unwilling part of Russia's communist power bloc, but the Poles kept clinging on to their Roman Catholic faith, in spite of the "Evil Empire's" suppression. Now, over half a century later, freedom is restored and the country will be "joining the West" again.
There has historically been much agression from the West. About a thousand years before Hitler's attack, the Germans under their King and Emperor Otto I "The Great" of Saxony were moving east across the Elbe River, crushing the local Slavic tribes into subjugation or extinction. They had no intention to stop at the Oder River, and started attacking settlements belonging to Mieczyslas I Piast, Duke of "Great Poland", in the basin of the Warta river, with the towns of Poznan and Gniezno as its centres. Mieczyslas managed to prevent disaster by acknowledging the German Emperor as his overlord, agreeing to pay tribute and give military assistance when necessary. In 963 he also promised that he and his people would become Christians, which led to a great influx of missionaries from Germany and Bohemia. For most "ordinary Poles", who now had no choice but to become Christians, these missionaries were their first contacts with the West. There remained however much resentment against the foreigners and their new ideas, at least until a native Polish clergy had developed.
The first Polish Bishopric was founded in 970 in Poznan, but it was in effect only an outpost of the German Archbishop of Magdeburg. When in 1000 the metropolis of Gniezno was founded for the six Polish bishoprics, it was still under the control of the German Emperor and the Pope. In 1024, Poland got its first "own" Archbishop, making it independent from German domination, at least in Church affairs, now having a direct line to the Pope in Rome, controlled by the King of Poland. When the great conflict broke out between Emperor Heinrich IV and Pope Gregorius VII over who should have the right to appoint bishops, King Boleslaw II "the Bold", allied himself with the Pope, expecting more freedom from German domination. But now he had to implement Gregorius' Church reform policies. Serious opposition arose from the Polish nobility and the clergy, who indeed wanted more freedom, but who wanted first and foremost to get rid of their despotic monarch. They turned for support to King Wratislaw II of Bohemia who was married to King Boleslaw's sister Swatislawa, and Bishop Slanislaw of Poznan even excommunicated the King. Boleslaw reacted to this with extreme violence, and he personally executed the Bishop cruelly for high treason. All-out civil war followed in 1079, which Boleslaw lost. He ended up as an exile in Hungary where he died a few years later. He was succeeded by his brother, the incompetent Wladislaw I Herman, who died in 1102 and was succeeded by Boleslaw III "Wrymouth". Boleslaw III started the disastrous process in which Poland gradually got split up into ever more and ever smaller fiefdoms during the 12th and 13th centuries, by dividing Poland between his sons, who in turn would do the same when their reigns ended. Central authority disappeared, and there was of course no coordinated defense when hordes of Tatars overran Poland three times during the 13th century, leaving the country destroyed and partly depopulated. This presented even more opportunities for Germany and Bohemia to win political control and to send in more German colonisers. The Church was in fact the only effective central organisation and binding force between all Poles, and it was the basis on which an independent Poland could be rebuilt in the 14th century under the very last of the Piast Kings: Wladislaw "the Short" and his son Kazimierz "the Great", who died in 1370.
It is interesting to note that the Roman Catholic Church (and especially its Polish Pope John Paul II) again played a major role in the restoration of a free and independent Poland when the (morally) bankrupt Soviet Union at last started to collapse in the late 1980s, reaffirming Poland's centuries old spiritual orientation towards the West.
For much more historical information visit the site of Helga Jonat Hecht
Child of
Unknown
and Unknown
(See 38, 36 generations back)
Piast of Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,0000000024 %)
* 810 x Rzepka + 861
Piast is said to have been a simple peasant, but he must somehow have become the Polish tribe's leader.
Child of
Piast of Poland (810-861)
and Rzepka (815?-?)
(See 37, 35 generations back)
Ziemovit Piast of Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,0000000047 %)
* 837 x Unknown + 892
Child of
Ziemovit Piast of Poland (837-892)
and Unknown
(See 36, 34 generations back)
Leszek III Piast of Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,0000000095 %)
* 864 x Unknown + 913
Child of
Leszek III Piast of Poland (864-913)
and Unknown
(See 35, 33 generations back)
Zlemomyslaw Piast of Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,000000019 %)
* 895 x Gorka + 964
Children of
Zlemomyslaw Piast of Poland (895-964)
and Gorka (900-?)
(See 34, 32 generations back)
Mieczyslas I Piast, Duke of Great-Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,000000038 %)
* 922 x I. Dabrowska of Bohemia (966) II. Oda of Haldensleben (979?) + 25-5-992
Mieczyslas inherited his father Zlemomyslaw's position in 960. He made himself a vassal of the German Emperor and led his
predominantly pagan people into Christianity, partly under the good influence of his Christian wife Dabrowska, but certainly
also as a desperate measure to pacify the invading Germans who had already wiped out the other Slavic tribes
that used to live to the west of Mieczyslas' lands.
