Prince Boleslav Krzywousty POLAND, III

   Other names for Boleslav were Krywousty, Boleslaus, Boleslaw, Boleslas, "The Wry-Mouthed" and POLAND Duke.

   General Notes:

"The Wry-Mouthed", Duke of POLAND 1102-1138/1139.

BOOKS
Kings and Queens of Europe, Genealogical Chart, Anne Taute and Romilly Squire, Taute 1989: "Boleslaw III Krzywousty, Son of Wladyslaw I Herman and Bona Cechy, Mar =2 (2) Salomea Daughter of Heinrich Berg, Died 1138."

The Story of Civilization, Will Durant, Vol IV, The Age of Faith, Bk IV, The Dark Ages, Ch XXV, The Recovery of Europe, Sec V, Border States, p660: "Boleslav III (1102-1139) divided the kingdom among his four sons; the monarchy was weakened; the aristocracy parceled the land into feudal principalities, and Poland fluctuated between freedomand subjection to Germany or Bohemia..."

The New Columbia Encyclopedia, 1975, p325, Boleslaus III: "Born 1085, Died 1138, Duke of Poland (1102-1138). The Kingdom had been divided by his father, Ladislaus Herman, between Boleslaus and his elderbrother Zbigniew, whose legitimacy was disputed. Zbigniew was supported by the Holy Roman emperor and other powers; however, Boleslaus defeated Zbigniew and reunited the kingdom. He routed (1109) Holy Roman Emperor Henry V at Hundsfeld and warred against Bohemia, Hungary, and Kiev. Having also regained Pomerania, which Mieszko II had lost to Denmark, Bolelaus entrusted the Christianization of its inhabitants to the Bishop of Bamberg. In 1135 at Merseburg he signed a treaty with Holy Roman Emperor Lothair II, by which he received Pomerania and Rugen as fiefs of the empire. Vainly seeking to prevent the disintegration of his kingdom, Boleslaus altered the law of succession of his dynasty. Among his sons, Casimir II was themost notable."
p2143, Piast Dynasty: "...Ladislaus Herman (reigned 1079-1102), and Boleslaus III (reigned 1102-1138). For his four sons Boleslaus III created four hereditary duchies- Silesia, Masovia, Great Poland (with Gniezno and Poznan), and Sandomierz...However Casimir II, who was probably a posthumous child, was left out of Boleslaus's will..."

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1981, Macropaedia, Vol XIV, p639, Poland History of: "Boleslaw III the Wry-Mouthed, 1102-1138. Wladyslaw's younger son, Boleslaw III, again strengthened the position of the Polish monarchy, expelling his elder brothers and his half brother Zbigniew (1107). Two years later he drove back a campaign of the German king Henry V into Silesia. In difficult campaigns, he reconquered all of the Western Pomeranian lands during 1113-1122 and incorporated Eastern Pomerania and Gdansk into Poland. Boleslaw then ordered the final and complete Christianization of Western Pomerania and forced Polish ruleon the land of Lubusz (Lebus), on the Oder, thus restoring the previous boundaries of the empire of Mieszko I. But the German emperor Lothair finally pushed the German frontier to the banks of the Oder and the western shores of the Neisse River. Boleslaw was forced to swear allegiance to Lothair in return for Western Pomerania and the island of Rugen in 1135. Endeavoring to reconcile the separatist demands of the provinces with the needs of national unity, Boleslaw III divided Polandamong his sons, with the result that Poland ceased to be a united state for two centuries..."

Micropaedia, Vol II, p127, Boleslaw the Wry-Mouthed: "Born 20 Aug 1085, Died 28 Oct 1138, Prince of Poland who introduced the senioriate system, bywhich the eldest son received the major part of the royal ingeritance, and who converted the Pomeranians to Christianity.
"Son of Wladyslaw I Herman, ruler of Poland, and Judith of Bohemia, Boleslaw III and his illegitimate elder half brother, Zbigniew, each ruled a Polish province during their father's lifetime. Boleslaw III succeeded to his father's princely title (no Polish ruler assumed the title of King from 1082 to 1296) in 1102 and spent the next several years fighting Zbigniew for control of the country. After repelling an invasion of Silesia (1109) by the German King Henry V, Boleslaw, who had exiled Zbigniew in 1107, recalled him in 1112; soon, however, he accused Zbigniew of treason and blinded him as punishment. Zbigniew died soon thereafter...
"He enacted legislation to secure Pomerania and Silesia for his eldest son and lesser provinces for his younger sons. The senioriate system, a halfway measure between primogeniture and equal distribution among all male heirs, was devised to satisfy the ambitions of all princely heirs; yet it caused dissens- ion and eventually led to the disintegration of the state."

   Marriage Information:

Boleslav married Salomea BERG, daughter of Heinrich BERG. (Salomea BERG died in 1144.)