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Henry II the Pious

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Henry II the Pious
Henry II (center) holding a shield with the crest ofSilesia,Hedwig Codex,c.1353
High Duke of Poland
Reign1238–1241
PredecessorHenry I the Bearded
SuccessorKonrad I of Masovia
Duke of Silesia
Reign1238–1241
PredecessorHenry I the Bearded
SuccessorBolesław II the Bald
Bornc. 1196
Died9 April 1241 (aged 44-45)
Legnickie Pole
Burial
St Vincent's Church,Wrocław
SpouseAnne of Bohemia
IssueConstance of Wrocław
Bolesław II the Horned[1]
Mieszko of Lubusz
Henry III the White
Konrad I of Głogów
Elisabeth of Wrocław
Ladislaus of Salzburg
HouseSilesian Piasts
FatherHenry I the Bearded
MotherHedwig of Andechs[2]

Henry II the Pious(Polish:Henryk II Pobożny;1196 – 9 April 1241) wasDuke of SilesiaandHigh Duke of Polandas well asDuke of South-Greater Polandfrom 1238 until his death. Between 1238 and 1239 he also served asregentofSandomierzandOpole–Racibórz.He was the son ofHenry the Beardedand a member of theSilesian Piast dynasty.In October 2015, theRoman Catholic Diocese of Legnicaopened up his cause for beatification, obtaining him the title ofServant of God.[3][4]

Early life[edit]

Henry the Pious was the second son of High DukeHenry the Beardedof Poland andHedwig of Andechs.[5]His elder brother, Bolesław, died in 1206.[2]In 1213, his younger brotherKonrad the Curlydied during a hunt, leaving the young Henry as the sole heir ofLower Silesia.Around 1218 his father arranged his marriage toAnne,daughter of KingOttokar I of Bohemia.[6]This union with the royalPřemyslid dynastyallowed Henry the Pious to participate actively in international politics.

Henry the Bearded quickly designated his sole surviving son as his sole heir, and from 1222, the young prince countersigned documents with his father. By 1224, he had his own seal and notary. In 1227, during a meeting of Piast dukes inGąsawa,Henry the Bearded and High DukeLeszek I the Whitewere ambushed. Leszek was killed and Henry was seriously wounded. Henry the Pious acted as interim duke. In 1229, Henry the Bearded was captured by DukeKonrad I of Masovia,and again young Henry the Pious acted as interim duke. During 1229–30, he led a military expedition to recover and secure the possession ofLubusz Land,and in 1233–34 he actively supported his father's affairs inPrussiaand Greater Poland. In 1234, Henry the Bearded named his son co-ruler. Later, Henry the Bearded took the duchies of Kraków and Silesia, and Henry the Pious was given the duchies of Silesia and Greater Poland. When Henry the Bearded died on 19 March 1238, Henry the Pious became duke of Silesia, Kraków and Greater Poland.

Sole reign[edit]

Henry the Pious inherited Lower Silesia from his father. Southern Greater Poland and Kraków were ruled by the Piast princes, although the late duke of Greater Poland and Kraków,Władysław III,had left all his lands to Henry the Bearded. The will was ignored by Duke Konrad of Masovia and Władysław's III nephewWładysław Odonic.

Henry II's reach of power at its greatest extent, 1239

Henry II could retain his authority as a regent over theUpper SilesianDuchy of Opole-Racibórz and the Duchy of Sandomierz during the minority of their rulersMieszko II the FatandBolesław V the Chaste.Nevertheless, in 1239, Henry was compelled to resign the regency, although he remained on good terms with the Dukes of Opole and Sandomierz, and managed to retain Greater PolishKaliszandWieluń.[7]

The situation in the northwest was more complicated: MargraveOtto IIIofBrandenburgtook the important Greater Polish fortress atSantokand besiegedLubusz.Henry II also inherited the disputes with Konrad of Masovia, Władysław Odonic, and with the Church, led byPełka,Archbishop ofGniezno.The situation changed unexpectedly after the death of Władysław Odonic on 5 June 1239, who left two minor sons,Przemysł IandBolesław the Pious.Henry II took the majority of Odonic's possessions (includingGniezno), leavingNakło nad NoteciąandUjścieto Odonic's sons.

