1. Early Life and Succession
2. Conflict with Władysław II the Exile
3. Death of Salomea and the Widows' Share
4. Escalation of Conflict
5. Reign as Grand Duke
6. Diplomacy with the Hohenstaufens
7. Renewed Conflict with Władysław
8. Rebellions of the Younger Brothers
9. Rise and Fall of the Rebellion
10. Conflict with the Silesian Princes
11. Final Years and Death
12. Family and Children
13. Leszek (1158/1162-1186), Duke of Masovia

Early Life and Succession

Prince of Masovia and Kraków

Born in 1125, Bolesław IV the Curly was the third son of Bolesław III, the last great ruler of Poland, and Salomea von Berg-Schelkingen. Upon his father's death in 1138, Bolesław inherited the Duchy of Masovia. During his early reign, he was heavily influenced by his mother, Salomea, and the powerful voivode Wszébor, who feared that Bolesław's elder brother, Władysław II the Exile, would seek to displace his younger siblings.

Conflict with Władysław II the Exile

Division and Strife

The conflict with Władysław began when Salomea, without his knowledge, gathered her younger sons at Łęczyca. At this meeting, they decided that her younger daughter, Agnes, would marry Mstislav Izyaslavich of Kiev, and that Salomea's widow's share, granted to her under Bolesław III's will, would not become part of the Seniorate Province but would be divided among her sons.

However, Vsevolod Olgovich, Grand Prince of Kiev, supported Władysław in the Polish civil war, marrying his daughter Zvenislava to Władysław's son Bolesław the Long. As a result, the rebellion of Bolesław the Curly and his brothers failed. Humiliatingly, Bolesław and his siblings were forced to serve as ambassadors to Kiev on Władysław's behalf in 1142-1143.

Death of Salomea and the Widows' Share

In 1144, their mother, Salomea, died. Most of her sons believed that her widow's share (lands around Łęczyca) should be passed to her younger sons, Henry and Casimir. However, Władysław annexed these lands to the Seniorate Province. Bolesław and Mieszko responded with an armed uprising in 1145 but were defeated and forced to accept Władysław's seizure of their mother's domain.

Escalation of Conflict

War and Rebellion

Dissatisfied with the submission of his brothers, Władysław moved to strip them of their duchies altogether. However, the voivode Piotr Włostowic rallied to their side. Despite Władysław's act of blinding and mutilating Piotr, the rebellion by his father's closest supporter weakened his position. Fleeing to Kiev, Piotr persuaded the Rurik princes to break their alliance with Władysław.

By the summer of 1146, Władysław had seized Masovia, expelled Bolesław, and besieged Gniezno in Greater Poland. However, a revolt erupted in his own lands, and Archbishop Jakub of Gniezno excommunicated him. Władysław and his family were forced to flee to the Holy Roman Empire, where they were granted sanctuary by King Conrad III. The victorious brothers proceeded to repartition Poland.

Reign as Grand Duke

Division of Poland

Bolesław received Silesia and the Seniorate Province, along with the title "Grand Duke of Poland." Mieszko was restored as Duke of Greater Poland, Henry finally secured the Duchy of Sandomierz, while the young Casimir once again remained landless.

Agnes, the wife of the exiled Władysław, persuaded King Conrad to organize a military expedition to restore her husband to the throne. However, German forces were defeated by the Poles in August 1146.

Diplomacy with the Hohenstaufens

In the following years, Bolesław and his brothers sought to improve relations with the Hohenstaufens, who supported the exiled Władysław. To this end, they held a congress at Kruszwica in 1148, inviting the Margrave of Brandenburg, Albert the Bear. It was decided that Bolesław's sister Judith would marry Albert's son Otto. The Piasts also supported the Germans in their crusades against the Slavs.

