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Birth:          1105 of Krakow, Poland
Death:          30 May 1159 

Notes
also Lord of Cracau and Silicia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5%82aw_II_the_Exile
Vladislaus II the Exile (Polish: Wladyslaw II Wygnaniec) (1105 – 30 May 1159) was a 
High Duke of Poland and Duke of Silesia from 1138 until his expulsion in 1146. He is 
the progenitor of the Silesian Piasts.
Life[edit]

Governor of Silesia[edit]

He was the eldest son of Duke Boleslaw III Wrymouth, sole ruler of Poland since 
1107, by his first wife Zbyslava, a daughter of Sviatopolk II of Kiev. As the firstborn 
son, Wladyslaw's father decided to involve him actively in the government of the 
country. Some historians believe that Boleslaw III gave Wladyslaw the district of 
Silesia before his own death, in order to create an hereditary fief for his eldest 
descendants.

Around 1125 Wladyslaw married Agnes of Babenberg, daughter of Margrave Leopold 
III of Austria; this union gave him a close connection with the Holy Roman Empire and 
the Kingdom of Germany: Agnes by her mother was a granddaughter of Emperor Henry 
IV and a half-sister of the Franconian duke Conrad III of Hohenstaufen, the later King 
of Germany. Thanks to Wladyslaw, Silesia was saved during the wars of 1133–1135 
with Bohemia: he stopped the destruction of the major areas of his district after the 
Bohemian forces crossed the Oder river.

In 1137, during the whitsun meeting with Duke Sobeslav I of Bohemia at Niemcza 
(other sources mention Klodzko), in which several disputed matters were decided, 
Wladyslaw stood as godfather in the baptism of the youngest son of Sobeslav, the 
future Duke Wenceslaus II.

High Duke of Poland[edit]
 
Duke Boleslaw III died on 28 October 1138. In his will, he sought to maintain the unity 
of the Polish lands as well as to prevent inheritance conflicts among his sons. He 
therefore determined a kind of mitigated primogeniture principle: As the oldest son, the 
supreme authority in the country was assigned to Wladyslaw with the title of a High 
Duke (Princeps). In addition to Silesia, he received the central Seniorate Province, 
stretching from Lesser Poland at Kraków to eastern Greater Poland and western 
Kuyavia, as well as the authority over the Pomerelian lands at Gdansk on the Baltic 
Sea. His younger half-brothers Boleslaw IV the Curly and Mieszko III received the 
eastern Duchy of Masovia (composed of Masovia with eastern Kuyavia) and the 
western Duchy of Greater Poland (the remaining parts of Greater Poland with Lubusz 
Land) respectively, each as hereditary fiefs.

Upon the death of Boleslaw's widow Salomea of Berg, Wladyslaw would also receive 
her oprawa wdowia (a kind of usufruct pension) at Leczyca, which had to revert to the 
Seniorate. On the other hand, he was obliged to provide his youngest half-brother 
Henry with the lands of Sandomierz when he would come of age (though only for life). 
The district however was not separated from the Seniorate until 1146. The youngest 
of his half-brothers, the later High Duke Casimir II the Just was not assigned any 
province; it is speculated that he was born after Boleslaw III's death.

At the time of the death of his father, Wladyslaw was already an adult, with many 
years of marriage and at least one surviving son, Boleslaw I the Tall, born in 1127 (the 
date of birth of the second son, Mieszko IV Tanglefoot, is still debatable and varies 
between 1130 and 1146). Following the examples of his predecessors Boleslaw I 
Chrobry in 992, Mieszko II Lambert in 1032, and his own father in 1106, the High 
Duke almost immediately tried to restore the unity of the country. Given his life 
experience and military leadership, it was generally expected that in the end, he would 
be successful.

The First Conflicts with the Junior Dukes[edit]

The disputes of Wladyslaw with his stepmother Salomea and his half-brothers began 
openly in 1141, when the Dowager Duchess, without the knowledge and consent of 
the High Duke, commenced to divide her Leczyca province between her sons. Also, 
she tried to resolve the marriage of her youngest daughter Agnieszka and thus to find 
a suitable ally for her sons. The most appropriate candidate for a son-in-law had to be 
one of the sons of the Grand Prince Vsevolod II of Kiev. After hearing the news about 
the events in Leczyca, Wladyslaw decided to make a quick response, as a result of 
which the Grand Prince of Kiev not only broke all his pacts with the Junior Dukes, but 
also arranged the betrothal of his daughter Zvenislava to Wladyslaw's eldest son 
Boleslaw. The wedding took place one year later, in 1142.

His ties with the Kievan Rus' benefited him during 1142-1143, when Wladyslaw 
decided to fight against the districts of his brothers. Wladyslaw's victory was beyond 
dispute, being backed by his alliances with the Rus', Bohemia and the Holy Roman 
Empire.

