Mieszko III the Old
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Mieszko III the Old (Polish: Mieszko III Stary; 1121? – March 13, 1202), of the Piast Dynasty, was Duke of Greater Poland, 1138-1202, and High Duke of all Poland, with interruptions, 1173-1202.
Mieszko was the son of Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Poland, and Salome von Berg-Schelklingen, daughter of Duke Henry of Berg (of Wuerttemberg). Mieszko was Bolesław's fifth son, and the ducal couple's fourth.
Mieszko was Duke of Greater Poland, 1138-1202, and Duke of Kraków and High Duke of all Poland, 1173-1177, 1190, 1198/1199, 1202.
Mieszko married:
- ca. 1140, Elizabeth of Hungary, daughter of uknown King of Hungary (it is supposed that her father was Almos or Stephan II or Bela II);
- ca. 1154, Eudoksia of Kiev, daughter of Izjaslav II, Grand Duke of Kyiv (Kievan Rus').
Mieszko's children were:
- Odon of Greater Poland;
- Bolesław of Kujawy;
- Mieszko of Kalisz; and
- Władysław III Spindleshanks
- Wierzchoslawa Ludmilla (before 1153 – 1223), married ca. 1160 to Frederick I, Duke of Lorraine
[edit] Biography
In accordance with the testament of Poland's Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth, Poland was divided into 4-5 hereditary provinces distributed among his sons, with the royal province of Kraków being reserved for the eldest son, who was to be High Duke of all Poland.
One of the provinces, Greater Poland, was granted to Bolesław's third-oldest son, Mieszko (and was subsequently divided among Mieszko's descendants and successors). In 1173 Mieszko was promoted to the throne of Kraków and became High Duke of Poland (Latin: dux maximus, dux totius Poloniae); but he was soon expelled from Kraków by his younger brother, Casimir II, and from Greater Poland by his son. Mieszko III never abdicated his rights or ambitions, and returned to Kraków four times before he died in 1202.
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