Bolko II of Świdnica

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Bolko of Świdnica, the Small, Polish: Bolko (Bolesław) II Mały (Świdnicki) (1309/1312-28 July 1368) was a duke of Świdnica from 1326, duke of Jawor from 1346, duke of Lusatia from 1364, duke of half of Brzeg and Oława from 1358; duke of Siewierz from 1359; duke of half Głogów and Ścinawa from 1361. He was the last independent duke of the Piast dynasty in Silesia.

[edit] Biography

Bolko II was the oldest son of duke of Świdnica, Bernard of Świdnica, and Kunegunda, daughter of king of Poland, Władysław Łokietek. Like his grandfather, king Łokietek (Elbow-high), he was of small stature and his nickname, the Small, reflects this and was used in contemporary sources.

He became the duke in his teenage years, in 1326, after the death of his father, although at first he was aided by his two uncles: Bolko II of Ziębice and Henry I of Jawor, as well as his mother.

One of the first issues facing him during his reign was how to defend the independence of his small duchy, which gained a separate identity during the fragmentation of Poland, and was not yet controlled by Łokietek, nor by any of its other neighbours, which all looked forward to gaining control of the small Silesian duchies. Among the most aggressive of Bolko's rivals was John I of Bohemia of House of Luxembourg, who succeeded in gaining control of much of Silesia. In 1329 Bolko tried to form a coalition against John, by going to the court of Charles I of Hungary, contacting his grandfather, king Łokietek and pretender to the Holy Roman Emperor title, Ludwig Wittelsbach. His efforts proved unsuccessful in deterring John, who allied with the Teutonic Order (which was supposed to distract the Poles), and invaded Silesia again in 1331. Details of Bolko's actions during that war are not known, but we know that John's progress through Silesia was not easy: the siege of Bolko's Niemcza and disputed Głogów took longer than he expected, and his forces were delayed in reaching the agreed meeting place with the Teutonic Orders at Kalisz.

In 1336, Bolko's political goals were set back when his relative, Bolko II of Ziębice, put himself under John's rule. This submission was in return for life-long reign over the Kłodzko region, and influenced by the declaration of new Polish king, Kazimierz Wielki, who renouced some of his claims to Silesia. Bolko the Small nonetheless continued his course of pursuing alliance with Poland and Hungary against Bohemia. In 1338 he married princess Agnieszka of Habsburgs (who were among the chief archrivals of Luxemburgs, recently winning over Austria and the Styria. He was able to gain some significant results, among them a trade agreement allowing merchants from his lands access to Halych region. Eventually, on 1 January 1345 his mediation resulted in the official alliance of Wittelsbachs, Poland and Hungary.

Soon afterwards that year the Polish king imprisoned John's son, Charles (the future Holy Roman Emperor). John in turn responded by invading Bolko's lands; Polish and Hungarian kings declared war on him. This allowed Bolko to repulse John's now divided forces during the siege of Świdnica, but lost the fortress in Kamienna Góra, recapturing in 1348 (using subterfuge and disguising his troops as merchants[1]). The war ended with a draw; John did not live to see the end of it - he died in 1346, pursuing knight's ideals in another war, at the Battle of Crécy. Ludwig died a year later. On 22 November 1348 peace was signed in Namysłów, although Bolko did not take part in those negotiations, eventually signing a different treaty on 16 August.

Bolko attempted to improve his relation with the house of Luxemburgs by wedding one of the daughters of his younger brother, Henry II of Świdnica, to the son of Charles; however the death of Charles' son changed the plans slightly - now it was Charles who would wed Anna. Part of the wedding agreement was that Charles would inherit Bolko's lands in the (likely) case of his heirless death.

In 1346 he received inheritance from his relative, Henry I of Jawor; the addition of those lands was only the first of several territorial increases that Bolko would succeed in. In the coming years due to prosperity of his duchy he would buy out much land from other, less prosperous dukes of Silesia. In 1358 he bought the gold mine in Złoty Stok, and half of the duchies of Brześć and Oława from Wacław of Brześć. In 1359 his new ally Charles allowed him to buy territories near the Czech border, including Frydlant. In 1360 he bought Kąty Wrocławskie, and received half of Głogów (and Ścinawa) - towns disputed due to inheritance between him and John, now which Charles, increasingly sure he would soon gain it back, was willing to pass to the aging father-in-law, Bolko. Finally in 1364 he bought the large town and lands near Łużyce, which became one of the most important and prestigious of his possesions.

In 1364 he was one of the monarchs invited to the Congress of Cracow, where he dined in the famous Wierzynek feast along the host, king Kazimierz Wielki of Poland, King Louis I of Hungary, Valdemar III of Denmark, Pierre Lusignan of Cyprus and dukes Otto of Bavaria, Władysław of Opole and Bogusław of Słupsk.[2]

He died in 1368 and was buried in Krzeszowice. He was the last of the independent Silesian dukes from the Piast dynasty [3], the line started by Władysław II the Exile. His lands where held by his wife until 1392, after her death they were incorporated into the lands of Bohemia by Wenceslaus, King of the Romans.

[edit] References

This article incorporates text translated from the corresponding Polish Wikipedia article as of 29 September 2006.
(Polish) BOLKO II MAŁY (ŚWIDNICKI) - picture, coat of arms, biography in form of a timeline, and other trivia
(Polish) Bolesław II Mały