The Wlostowic Affair and the Second part of the Fight with his brothers[edit]

During Wladyslaw's reign, the Silesian voivode (count palatine) Piotr Wlostowic had 
the greatest and most decisive impact. A firm follower of Duke Boleslaw III, he had 
soon acquired enormous political significance in the country, covering the most 
important court offices. In his prerogative as voivode he had the right to appoint 
officials in local authorities across Poland, including in the areas of the Junior Dukes, 
which made him the person from whose decisions was determined the fate of the 
state. In view of the conflict between her sons and Wladyslaw looming ahead, 
Boleslaw's wife Salomea of Berg intrigued against him, whereafter Wlostowic had to 
resign and was replaced by one of her minions. When Wladyslaw succeeded his 
father, he reinstated the voivode, however the increased power of Wlostowic fostered 
deep negative relations, especially with his wife Agnes of Babenberg, who - not 
without reason - considered him a traitor.

On 27 July 1144 Salomea of Berg, Duke Boleslaw's widow and Wlostowic's bitter 
enemy, died. As in accordance with the Duke's will, her province of Leczyca had to 
revert to the Senoriate Province of Wladyslaw, the voivode, in agreement with the 
Junior Dukes, planned a coup d'état in order to take the contested district, perhaps as 
emolument for the younger Henry. Again in this case, Wladyslaw appealed for aid to 
his Kievan allies. Without waiting the arrival of food he sent his troops against the 
forces of Boleslaw IV the Curly and Mieszko III; unexpectedly, Wladyslaw suffered a 
defeat. It wasn't until the arrival of the Kievans that the fate of the battle and the war 
turned to Wladyslaw's side. Immediately, a favourable peace treaty was made, which 
permitted the High Duke to take full control over Leczyca; however, he had to give to 
the Kievan cohorts, in exchange for their aid, the Polish castle at Wizna.

In the meanwhile, the tensions between Wladyslaw and Piotr Wlostowic worsened. 
The position of the Count Palatine in the civil war was clearly against the High Duke. 
This attitude clearly did not correspond with Wladyslaw's concept of autocracy, and 
after this episode he thought about the total removal of his brothers from their lands. 
By 1145 however, it seemed that a reconciliation between the High Duke and 
Wlostowic was possible, as evidenced by the invitation to Wladyslaw by the voivode 
on the occasion of Wlostowic's son wedding. At the beginning of the following year 
the High Duke, however, decided to bet everything on one gamble: eliminate 
Wlostowic from his life for good. He ordered one of his knights, Dobek, to capture 
him. Dobek arrived at Wlostowic's court at Olbin (in present-day Wroclaw), and during 
the night captured the voivode with his men. High Duchess Agnes demanded 
Wlostowic's death, but Wladyslaw decided instead to make an example out of him: he 
was blinded, muted and sentenced to exile.

Wlostowic was respected and had many friends, and his fate caused many nobles to 
switch their allegiance to the Junior Dukes. Furthermore, the blinded Wlostowic fled to 
the Kievan Rus', which had so far supported Wladyslaw, and convinced them to break 
their alliance.

Deposition and Escape to Bohemia[edit]

At the beginning of 1146 Wladyslaw decided to make the final attack on his rivaling 
half-brothers. Initially, it seemed that victory of the High Duke was only a matter of 
time, since he managed to take Masovia without obstacles and forced Duke Boleslaw 
IV the Curly to withdraw to the defense of his brother Mieszko III at Poznan in Greater 
Poland. There, unexpectedly, began Wladyslaw's disaster. The reason for this was the 
insecurity of his other districts, where mighty rebellions erupted against Wladyslaw's 
dictatorial politics. The rebels quickly grew in power thanks to the support of 
Archbishop Jakub ze Znina of Gniezno, who excommunicated the High Duke – as a 
punishment for the fate of the voivode Wlostowic – resulting in an additional series of 
rebellions. The defeat at the end was thanks not only to the combined forces of Duke 
Boleslaw IV at Poznan with the troops of the other Junior Dukes, but also by 
Wladyslaw's own subjects, which was a total surprise to him. The High Duke was 
forced to flee abroad; shortly afterwards his wife Agnes and children joined him, after 
their unsuccessful attempts to defend Kraków.

The Junior Dukes had a complete success, and Wladyslaw was now under the mercy 
of his neighbours. Initially, he and his family stayed in the court of his namesake and 
brother-in-law Duke Vladislaus II of Bohemia at Prague Castle. The title of a High 
Duke was assumed by Boleslaw IV. Wladyslaw did never return to Poland.

