Casimir II the Just
Casimir II the Just (Polish: Kazimierz II Sprawiedliwy; 28 October 1138 – 5 May 1194) was a Lesser Polish Duke of Wiślica from 1166 to 1173, and of Sandomierz after 1173. He became ruler over the Polish Seniorate Province at Kraków and thereby High Duke of Poland in 1177; a position he held until his death, though interrupted once by his elder brother and predecessor Mieszko III. In 1186 Casimir also inherited the Duchy of Masovia from his nephew Leszek, becoming the progenitor of the Masovian branch of the royal Piast dynasty, and great-grandfather of the later Polish king Władysław I the Elbow-high. The honorific title "the Just" was not contemporary and first appeared in the 16th century.
Casimir II the Just
Early life[edit]
Casimir, the sixth but fourth surviving son of Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Poland, by his second wife Salomea, daughter of Count Henry of Berg, was born in 1138, after his father's death but on the same day. [1] Consequently, he was not mentioned in his father's will, and thus left without any land.
During his first years, Casimir and his sister Agnes (born in 1137) lived with their mother Salomea in her widow land of Łęczyca. There, the young prince remained far away from the struggles of his brothers Bolesław IV the Curly and Mieszko III with their older half-brother High Duke Władysław II, who tried to reunite all of Poland under his rule (contrary to his late father's testament) and was finally expelled in 1146.
Salomea of Berg had died in 1144. Casimir and Agnes were cared for by their elder brother Bolesław IV, who assumed the high ducal title two years later. Although under his tutelage the young prince could feel safe, he had no guarantee to receive part of the paternal inheritance in the future. When in 1151 he reached the proper age (age 13 at that time) to assume control over some of the lands of the family, he remained with nothing. Three years later (1157), his situation worsened as a result of the successful Polish campaign of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who came to the aid of Władysław II and his sons. As a part of the treaty Bolesław IV had to conclude with Barbarossa, Casimir was sent to Germany as a hostage in order to secure the loyalty of his brother to the Emperor. The fate of Casimir at the Imperial Court is unknown. He returned to Poland certainly before 21 May 1161, because on that day he is mentioned in a document along with two of his brothers, Bolesław IV and Henry of Sandomierz.
Revolt against Mieszko III[edit]
The strong and dictatorial rule of the new High Duke caused a deep disaffection among the Lesser Polish nobility. This time a new revolt instigated in 1177 had a real chance of victory. The rebellion, apart from the magnates, counted upon the support of Gedko, Bishop of Kraków; Mieszko's eldest son Odon; Duke Bolesław I the Tall of Silesia, the son of former High Duke Władysław II; and Casimir. The reasons for his inclusion in this revolt, after being reconciled with Mieszko, are unknown.
The battle for new leadership took quite strange course: Mieszko III, completely surprised by the rebels in his Duchy of Greater Poland, withdrew to Poznań, where he stayed for almost two years enduring heavy fighting with his son Odon. Finally, he was defeated and was forced to escape. Duke Bolesław the Tall failed to conquer Kraków and the Seniorate Province, as he himself was stuck in an inner-Silesian conflict with his brother Mieszko I Tanglefoot and his own son Jarosław; soon defeated, he asked Casimir for help. After a successfully action in Silesia, Casimir marched to Kraków, which was quickly mastered. Casimir, now Duke of Kraków, decided to conclude a treaty under which Bolesław the Tall obtained full authority over Lower Silesia at Wrocław, and in return Casimir granted the Lesser Polish districts of Bytom, Oświęcim and Pszczyna to the then deposed Mieszko I Tanglefoot as a gift for Casimir's godson and namesake Casimir I of Opole, the only son of Mieszko I Tanglefoot.
Foreign affairs[edit]
For unknown reasons, Casimir chose not to react to these events and decided only to secure his authority over Lesser Poland. A diplomatic meeting occurred in 1184 at the court of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa where Casimir, in order to block the actions of Mieszko III and retain power as High Duke of Poland, swore allegiance to Barbarossa and paid him a large tribute.
The most important issues during the reign of Casimir, beside the conflicts with his brother Mieszko, were the diplomatic policies towards the neighbouring Russian principalities in the east. The first task before him as High Duke was to create bonds with the Rurik Grand Princes at Kiev, who were strongly associated with the previous High Dukes through their marriages to Kievan princesses (Bolesław IV the Curly with Viacheslava of Novgorod and Mieszko III with Eudoxia of Kiev). For this purpose, in November 1178 Casimir arranged the marriage of his daughter with Prince Vsevolod IV of Kiev.[a]
His first major intervention in Kievan Rus' affairs occurred in 1180, when the High Duke supported Vasylko, Prince of Shumsk and Drohiczyn (and son-in-law of the late Bolesław IV the Curly), and his nephew Leszek of Masovia in a dispute with Vladimir of Minsk for the region of Volhynia at Volodymyr. The war ended with the success of Vladimir, who conquered Volodymyr and Brest, while Vasylko held his ground at Drohiczyn.
However, this war did not definitively settle the matter of the rule at Brest, which had been granted as a fief to Prince Sviatoslav, Vasylko's cousin and Casimir's nephew (stepson of his sister Agnes). In 1182 a revolt broke out against Sviatoslav's rule, but thanks to Casimir's intervention, he was restored on the throne. Nevertheless, shortly afterwards Casimir saw that the situation was unstable, and so he finally decided to give the power to Sviatoslav's half-brother, Roman.
In 1187, Prince Yaroslav Osmomysl of Halych died, whereafter a long struggle for his succession began. Initially, the authority over the principality was taken by his younger illegitimate son, Oleg, but he was soon murdered by the boyars. Halych was then taken by Yaroslav's eldest son, Vladimirko. Vladimirko's reign was also far from stable, a situation used by Prince Roman of Brest, who, with the help of his uncle Casimir, deposed him and took full control over Halych.
The defeated Vladimirko fled to the Kingdom of Hungary under the protection of King Béla III (his relative; Vladimirko's paternal grandmother was a Hungarian princess), who decided to send his army to Halych. Roman escaped to Kraków and Vladimirko, as an act of revenge, invaded Lesser Poland. However, King Béla III soon decided to attach Halych to Hungary, and again deposed Vladimirko, replacing him as Prince of Halych with his own son, Andrew. The war continued for another two years, until Casimir restored Vladimirko's authority over Halych following instructions from Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who had decided to help Vladimirko after he had declared himself to be his subject.
Relations with the Church[edit]
During his reign, Casimir was very generous to the Church, especially with the Cistercians monasteries of Wąchock, Jędrzejów, Koprzywnica and Sulejów; with the Canons of the Holy Sepulchre of Miechów, Regular Canonry of Czerwińsk nad Wisłą and Trzemeszno and the Order of the Knights Hospitaller in Zagość. He also tried to expand the cult of Saint Florian, whose remains were brought to Kraków by Bishop Gedko.