Mieszko III at Kraków

Who he is

Name

Mieszko III the Old

Title

Senior duke (princeps) and duke of Kraków

Since

1198; back in 1199 after a brief expulsion (usual chronology)

Born

1126 or 1127

Family

Piast; son of Bolesław III; heir Władysław III Spindleshanks

Confidence

medium

See Kraków (Mieszko III).

What it holds

• Wawel castle and the duke's hall at Kraków
• The duke's revenues of the Kraków land: market dues, tolls, the salt of Wieliczka and Bochnia, the mint
• The castle districts of the Kraków land through their castellans (Castellany of Kraków, Castellany of Wojnicz, Sącz country)

How it was acquired

Treaty with Helen of Znojmo, 1198; expelled and restored, 1199 (see Kraków (Mieszko III)).

Allies and rivals

As in Kraków (Mieszko III).

How things stand that morning

In possession of Kraków, a senior duke on sufferance.

Wealth

As in Kraków (Mieszko III).

Military

His Greater Polish retinue; the Kraków levies only as the palatine allows.

Threats

• The Kraków lords
• His age
• Leszek's claim under the 1198 treaty

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. 13 March 1202 (beyond 1200)Dies at Kalisz; the Kraków succession opens.Depends on: Natural death on that date. Stopped by: Play that changes his circumstances.

Places of note

• Wawel: The duke's castle.

Where the sources disagree

• See Kraków (Mieszko III) on the disputed chronology of 1199.

Evidence: As for Kraków (Mieszko III).

On the map: Drawn as a marker at Wawel; his ground is the Kraków (Mieszko III) realm and the castellany records.

Primary sources for Kraków (Mieszko III)

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Chronicle of the Poles, by Master Vincent (Wincenty Kadłubek), Wincenty Kadłubek (about 1190 to 1208). Book 4 is a contemporary's account of the fight for the senior throne of Kraków. Read online
• The annals of the Kraków chapter and the other Polish annals (kept from the 11th century; the Kraków chapter annals continued to 1266). Short dated entries that fix the chronology Kadłubek blurs: the deaths of dukes and bishops, Mieszko the Old's captures of Kraków, Prussian raids on Masovia, church consecrations. Read online
• The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
• The Book of Census of the Roman Church, Cencius Camerarius (Cencio Savelli, later Pope Honorius III) (1192, with later additions). The papal rent roll: every church, monastery, town and kingdom that owed a census to Rome in 1192, diocese by diocese, with the sums, followed by lists of papal lands and castles, the ceremonial Ordo and copies of charters. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online