Henry II the Pious

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Henry II the Pious (Polish: Henryk II Pobożny, German: Heinrich II der Fromme; ca. 1196 – 9 April 1241), was a Piast Duke of Silesia-Wrocław, Krakow and Southern Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. During 1238–1239 he served as a regent of two Piast Duchies: Sandomierz and Opole-Raciborz.

He was a son of Henry I the Bearded, Duke of Wrocław, by his wife (and later Saint) Hedwig, daughter of Berthold IV, Duke of Merania.

Contents 1 Life 1.1 Heir of Wrocław. Co-Ruler of his father 1.2 Reign Alone 1.3 Mongol invasion. Battle of Legnica and Death 2 Marriage and Issue 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Life

[edit] Heir of Wrocław. Co-Ruler of his father

Henry was the second son of the Ducal couple, but soon he became in the eldest child of the family when the first-born Bolesław died in 1206. Seven years later (1213) the death of his younger surviving brother Konrad during a hunt let Henry as the sole heir of Lower Silesia. Around 1218 his father arranged his marriage with Princess Anna, daughter of King Ottokar I of Bohemia; this union allowed Henry to interfere actively in the international politics.

Henry the Bearded quickly began his efforts to let his sole surviving son as the universal heir of his patrimony, and since 1222, the young prince appears signed documents along with his father. Two years later, he had already a separate stamp and his own notary. In 1227 during a meeting of Piast Dukes in Gąsawa, Henry the Bearded and the High Duke Leszek the White were trapped in an ambush, as a result of which Leszek was killed and the Silesian Duke was seriously wounded; then was the first time that the government resting on the shoulders of young Henry. The second time happened two years later, when Henry the Bearded was capture by Konrad I of Masovia. During these regencies Henry II's performance was perfect, thanks to the early years when his father entrusted him with this type of responsibility. During 1229–30, the Regent led a military expedition in order to recover and secure the possession of Lubusz, and in 1233–34 Henry actively support his father's affairs in Prussia and Greater Poland. The increasing and close cooperation with his father derived in the official nomination of Henry as co-rule of his father in 1234. Since them, were a formal separation of powers: Henry the Bearded styled as Duke of Krakow and Silesia, and Henry as Duke of Silesia and Greater Poland. However, his reign alone had to wait until the death of Henry the Bearded on 19 March 1238.

[edit] Reign Alone

Although at the time of his father's death Henry was about forty-years-old, he took possession over his inheritance with some complications. Actually, the first problem was the issue of his succession. The strong authority of Henry the Bearded could secure the hereditary rule in his bloodline only over Lower Silesia. In the Southern Greater Poland and Krakow was ruled by the election between the Piast princes (although exist a testament of former Duke of Greater Poland and Krakow, Władysław III Spindleshanks, who left all his lands to Henry the Bearded, but this was ignored by Konrad of Masovia and Władysław Odonic). In the case of Opole-Raciborz and Sandomierz, Henry could retain his authority as a regent during the minority of their rulers Mieszko II and Bolesław V; however one year later (1239) Henry was compelled to resign to the regency, although he remained on good terms with the Dukes of Opole and Sandomierz, but also managed to retain Kalisz and Wieluń. However, the in the north was more complicated. The Margrave Otto III of Brandenburg, using the death of Henry the Bearded as a pretext, took an important fortress in Santok and sieged Lubusz. Among this, he also inherited from his father the disputes with Konrad of Masovia and Władysław Odonic and with the Church, leaded Pełka, Archbishop of Gniezno, who claimed the benefits promised by Henry the Bearded.

But fortunately for Henry, the situation changed unexpectedly after the death of Władysław Odonic on 5 June 1239, leaving two minor sons, Przemysł I and Bolesław. Using these circumstances, the Silesian Duke took the majority of Odonic's possessions (including Gniezno), leaving to Odonic's sons Nakło nad Notecią and Ujście. Henry's next steps however, were dangerous: he abandoned the traditional alliance of his family with the House of Hohenstaufen and supported Pope Gregory IX, which immediately finished his disputes with the Church^[1]. Then, to ended his conflicts with Konrad of Masovia, Henry arranged the marriages of two of his daughters with two Konrad's sons: the eldest, Gertrude, with Bolesław, and the second, Constance, with Casimir. In 1239, Henry lost the fortress occupied in Santok by Brandenburg after his defeat in the Battle of Lubusz.

[edit] Mongol invasion. Battle of Legnica and Death

It seemed that the most difficult moments for Henry are done. But the worst was yet to come. At the East, a new dangerous opponent appeared: the Mongols, under the leadership of Batu Khan, who, after the defeat and destruction of Russian Grand Principality of Kiev chose as the next target Hungary. Batu Khan rightly recognized that in the event of war with Hungary firstly he had to take control over Poland. So he send there an army of 10 000 men under the leadership of Orda. Already in January 1241 Batu send to Lublin and Zawichost some reconnaissance troops, but the real invasion was launched a month later. In Lesser Poland the Mongols didn't have an equal opponent, defeating and killed almost all the Krakow and Sandomierz nobility in the Battle of Tursko (13 February) and the Battles of Tarczek and Chmielnik(18 March) where, among the casualties, were the voivode of Kraków, Włodzimierz and the castellan Clement of Brzeźnica. After this all Lesser Poland, including Krakow and Sandomierz, were in the hands of the Mongols.