Adelaïde Piast, of Poland
* 950? x I. Michael of Hungary II. Geyza I Árpárpad, King of Hungary (985) + 997
Children of
Mieczyslas I Piast, Duke of Great-Poland (922-992)
and Dabrowska of Bohemia (945-977)
(See 33, 31 generations back)
Boleslaw I "the Brave", Duke of Great-Poland and Bohemia, King of Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,000000076 %)
* 967 x Emnilda of Silesia (987) + 1025
Boleslaw became Duke of "Great-Poland" in 992 after the death of his father. He was able to extend his authority over a much
larger area, from the Baltic to the Carpathian mountains and beyond, and from the Oder to the Vistula and beyond. He gave
the newly conquered lands to the Pope as his feudal overlord, rather than the German Emperor. He won the approval of his new
subjects and kept the peace with his powerful western neighbour Germany. During the Interregnum in neighbouring Bohemia, Boleslaw was Duke of Bohemia as well from 1003 until 1005. The German Emperor and the Pope agreed to the establisment of Polands first Archbishop's see at Gniezno in 1024, where Boleslaw had himself crowned by his new Archbishop as the first Polish King. Unfortunately for Poland, he died soon afterwards.
Swapatoslawa ("Gunhilde") Piast, of Poland
* 967? x I. Erik VII "the Victorious", King of Sweden (980?) II. Sven I Haraldsson "Forkbeard", King of Denmark (992) + 1014
Children of
Boleslaw I "the Brave", Duke of Poland and Bohemia, King of Poland (967-1025)
and Emnilda of Silesia (975-1017)
(See 32, 30 generations back)
Mieczyslas II "the Indolent", King of Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,00000015 %)
* 990? x Richenza of the Bonngau (of Pfalz-Lorraine) + 25-3-1034 (Poznan)
Mieczyslas II became the new King after the death of his father in 1025, but he seems not to have inherited much of
his father's great talents. Poland's foreign enemies had apparently waited for Boleslaw to die, and they attacked from all
sides. Mieczyslas was unable to manage the situation and decided to quit as King, leaving things to the German Emperor or
to whatever the future had in store for Poland. This resulted in many years of chaos and violence, until around 1040 his son
Kazimierz I was finally able to restore law and order.
Bezprzym Piast, of Poland
* 996 + 1032
Children of
Mieczyslas II "the Indolent", King of Poland (990?-1034)
and Richenza of the Bonngau (of Pfalz-Lorraine) (992?-1034)
(See 31, 29 generations back)
Ryksa (Richenza) Piast, of Poland
(2 times our ancestor, blood-relationship .. %)
* ? x Bela I, King of Hungary + ? (after 1052)
For her descendants see the page on ... (under construction)
(Ryksa and Bela were the great-grandparents of Elisabeth Árpád of Hungary, the first wife of Mieczyslas III "the Elder", see below.)
Kazimierz I "the Restorer", King of Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,00000030 %)
* 1016 x Maria Dobrogneva of Kiev + 1058
Since Kazimierz' father Mieczyslas II had lost his crown, The Polish countryside was made unsafe by marauding peasant armies
which plundered the possessions of the nobility and the church, often murdering the owners, and many Poles reverted back to
paganism, especially in the region of Masovia. Kazimierz finally managed to take control around 1040, and he restored Royal
authority with the help of Emperor Heinrich III of Germany.
Gertrud Piast, of Poland
* ? x Ishslav I of Kiev (1043) + 4-1-1108
For the family of her husband see the page on ... (under construction)
Children of
Kazimierz I "the Restorer", King of Poland (1016-1058)
and Maria Dobrogneva of Kiev (1024-1087)
(See 30, 28 generations back)
Boleslaw II "the Bold", King of Poland
* 1042 x Unknown + 1081
Boleslaw became King in 1058 as successor to his father. For his exploits during his short but intense life see above,
"Historical notes". He died in exile at the age of 39.
Swatislawa Piast, of Poland
* ? (between 1041 and 1044) x Wratislaw II, King of Bohemia (1063) + 1-9-1126
Wladislaw I Herman, King of Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,00000061 %)
* 1040 x I. Judith Przemyslide, of Bohemia (1080?) II. Judith of Franconia (1089) + 4-6-1102 (Plotzk)
Wladislaw I Herman succeeded as King after his brother Boleslaw II had died in exile in 1081. Wladislaw was unable
to establish and use his Royal authority to create unity and stability and counter the threats to Polish independence.