Exile in Germany. Unsuccessful expedition of King Conrad III[edit]

Soon after his arrival in Bohemia, his brother-in-law King Conrad III of Germany offered 
him his hospitality. Wladyslaw shortly after moved to Germany and paid tribute to King 
Conrad and asked for assistance in regaining the throne.[1] As King Conrad also had 
been able to reinstate Vladislaus of Bohemia shortly before, it initially appeared that 
Wladyslaw would regain power over Poland very soon. The expedition against the 
Junior Dukes was launched in 1146, but due to flooding of the Oder river and the 
pressure on the German king by the margraves Albert the Bear and Conrad of Meissen, 
who showed no interest in an armed conflict at the German eastern border, the 
campaign finally failed.

Wladyslaw of course did not lose hope of changing his fate, but for now he had to 
accept the postponement of his return, particularly when Conrad III started the 
Second Crusade with King Louis VII of France to the Holy Land the next year. During 
this time, the former High Duke administrated the Kaiserpfalz at Altenburg and its 
dependencies in the Imperial Pleissnerland. Without waiting for German aid, 
Wladyslaw and his wife Agnes went to the Roman Curia and asked Pope Eugene III 
for help, but this attempt was also unsuccessful.

Death and Legacy[edit]

In 1152 King Conrad III died and was succeeded by his nephew Frederick Barbarossa. 
With this, the hopes of Wladyslaw of returning to Poland were reborn. Following the 
inducements of Wladyslaw and Frederick's aunt Agnes of Babenberg, the Holy Roman 
Emperor launched a new expedition to Greater Poland in 1157. The campaign was a 
success, but unexpectedly Frederick Barbarossa did not restore Wladyslaw to the 
Polish throne, after Boleslaw IV apprehended at Krzyszkowo had to declare himself a 
vassal to the Emperor and was compelled to pay tribute to him. In compensation, the 
Emperor forced Boleslaw IV to promise the restitution of Silesia to Wladyslaw's sons 
Boleslaw the Tall and Mieszko IV Tanglefoot.[2]

At this time, it appears, Wladyslaw knew that his battle for supremacy in Poland was 
finally lost. He remained in exile at Altenburg, where he died two years later. It was 
not until 1163 that Boleslaw IV finally granted the Silesian province to Wladyslaw's 
sons.

Apart from the question of an actual enfeoffment of Wladyslaw's sons by the Emperor, 
a disruption between them and their Piast cousins had occurred. In the following 
centuries, Silesia was divided into as many as 17 separate duchies among their 
descendants and successors, who from the early 14th century onwards gradually 
became vassals of the Imperial Kingdom of Bohemia. By the 1335 Treaty of Trentschin 
the Polish king Casimir III the Great renounced all claims to the Silesian lands, which 
remained under the rule of the Silesian Piasts until the male line of the dynasty finally 
became extinct with the death of Duke George William of Legnica in 1675.

Marriage and children[edit]

In 1125 Wladyslaw married Agnes of Babenberg (b. ca. 1108/1113 – d. at Altenburg, 
24 January 1160/63), daughter of Margrave Saint Leopold III of Austria and Agnes of 
Germany, who in turn was a daughter of Emperor Henry IV. She was also the half-
sister of King Conrad III of Germany.They had five children:[3]
1.Boleslaw I the Tall (b. 1127 – d. 8 December 1201).
2.Mieszko I Tanglefoot (b. ca. 1130 – 16 May 1211).
3.Richeza (b. 1140 – d. 16 June 1185), married firstly in 1152 to Alfonso VII, King of 
Galicia, Castile and León, secondly in 1162 to Ramon Berenguer II, Count of 
Provence and thirdly by 1167 to Count Albert III of Everstein.
4.Konrad Spindleshanks (b. 1146/57 – d. 17 January 1190).
5.Albert (d. young, ca. 1168).

Parents
____ Boleslaw III "Crooked Mouth" (20 Aug 1085 - 28 Oct 1138)
SVYATOPOLKOVNA OF KIEV Zbyslava (Sbislawa) Sbyslava (ABT 1087 - ABT 1114)

Siblings
____ Wladislav II "The Exile" (1105 - 30 May 1159)

Marriage To OF AUSTRIA (BABENBERG) Agnes (ABT 1111 - 24 Jan 1163)
    m. ABT 1126 

Notes

Parents
____ Leopold III "The Saint" (ABT 1087 - 15 Nov 1136)
OF FRANCONIA Agnes (ABT 1073 - 24 Sep 1143)

Children by OF AUSTRIA (BABENBERG) Agnes ABT 1111 - 24 Jan 1163
OF POLAND (OF SILICIA) Richeza (Richilde) (Ryksa) (ABT 1138 - 16 Jun 1185)

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