Henry didn't wait for the promised aid from Western rulers and began to concentrate the survived Lesser Poland troops and his own Silesian and Greater Poland troops in Legnica. Europe's rulers, more interested in the struggles between Empire and Papacy, ignored Henry's requests for help. The only foreign troops who joined him were of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia and the combined forced of both Knights Templars and Hospitallers, but at the last moment they stopped their troops close to Legnica, probably fearing that the Christian Army would become an easy prey to the Mongolian troops. The battle took place on 9 April 1241; Henry was defeated and killed in battle.

The defeat was widely blamed on the Europeans monarchs, who refused to help, and the unexpected and humiliating escape from the battle of Mieszko II the Fat. There are two descriptions of Henry's death, one submitted by Jan Długosz (today considered dubious), and the second by C. de Brigia in his Historii Tartatorum, who, based on relates of direct witnesses, is now considered more reliable. Fortunately for Poland, the Mongols didn't intend to occupy the country, since shortly afterward they went through Moravia to Hungary, wanting to connect with the main army of Batu Khan. Henry's naked and decapitated body could only be identified by his wife, thanks to a unique anatomical defect: on his left foot, he had six toes, which was confirmed at the opening of his tomb in 1832. Henry was buried in his Franciscan Church of St. Jakub in Wroclaw.

Despite only three years of rule, Henry remained in the memories of Greater Poland and Krakow as the perfect Christian Knight and Lord, whose brilliant career was stopped by his early death.

[edit] Marriage and Issue

By 1218, Henry married with Anna (ca. 1204 – 23 June 1265), daughter of King Ottokar I of Bohemia. They had ten children:

1. Gertrude (ca. 1218/20 – 23/30 April 1247), married by 1232 with Bolesław I of Masovia.
2. Constance (ca. 1221 – ca. 21 February 1257), married by 1239 to Casimir I of Kuyavia.
3. Bolesław II the Bald (ca. 1220/25 – 25/31 December 1278).
4. Mieszko (ca. 1223/27 – 1242).
5. Henry III the White (1227/30 – 3 December 1266).
6. Konrad (1228/31 – 6 August ca. 1274).
7. Elizabeth (ca. 1232 – 16 January 1265), married in 1244 to Przemysł I of Greater Poland.
8. Agnes (ca. 1236 – 14 May aft. 1278), Abbess of St.Clara in Trebnitz (aft. 1277).
9. Władysław (1237 – 27 April 1270), Chancellor of Bohemia (1256), Bishop of Passau (1265) and Archbishop of Salzburg (1265-70).
10. Hedwig (ca. 1238/41 – 3 April 1318), Abbess of St.Clara in Trebnitz.

[edit] See also

• History of Poland (966-1385)
• Piast dynasty
• Dukes of Silesia
• History of Silesia

[edit] References

1. ^ Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN Warsaw 1975 vol. III page 505

Preceded by Henry I the Bearded	High Duke of Poland 1238–1241	Succeeded by Bolesław II the Bald
	Duke of Wroclaw 1238–1241
	Duke of Greater Poland (Only in the Southwest) 1238–1241

v • d • e Monarchs of Poland Legendary and semi-legendary Lech · Krak · Wanda · Popiel · Piast the Wheelwright Piast Siemowit · Lestko · Siemomysł  · Mieszko I · Bolesław I the Brave · Mieszko II Lambert · Bezprym · Mieszko II Lambert · Interregnum · Casimir I the Restorer · Bolesław II the Bold · Władysław I Herman · Zbigniew · Bolesław III Wrymouth Fragmentation period (Supreme Princes) Władysław II the Exile · Bolesław IV the Curly · Mieszko III the Old · Casimir II the Just · Leszek I the White · Władysław III Spindleshanks · Władysław Odonic · Mieszko IV Tanglefoot · Konrad I · Henry I the Bearded · Henry II the Pious · Bolesław V the Chaste · Leszek II the Black · Henryk IV Probus · Przemysł II Přemyslid Wenceslaus II · Wenceslaus III Piast Władysław I the Elbow-high · Casimir III the Great Capet-Anjou Louis I the Hungarian · Jadwiga Jagiellon Władysław II Jagiełło · Władysław III of Varna · Casimir IV · John I Albert · Alexander · Sigismund I the Old · Sigismund II August Elected Henry of Valois · Anna Jagiellon · Stefan Batory · Sigismund III Vasa · Władysław IV Vasa · John II Casimir Vasa · Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki · John III Sobieski · August II the Strong · Stanisław Leszczyński · August III the Saxon · Stanisław August Poniatowski