Przemyslaus II of Cieszyn, also known as Primislaus II of Teschen or Przemko II ( pl, Przemysław, cs, Přemysl, german: Przemislaus; 1422/25 – 18 March 1477), was a
Duke of Cieszyn (Teschen, Těšín) from 1431, ruler over
Bielsko and
Skoczów (from 1442), Duke of half of both
Duchy of Głogów
The Duchy of Głogów ( pl, Księstwo głogowskie, cs, Hlohovské knížectví) or Duchy of Glogau (german: Herzogtum Glogau) was one of the Duchies of Silesia ruled by the Silesian Piasts. Its capital was Głogów in Lower Silesia.
Histor ...
(Glogau, Hlohov) and Duchy of
Ścinawa from 1460 and from 1468 sole ruler over Cieszyn.
He was the third son of Duke
Boleslaus I of Cieszyn by his second wife,
Euphemia, daughter of Duke
Siemowit IV of Masovia.
Life
After the death of his father in 1431, Przemysław II ruled over all the Duchy together with his brothers as co-rulers, but under the tutelage of their mother. On 29 November 1442 the formal division of the Duchy took place between Bolesław I's sons: Przemysław II took over
Cieszyn (but only nominally, because the power was taken by his older brother
Wenceslaus I),
Bielsko (with his brother
Bolesław II) and
Skoczów (alone).
Przemysław II sought to actively interfere in political affairs. In 1443 he expressed his consent to the sale of the
Duchy of Siewierz to
Zbigniew Oleśnicki,
Bishop of Kraków, in return for which he received from Wenceslaus I the amount of 500 pieces of silver. In 1447, together with his brother Bolesław II, he participated in the Congress of
Kraków, where he supported
Poland in a dispute about Siewierz.
In 1447, the death of his mother Euphemia finally enabled Przemysław II and his brother Bolesław II to move to their domains in Skoczów and
Fryštát.
Bolesław II died in 1452, leaving one son,
Casimir II. Przemysław II took over the guardianship of his orphaned nephew.
Przemysław II supported his
suzerain
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is calle ...
, the
Bohemia
Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...
n king
George of Podebrady and also maintained close ties with the
Polish king
Casimir IV Jagiellon, which was demonstrated, for example, in 1454, when Przemysław II received in Cieszyn Princess
Elisabeth of Austria, on her way to Kraków for her wedding to King Casimir IV. However, the good relations with Poland deteriorated after the dispute between Poland and Duke
John IV of Oświęcim, which finally ended after a further agreement on 1 July 1457 in Kraków.
Three years later, Przemysław II was present at a meeting between the Kings of Poland and Bohemia in
Bytom
Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', german: Beuthen O.S.) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital ...
, where he served as conciliator. The next mediation took place on 9 June 1461 between John IV of Oświęcim and the King of Poland.
In 1460
Władysław, another of Przemysław II's brothers, died without issue. In his will, he left his domains – half of both
Głogów and
Ścinawa – to his widow
Margareta of Celje (as her bequest,
dower) and Przemysław II, who actually took effective power over all the lands.
Przemysław II tried to get closer to Bohemian and Polish rulers and in 1462 in Głogów both kings met and negotiated the future of the Bohemian Kingdom. As a reward for his services, he received the town of
Valašské Meziříčí in eastern
Moravia, only during his lifetime.
In 1466 the prince took an active part in the expedition of George of Podebrady to
Kłodzko (Kladsko), causing tension between Cieszyn and the powerful
Wrocław (Breslau).
After the abdication of his brother Wenceslaus I in 1468, Przemysław II could take power over Cieszyn, although the former duke in fact renounced on behalf of his nephew Casimir II.
In 1469 he took part in the election of Hungarian king
Matthias Corvinus as (anti)
King of Bohemia in
Olomouc (Olmütz), mainly thanks to the efforts of
Pope Paul II and insurgent Bohemian Catholic nobility. For some time, Przemysław II went to Hungary and Bohemia, and even took part in the war against Corvinus' enemies in the
Upper Silesia. It appeared, however, that Matthias Corvinus didn't recompense Przemysław II for his support, but also tried depriving him of Cieszyn. In this situation, in 1471 Przemysław II joined the opposition against the King, supporting the Bohemian candidacy of Prince
Vladislaus II Jagiellon, son of Casimir IV.
Trying to shift between Poland, Bohemia and Hungary, in 1473 Przemysław II supported Matthias Corvinus in his war against Duke
Wenceslaus III of
Rybnik. However, the common victory didn't improve his relations with the Hungarian monarch. In 1474 Wenceslaus I, the last surviving brother of Przemysław II, died without issue, allowing him to unify all their domains under his rule (except
Siewierz and
Bytom
Bytom (Polish pronunciation: ; Silesian: ''Bytōm, Bytōń'', german: Beuthen O.S.) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. Located in the Silesian Voivodeship of Poland, the city is 7 km northwest of Katowice, the regional capital ...
, which were already sold). Przemysław II's growing importance, however, didn't please Bohemian-Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus, who, during the meeting of Racibórz in 1475, obtained from Casimir IV of Poland the guarantee that he could interfere without difficulties in the sovereignty over the
Duchy of Teschen, threatening to completely deprive Przemysław II if he didn't pay a huge contribution. The Duke was saved from a final fall against the Hungarian-Polish army expedition, thanks to
Jakub z Dębna, who supported the defense of Cieszyn. Przemyslaw II, however, had to agree to the seizure of half of both Głogów and Ścinawa in 1476 by King Matthias.
After, Przemysław II retained only the main town of Cieszyn and a few cities. He died soon afterwards, on 18 March 1477 and was buried in the
Dominican church in Cieszyn. Without male issue, on his death he was succeeded by his nephew Casimir II, the only male member of the Cieszyn branch.
Marriage and issue
Around 1465, Przemysław II married Anna (b. 1450-1453
[Kazimierz Jasiński: ''Rodowód Piastów mazowieckich''. Poznań – Wrocław 1998, p. 180.] – d. by 14 September 1480), daughter of Duke
Bolesław IV of Warsaw. They had one daughter:
*
Hedwig of Cieszyn (1469 – 6 April 1521); married on 11 August 1483 to
Stephen Zápolya, Lord of
Trenčín. From this marriage were born four children, two sons and two daughters. The oldest son was
János Zápolya
János or Janos may refer to:
* János, male Hungarian given name, a variant of John
Places
* Janos Municipality, a municipality of Chihuahua
** Janos, Chihuahua, town in Mexico
** Janos Biosphere Reserve, a nature reserve in Chihuahua
* Janos ...
, later
King of Hungary, and the oldest of the daughters,
Barbara Zápolya, was the first wife of
Sigismund I the Old
Sigismund I the Old ( pl, Zygmunt I Stary, lt, Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the ...
,
King of Poland
Poland was ruled at various times either by dukes and princes (10th to 14th centuries) or by kings (11th to 18th centuries). During the latter period, a tradition of free election of monarchs made it a uniquely electable position in Europe (16t ...
.
Ancestry
Notes
References
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*
Chronological Dates in Stoyan
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Przemyslaus 02, Duke of Cieszyn
1420 births
1477 deaths
Dukes of Teschen
Piast dynasty