Henry then abandoned the traditional alliance of his family with the ImperialHouse of Hohenstaufenand supportedPope Gregory IX,immediately resolving his dispute with the Church.[8]He then put an end to his conflicts with Konrad of Masovia by arranging the marriages of two of his daughters to two of Konrad's sons: Gertrude toBolesław,andConstance,toCasimir I of Kuyavia.In 1239, Henry II reclaimed the Santok fortress from MargraveOtto IIIafter Henry's victory in the Battle of Lubusz.[7]

Mongol invasion[edit]

The Mongols carrying the head of Henry II beforeLegnica,Hedwig Codex,c.1353

In the East, a new dangerous opponent appeared: theMongols,under the leadership ofBatu Khan,who, after theinvasion of Rus'chose theKingdom of Hungaryas his next target. Batu Khan realized that he had to take control of Poland before he could take Hungary. In January 1241, Batu sent reconnaissance troops toLublinandZawichost.The invasion was launched a month later, by anarmy of 10,000 menunder the leadership ofOrda.InLesser Polandthe Mongols met weaker resistance, defeating and killing almost all the Kraków and Sandomierz nobility in theBattle of Tursko(13 February), and the Battles of Tarczek and Chmielnik (18 March), including thevoivodeof Kraków,Włodzimierzand thecastellanKlement of Brzeźnica.All of Lesser Poland, including Kraków and Sandomierz, fell into the hands of the Mongols.[9]

Original tomb effigy of Henry stomping on a Mongol, drawing from 1733

Henry did not wait for the promised aid from Western rulers and began to concentrate the surviving troops of Lesser Poland and his own Silesian and Greater Poland forces inLegnica.Europe's rulers were more focused on the struggle between theHoly Roman EmpireandPapacy,and they ignored Henry's requests for help. The only foreign troops who joined him were those of KingWenceslaus I of Bohemiaand the combined forces of someKnights Templar.Some sources report that European forces halted their troops near Legnica, probably fearing that the Christian Army would become an easy prey to the Mongols. Thebattle of Legnicatook place on 9 April 1241. Henry was defeated andkilled in action.[10]

The defeat was widely blamed on the European monarchs, especiallyEmperor Frederick IIand KingBéla IV of Hungary,who had refused to help, and the unexpected retreat from the battle by Henry's Upper Silesian cousinMieszko II the Fat,through a trick of the Mongols.[11]There are two descriptions of Henry's death, one submitted byJan Długosz(today considered dubious), and the second by C. de Brigia in hisHistorii Tartatorum(based on reports of direct witnesses, now considered more reliable). However, the Mongols did not intend to occupy the country, and shortly afterward they went throughMoraviato Hungary, wanting to connect with the main army ofBatu Khan.Henry's naked and decapitated body could only be identified by his wife, because of hispolydactyly.He had six toes on his left foot,[12]which was confirmed when his tomb was opened in 1832. Henry was buried in the crypt of the Franciscan Church of Sts. Vincent and Jacob in Wrocław (Breslau).

Despite ruling for only three years, Henry remained in the memories of Silesia, Greater Poland and Kraków as the perfect Christian knight, lord and martyr, whose brilliant career was abruptly ended by his early death. Upon his death, the line of the Silesian Piasts fragmented into numerousdukes of Silesia,who (except for Henry's grandsonHenry IV Probus) were no longer able to prevail as Polish high dukes and subsequently came under the influence of the neighbouringKingdom of Bohemia.

