Przemysl II of Poland

Przemysł II (October 14, 1257 – February 8, 1296), was a duke of Poznań, Greater Poland, Kraków and Pomerania, and King of Poland from 1295 until his death.

He was born to Przemysł I, duke of Greater Poland, and Elisabeth, daughter of Henry II the Pious of Silesia.

Realm of power

• 1277–1296 Duke of Poznań
• 1279–1296 Duke of Greater Poland
• 1290–1291 Duke of Kraków (Little Poland)
• 1294–1296 Duke of Pomerania
• 1295–1296 King of Poland

Married to

1. 1273 Ludgarda of Mecklenburg, daughter of Henry I the Pilgrim, duke of Mecklenburg; no children;
2. 1285 Ryksa of Sweden, daughter of Waldemar, duke of Sweden; one daughter: Ryksa Elizabeth of Greater Poland;
3. 1293 Margaret of Brandenburg, daughter of Albert III, markgrave of Brandenburg; no children;

Biography

Before 1277 he became a duke of Poznań, and after the death of his uncle Boleslaus the Pious in 1279 he became the duke of whole of Greater Poland. According to the Treaty of Kepno (1282) he was the co-ruler of Mestwin II, duke of Eastern Pomerania (Poland) and in 1294 his successor successor in Poland. In 1287 this alliace was extended to duke Bogusław IV of Western Pomerania.

According to the last will of Henry IV Probus, duke of Silesia and high-duke of Poland, he inherited in 1290 the provinces of Kraków and Sandomierz (both were called Lesser Poland), but soon ceded them to Venceslas II of Bohemia. As he was the strongest Polish duke of the time, possessed the royal insignia from Kraków, and had support of the clergy for the unification of Poland, he was crowned king of Poland in 1295 by the archbishop of Gniezno, Jakub Świnka, and 5 other bishops.

In 1296 he was kidnapped and murdered on February 8 in Rogozno, by the men of electors of Brandenburg with some help of Polish noble families of Nałęcz and Zaremba. His kingship was short but the revived kingdom survided for the next 500 years.

Further reading

• B. Nowacki, Przemysł II
• Z. Boras, Poczet piastów wielkopolskich

See also

• Piast dynasty
• List of Polish rulers,
• Dukes of Greater Poland
• History of Poland
• Premysl – founder of the Bohemian dukes and kings dynasty
• Przemysł I of Poland – duke of Greater Poland (1239–1257)
• Przemysl, Poland – a city in SE Poland, probably established by an unknown dukie called Przemysl