Constance of Wrocław


Constance of Wrocław was a Princess of Silesia and the Duchess of Kuyavia. She was a member of the Polish House of Piast and mother of Leszek the Black and Ziemomysł of Kuyavia.

Early life

Constance of Wrocław was born in 1227, the second child of Henry II the Pious and his wife Anna of Bohemia, the daughter of Ottokar I of Bohemia and Constance of Hungary. She was named after her maternal grandmother, Constance of Hungary.
Constance and her siblings were brought up away from their parents at the monastery of Trzebnica, where they were cared for by their paternal grandmother Hedwig of Andechs. Hedwig greatly influenced the young Constance - she became pious. Later, Hedwig also influenced Constance' son, Leszek.
She was expected to marry soon after coming of age at 12 years, and could do so according to canon law. She married in 1239. At the time only her sister Gertrude was married, to Bolesław I of Masovia. Only one other sister, Elisabeth of Wrocław was to marry, her other sisters becoming Abbesses.
Constance was more carefully educated than her future husband, Casimir I of Kuyavia, who was tutored by John Heron, who was later educated by Casimir's parents.

Marriage

In 1239 at Wrocław, Constance married Casimir I of Kuyavia, the second son of Konrad I, Duke of Masovia. In literature there are two theories for the marriage.
The first theory is that Constance's father, Henry, for political reasons wanted a strong alliance with his potential enemy, Konrad I. With Constance's sister Gertrude already married to Konrad's eldest son, her marriage would make a stronger alliance.
The second theory states that Constance's father had internal and external state problems, whereby good relations with the Duke of Mazovia would help greatly, and the marriage of his daughter to the son of the Duke was intended as an effective way to strengthen cooperation. Henry filed a dowry for Constance's marriage to Casimir. This dowry and inheritance of Henry would later cause fighting between Casimir and Bolesław the Pious, ending in Bolesław gaining Greater Poland
Constance's husband, Casimir, was born between 1210 and 1213. He was the second son of Konrad I and Agafia of Rus. He reigned over Kuyavia from 1230 or 1231 after his brother and Gertrude's husband, Bolesław, died. Bolesław, instead of leaving his lands, including Masovia, to Casimir, as stipulated in Konrad's will, passed these to Casimir's younger brother, Siemowit I of Masovia. Casimir had been married once before, to Jadwiga, a Polish noblewoman whose origins are unknown. Casimir and Jadwiga had no children and Jadwiga died childless.
Constance and Casimir had two children:
  1. Leszek II the Black, Duke of the Fragmentation of Poland
  2. Ziemomysł of Kuyavia, Duke of Kuyavia

    Death

The date of death for Constance is disputed. With regard to the year, she is last noted as a living person in a document dated 25 May 1252, whereas the first document indicating her death is from 3 May 1257. As far as the day and month, Nekrolog strzeleński reported that she died on the 21st of February, but, according to Nekrologu opactwa św. Wincentego we Wrocławiu, her death occurred on the 23rd of February. Thus, she is considered to have died on 21 or 23 February between 1253 and 1257. Due to the fact that the only three mentions of her death in the documents of Casimir I were from 1257, it is considered highly likely that she died earlier that year. Constance's burial place is unknown.
The document from 16 September 1257 was issued by her two sons and Casimir to the Bishop of Chełmno. Her sons wanted to have daily Mass celebrated for Constance's soul.

Ancestry