Euphrosyne of Opole ( pl, Eufrozyna opolska) (1228/30 – 4 November 1292) was a daughter of
Casimir I of Opole and his wife
Viola, Duchess of Opole
Viola, Duchess of Opole, also known as Veleslava ( bg, Венцислава), pl, Wencisława-Wiola; (died 7 September 1251) was a Duchess consort of Opole-Racibórz through her marriage to Casimir I.
Life
Origins
Viola's father's origins are ...
. She was a member of the
House of Piast and became Duchess of
Kuyavia from her first marriage and Duchess of
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
from her second marriage.
Family
Euphrosyne's paternal grandparents were
Mieszko I Tanglefoot
Mieszko IV Tanglefoot ( pl, Mieszko IV Plątonogi) (c. 1130 – 16 May 1211) was Duke of Kraków and High Duke of Poland from 9 June 1210 until his death one year later. He was also Duke of Silesia from 1163 to 1173 (with his brother as co-ruler) ...
and his wife Ludmilla, a disputed Bohemian princess from the
Přemyslid dynasty
The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemyslid ( cs, Přemyslovci, german: Premysliden, pl, Przemyślidzi) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–1 ...
. Mieszko was son of
Władysław II the Exile,
Duke of High Poland and his wife
Agnes of Babenberg
Agnes of Babenberg ( pl, Agnieszka austriacka; 1108/13 – 24/25 January 1163) was a scion of the Franconian House of Babenberg and by marriage High Duchess of Poland and Duchess of Silesia.
Family and personality
Agnes was a daughter of Le ...
. Agnes was daughter of
Leopold III, Margrave of Austria and his wife
Agnes of Germany, who was a daughter of
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the ...
and his first wife
Bertha of Savoy.
Euphrosyne's maternal family are disputed. Some believe her mother, Viola was a Bulgarian princess, daughter of either
Kaloyan of Bulgaria or his successor
Boril of Bulgaria. Boril was married to a
Cuman
The Cumans (or Kumans), also known as Polovtsians or Polovtsy (plural only, from the Russian exonym ), were a Turkic nomadic people comprising the western branch of the Cuman–Kipchak confederation. After the Mongol invasion (1237), many sough ...
women named Anna. The historian J. Horwat put forward another hypothesis, under which Viola could be a Hungarian princess, daughter of
King Béla III (from his second marriage with
Marguerite of France), or his son and successor
Emeric. Today, the opinion prevails that Viola's origins are considered unknown.
Euphrosyne was the youngest of four children. She had two brothers and a sister:
Mieszko II the Fat,
Władysław Opolski and Wenzeslawa of Opole, who became a nun.
Marriages
Euphrosyne's first marriage was to her distant cousin
Casimir I of Kuyavia
Casimir I of Kuyavia ( pl, Kazimierz I kujawski) (c. 1211 – 14 December 1267) was a Polish prince and a member of the House of Piast. He was Duke of Kujawy after 1233, ruler over Ląd from 1239-1261, ruler over Wyszogród after 1242, Duke of Si ...
. The couple married in 1257 when Euphrosyne was at most twenty-nine years of age. Casimir already had two sons:
Ziemomysł of Kuyavia and
Leszek II the Black from his first marriage to
Constance of Silesia.
Euphrosyne and Casimir had four children, three sons and one daughter:
#
Władysław I the Elbow-high (1261 – 2 March 1333),
King of Poland (1320–1333)
#
Casimir (1261/62 – 10 June 1294), killed while in battle in
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
#
Siemowit (1262/67–1309/14), Duke of Kuyavia-Brieg, married Anastasia of Galicia (daughter of
Lev I of Galicia
Leo I of Galicia ( ua, Лев Дани́лович, translit=Lev Danylovych) (c. 1228 – c. 1301) was a king of Ruthenia, prince (Kniaz) of Belz (1245–1264), Peremyshl, Halych (1264–1269), and grand prince of Kiev (Kyiv, 1271–1301).
H ...
)
#
Euphemia (died 18 March 1308), married
Yuri I of Galicia
According to chronicles, Euphrosyne wished for her sons to inherit the lands of their father, but they would not inherit because of their two elder half-brothers. Euphrosyne wanted to poison her two stepsons so that her own sons could inherit Casimir's lands. This plot would explain a revolt of the two boys against their father, Casimir.
On 14 December 1267 Casimir died, leaving Euphrosyne a widow with four young children, plus two stepsons. She acted as regent
SILESIA, Medieval Lands
/ref> for the boys. During her regency, there was a dispute with the Knights of the Teutonic Order and a land problem with Bolesław the Pious
Bolesław the Pious (1224/27 – 14 April 1279) was a Duke of Greater Poland during 1239–1247 (according to some historians during 1239–1241 sole Duke of Ujście), Duke of Kalisz during 1247–1249, Duke of Gniezno during 1249–1250, Du ...
.
Eventually her sons and stepsons came of age and were able to rule their lands themselves. Euphrosyne married for a second time to Mestwin II, Duke of Pomerania in 1275. He had already been married to Judith of Wettin and had had two daughters: Euphemia and Catherine. It was unlikely the marriage was to produce children since Euphroyne was in her late forties at the time. After thirteen years of childless marriage, they divorced so Mestwin could remarry and possibly have more children.
Euphroyne returned to Kuyavia and lived out the rest of her days in Brześć Kujawski where she died on 4 November 1292 and was buried.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Euphrosyne of Opole
Year of birth unknown
1292 deaths
13th-century women rulers
Piast dynasty
13th-century Polish people
13th-century Polish women