Child of
Wladislaw I Herman, King of Poland (1040-1102)
and Judith Przemyslide, of Bohemia (1060?-1086)
(See 29, 27 generations back)
Boleslaw III "Wrymouth", King of Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,0000012 %)
* 20-8-1086 x I. Zbislawa of Kiev (6-11-1103) II. Adelheid of Franconia (1109) III. Salome of Berg-Schalkingen (1115) + 28-10-1138
Boleslaw became King of Poland after the death of his father in 1102. He himself made the disastrous decision to create four hereditary duchies, one for each of his four sons (his eldest from his first marriage, the other three from his third). His fifth son, Kazimierz II "The Just" was born in the year of Boleslaw's death and was therefore not included in the will. In Boleslaw's ill-advised system, the oldest of these Dukes would become King of Poland and ruler over the remaining area of the Kingdom. Boleslaw probably had wanted to distribute his possessions and power as equally and fairly between his descendants, naively expecting that the four branches would quietly wait for their turn at becoming King, and simply hand back the
crown to the oldest member of the next branch when their time was up. In fact, it led to a process of disintegration which lasted almost two hundred years, rendering the country practically defenseless against large-scale threats from the outside world such as political dominance and colonisation by the Germans and ransacking by hordes of Tatars.
Children of
Boleslaw III "Wrymouth", King of Poland (1086-1138)
and Salome of Berg-Schalkingen (1095?-1144)
(See 28, 26 generations back)
1. Ryksa (Richenza) Piast, of Poland
* 12-4-1116 x I. Magnus "The Strong" of Denmark (Ribe 1125) II. Wolodar of Minsk (1135) III. Swerker I, King of Sweden + ? (after 25-12-1155)
2. Pribislawa Piast, of Poland
* ? x Ratibor I of Pomerania (1136) + ?
3. Boleslaw IV "the Curly-haired", Duke of Masovia, King of Poland
* 1125 x Wierchoslawa Rurikide (1137) + 1173
In 1146, Boleslaw succeeded his exiled half-brother King Wladislaw II, the son of Boleslaw III's first wife Zbislawa of Kiev. After his death,
Boleslaw IV was succeeded by his brother Mieczyslas (Mieszko) III, see next.
4. Mieczyslas (Mieszko) III "the Elder", Duke of "Great-Poland", King of Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,0000024 %)
* 1126 x I. Elisabeth Árpád, of Hungary (1140) II. Eudoxie Rurikide (1155) + 13-3-1202 (Kalisch)
Mieczyslas and his first wife Elisabeth were related in the eighth degree through their common second great-grandparents
Mieczyslas II and Richenza of the Bonngau. Mieczyslas III was "King of Poland" twice, first from 1173 until 1177, when he
was replaced by his brother Kazimierz II "The Just", who ruled from 1177 until his death in 1194, after which he was
succeeded again by Mieczyslas who now remained King until his death in 1202, albeit without any real authority.
5. Dobronega Piast, of Poland
* 1128 x Dietrich, Count of Lusatia (1147?) + 1147
6. Henryk Piast, Duke of Sandomierz
* 1130? + 1166
Henryk took part in the Crusades
7. Agnes Piast, of Poland
* 1137 x Metislaw II of Halicz ( 1151) + ? (after 1181)
8. Kazimierz II "The Just", King of Poland
* 1138 x Helena of Nowgorod (1163) + 5-5-1194
Kazimierz was probably born after the death of his father Boleslaw III, and was therefore left out of his will.
He succeeded however in uniting the Duchies of Masovia and Sandomierz under his leadership after the death of his brothers Boleslaw IV and Henryk, and he became Duke of Krakow as well in 1177, and King, replacing his brother Mieczyslas III. In 1180, Kazimierz made the position of King hereditary for his descendants, but after his death, struggles for the succession erupted, and his elder brother Mieczyslas returned as King.
Children of
Mieczyslas (Mieszko) III "the Elder", Duke, King of Poland (1126-1202)
and Elisabeth Árpád, of Hungary (1128-1153?)
(See 27, 25 generations back)
1. Odo Piast, of Poland
* 1145? x Wyszeslawa of Galicia (1184) + 1194
2. Wierchoslava (Ludmilla) Piast, of Poland
(3 times our ancestor, blood-relationship 0,0000048 %)
* 1148? x Frédéric I of Upper-Lorraine (before 1167) + 1223
For her descendants see the page on Alsace
3. Judith Piast, of Poland
* 1150? x Bernhard III, Duke of Sachsen-Anhalt (between 1173-1177) + 1201
4. Elisabeth Piast, of Poland
* 1153? x Sobeslaw II, Duke of Przemysl (1173) + 1209
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