Renewed Conflict with Władysław

Papal Intervention and Imperial Invasion

Pope Eugene III, who lifted the excommunication imposed by the Archbishop of Gniezno, intervened on Władysław's behalf. In 1148, the papal legate Guido of Crema arrived in Poland and excommunicated the brothers and imposed an interdict on the kingdom. However, thanks to the solidarity of the Polish church hierarchy, which supported Bolesław and his siblings, this had little practical effect.

In 1157, Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa came out in support of the exiled Władysław. This expedition was far better organized than that of 1146, and a defeated Bolesław was forced to swear vassalage to the emperor. His younger brother, Casimir, was taken to the imperial court as a hostage. Much to Władysław's chagrin, however, Bolesław was left in place as Grand Duke of Poland. Two years later, Władysław died in exile, and in 1163, at the emperor's insistence, his sons Bolesław I the Long and Mieszko I Plątonogi were restored to the Duchy of Silesia.

Rebellions of the Younger Brothers

Conflict with Casimir the Just

Free from the threat of German invasion, Bolesław sought to deal with the pagan Prussians who threatened his ancestral lands in Masovia. A crusade was organized with the support of the pope and the emperor. However, by 1166, these efforts had failed, and one of Bolesław's younger brothers, Henry of Sandomierz, was killed in battle.

Despite his father's will, Bolesław incorporated Sandomierz into the Seniorate Province after Henry's death. This angered and disappointed his younger brother, Casimir II the Just, who was next in line to inherit the province and was the only one of Bolesław III's sons who lacked a duchy of his own.

Rise and Fall of the Rebellion

Casimir's rebellion was supported by his elder brother Mieszko III the Old, the magnate Jaksa of Miechów, and Świętosław, the son of Voivode Piotr Włostowic, as well as the Archbishops of Gniezno and Kraków. Virtually the entire Lesser Polish nobility rallied to his cause.

At an assembly in Jędrzejów in February 1168, the rebels elected Mieszko III as the new Grand Duke of Poland and awarded the Duchy of Sandomierz to Casimir. In the end, Bolesław retained his throne, largely by accepting the rebels' demands. He divided the late Henry's lands into three parts: Wiślica was given to Casimir, Bolesław himself received Sandomierz proper, and the rest went to Mieszko the Old.

Conflict with the Silesian Princes

Rebellions and Imperial Intervention

Following the failure of the Prussian Crusade, the Silesian princes Bolesław I the Long and Mieszko I Plątonogi attempted to overthrow the grand duke and regain the Seniorate Province. Bolesław's punitive expedition the following year ended in complete disaster, forcing him to come to terms with his Silesian nephews.

In 1172, Duke Mieszko III rebelled once more. This time, he supported his grandnephew Jarosław of Opole (the eldest son of Bolesław I the Long), who, having been forced into the priesthood early in life, was barred from inheriting the Silesian lands. The disgruntled Jarosław raised a rebellion that gained so much support that even his father was forced to flee to Erfurt. This prompted Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa to undertake yet another punitive expedition, invading Poland and crushing the revolt.

Bolesław ordered Mieszko III to Magdeburg, where peace was made with the empire after paying 8,000 silver marks, and the Duchy of Silesia was restored to Bolesław I the Long.

Final Years and Death

Rebellion of the Lesser Polish Nobility

Not long after, another rebellion erupted, this time among the Lesser Polish nobility, who resented the grand duke's harsh rule. The rebels invited Casimir II, then the Duke of Wiślica, to claim the throne of Kraków. However, Bolesław's resistance to his younger brother was so strong that both sides made concessions that ended any further unrest for the remainder of Bolesław's reign.

Casimir succeeded Bolesław in Sandomierz upon his death in 1173 and inherited the Seniorate Province four years later.

Family and Children

Bolesław the Curly married twice:
Wierzchosława of Novgorod(m. 1137):
Bolesław (1156-1172)

Daughter (b. before 1160, d. after 1178), who married Vasilko Yaroslavich, Prince of Shumsk and Drohiczyn in 1172/1173

Leszek (1158/1162-1186), Duke of Masovia

Maria(m. c. 1160): No known children

Statesmen