Przemysł I of Greater Poland

Przemysł I (June 5 1220/June 4 1221 – June 4, 1257), was a duke of Greater Poland.

He was Duke of Ujście (1239-1241), duke of Greater Poland with his brother (1241-1247), Duke of Kalisz (from 1244), duke of Poznań and Kalisz (1249-1250), sole duke of Greater Poland (1250-1253) and duke of Poznań from 1253 until his death.

Biography

Przemysł was the son of Ladislaus Odonic Plwacz, duke of Greater Poland, and Jadwiga of Pomerania, daughter of Mściwój I, duke of Eastern Pomerania.

At the death of his father, Przemysł inherited the part of Greater Poland controlled by Ladislaus and became duke of Ujście; subsequently he strove to recover the remaining part of Greater Poland. In 1241, after the death of Henry II the Pious, duke of Silesia at the battle of Legnica, Przemysł and his brother Boleslaus acquired the duchies of Poznań and Gniezno, and subsequently managed to conquer also the parts of Greater Poland once controlled by Silesia.

In 1244 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Henry II the Pious. In exchange, he obtained by Władysław, duke of Opole, the reincorporation of Kalisz into Greater Poland. In 1247 Przemysł became duke of Poznań and Kalisz, but was forced by the local nobility to leave Kalisz to Boleslaus. He also obtained Santok by Bolesław II the Bald and allied with Bogufał II, bishop of Poznań. In 1249 he exchanged again territories with his brother, giving him Gniezno and becoming duke of Poznań and Kalisz. In 1250, for unknown reasons, Przemysł had Boleslaus arrested, becoming in this way the sole ruler of Greater Poland (Poznań, Gniezno et Kalisz) until in 1253, when Boleslaus was freed and given Kalisz and Gniezno.

He took part to the canonization of St. Stanislaus (May 8 1254) at Kraków.

On the foreign politics side, Przemysł's main concern was the expansionisn of Brandenburg

He died in Poznań. His brother Boleslaus succeeded him as duke of Greater Poland.

Family

Przemysł and Elizabeth had the following children:
# Przemysł II.
# Konstancja (1245/6–1281), married 1260 to Conrad, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal.
# Eufrozyna, Abbess of St. Clara in Trzebnica.
# Anna (1253–after 26 June 1295), Abbess at Owinska.
# Eufemia (1253–1298), a nun at St. Clara, Wrocław.

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Footnotes

ee also

* Piast dynasty
* List of Polish monarchs
* Dukes of Greater Poland
* Przemysł II of Poland