Władysław Spindleshanks

Who he is

Name

Władysław III Spindleshanks (Władysław Laskonogi)

Title

Duke (dux), son of Mieszko III; guardian of Władysław Odonic and governor of Odon's duchy

Since

1194, after Odon's death on 20 April 1194

Born

about 1161-67 (en.wikipedia infobox: about 1167), so about 33 to 39

Family

Son of Mieszko III and Eudoxia of Kiev; married about 1186 Lucia, daughter of Prince Jaromar I of Rügen; childless. Half-brother of the late Odon; uncle and guardian of Władysław Odonic.

Confidence

medium

en.wikipedia (Władysław III Spindleshanks; Władysław Odonic; Duchy of Greater Poland; the map captions of the Mieszko III article give him Poznań 1194-1202)

Overlord

His father Mieszko III

What it holds

• Odon's land south of the Obra (Kościan, Krzywiń, Śrem, Przemęt and the country toward the Silesian border), as guardian of Władysław Odonic
• Poznań castle and district, by one account (the en.wikipedia succession tables give Poznań to Władysław 1194-1202, perhaps in his own right rather than as guardian); the en.wikipedia narrative of the duchy has Mieszko reunite all Greater Poland in 1194 and cede only the land south of the Obra to Władysław: not pinned

How it was acquired

In 1194, when Odon died leaving a son of about four, Mieszko III (or Odon on his deathbed, as the Odon article has it) placed Odon's duchy under Władysław as regent and guardian.

Allies and rivals

His father; his father-in-law Jaromar I of Rügen and the Pomeranian dukes. His nephew Władysław Odonic and the boy's mother Wyszesława of Halych are the rivals of tomorrow; Archbishop Henryk Kietlicz will back Odonic against him after 1202.

How things stand that morning

He governs Odon's land, and perhaps Poznań, under his father. No conflict with his ward is recorded before 1202.

Wealth

The southern Greater Polish plain and lake country; Poznań's market at Śródka and the Warta crossing, if Poznań is his.

Military

His own retinue and the knights of the southern castle districts.

Threats

• His nephew's claim to Odon's land
• The church reformers round Kietlicz

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 1202On his father's death he takes all Greater Poland and the Kalisz land, refuses Odonic his father's land, and is invited to Kraków by the palatine Mikołaj (after Leszek refuses the lords' condition that he dismiss Goworek; how long he holds Kraków is disputed: until autumn 1202, 1206 or 1210).Depends on: Mieszko's death on that date. Stopped by: Mieszko settling the succession while alive; play that changes the old duke's circumstances.
2. 1206Exchanges the Kalisz land for the Lubusz land with Henry the Bearded, who gives Kalisz to Odonic (1207).Depends on: Odonic's coming of age and Henry's ambitions. Stopped by: A settlement of Odon's land.

Places of note

• Poznań, Ostrów Tumski: Castle island and cathedral.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: That he governed Odon's land for Odonic after 1194 is consistent across the sources we could reach; whether Poznań was his before 1202 is reported both ways.

On the map: Odon's land is drawn as everything between the Obra and the Silesian border west of the Kalisz land; the sources say only 'south of the Obra'.

Primary sources for Greater Poland

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