In 1944, Henry the Pious' body went missing after being taken from its tomb by German scientists for laboratory tests; they had hoped to prove that the prince wasAryan.[citation needed]

Marriage and children[edit]

Between 1214 and 1218, Henry marriedAnna(ca. 1201 – 23 June 1265), daughter of KingOttokar I of Bohemia.[6]They had:

  1. Gertrude (1218/20 – 23/30 April 1244/47), married in 1232 toBolesław I of Masovia.
  2. Constance(1221/27 – 1253/3 May 1257), married in 1239 toCasimir I of Kuyavia.
  3. Bolesław II the Bald(1220/25 – 26/31 December 1278)[13]
  4. Mieszko(1223/27 – 1241/1242).
  5. Henry III the White(1222/30 – 3 December 1266)[13]
  6. Elizabeth(1224/1232 – 16 January 1265), married in 1244 toPrzemysł I of Greater Poland.
  7. Konrad(1228/31 – 6 August 1273/1274)[13]
  8. Władysław(1237 – 27 April 1270, buried Salzburg Cathedral), Chancellor of Bohemia (1256), Bishop ofPassau(1265) and Archbishop ofSalzburg(1265–70)[13]
  9. Agnes (123/1236 – 14 May after 1277), Abbess of St. Clara in Trebnitz.
  10. Hedwig (1238/41 – 3 April 1318), Abbess of St. Clara inWrocław.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Barbara H. Rosenwein (18 November 2013).Reading the Middle Ages, Volume II: Sources from Europe, Byzantium, and the Islamic World, c.900 to c.1500, Second Edition.University of Toronto Press. pp. 1103–.ISBN978-1-4426-0610-4.
  2. ^abGuida M. Jackson; Guida Myrl Jackson-Laufer; Lecturer in English Foundations Department Guida M Jackson (1999).Women Rulers Throughout the Ages: An Illustrated Guide.ABC-CLIO. pp. 164–.ISBN978-1-57607-091-8.
  3. ^"Duszpasterstwo Ludzi Pracy '90 w Legnicy - Aktualności".dlp90.pl.
  4. ^"Thirteenth Century".newsaints.faithweb.com.
  5. ^Halecki 2000,p. 98.
  6. ^abKlaniczay 2000,p. 204.
  7. ^abPrzemysław Wiszewski."The multi-ethnic character of medieval Silesian society and its influence on theregion's cohesion (12th–15th centuries)"(PDF).University of Wrocław.Retrieved19 October2020.
  8. ^Encyklopedia Powszechna PWN Warsaw 1975 vol. III p. 505
  9. ^Kurstjens Huub."The invasion of the Christian West by the Tatars (Mongols). A clash of civilizations between Frederick II, Gregory IX and the Tatars".Cyberleninka.Retrieved19 October2020.
  10. ^Halecki 2000,p. 87.
  11. ^Cheshire 1926,p. 89–105.
  12. ^Historyczne, Polskie Towarzystwo (1961).Mowia, wieki: magazyn historyczny(in Polish). Państwowe Zakłady Wydawn. Szkolnych. p. 52.
  13. ^abcdDavies 1982,p. 64.

Sources[edit]

  • Cheshire, Harold T. (1926)."The Great Tartar Invasion of Europe".The Slavonic Review.5(13). Modern Humanities Research Association: 89–105.JSTOR4202032.Retrieved19 October2020.
  • Davies, Norman (1982).God's Playground: A History of Poland.Vol. I: The Origins to 1795. Columbia University Press.
  • Halecki, Oskar (2000).Borderlands of Western Civilization: A History of East Central Europe.Simon Publications.
  • Klaniczay, Gábor (2000).Holy Rulers and Blessed Princesses: Dynastic Cults in Medieval Central Europe.Translated by Palmai, Eva. Cambridge University Press.
Preceded by
Henry I the Bearded 		High Duke of Poland
1238–1241 		Succeeded by
Bolesław II the Bald
Duke of Wrocław
1238–1241
Duke of Greater Poland
(Only in the Southwest)
1238–1241
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