Otto Bolesławowic (1000–1033) was member of the

House of Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...

. He was the third son of King Bolesław the Brave of Poland. Having inherited no land from his father, he fled to Germany. After the defeat of his brother

Mieszko II Lambert Mieszko II Lambert (; c. 990 – 10/11 May 1034) was List of Polish monarchs, King of Kingdom of Poland (1025–1031), Poland from 1025 to 1031 and Duchy of Poland (c. 960–1025), Duke from 1032 until his death. He was the second son of Boles� ...

in 1032, Otto received a part of Poland to rule but died shortly after.

Family history

Otto was the youngest child of Bolesław the Brave and Emnilda of Lusatia. He was named after

Emperor Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was cr ...

, who probably stood as his godfather. In 1018 he was present at his father's fourth and last marriage, to

Oda of Meissen Oda of Meissen, also named Ode, Old High German form for ''Uta'' or ''Ute'' (, ; born c. 996 – died 31 October or 13 November after 1025), was a Saxon countess and member of the Ekkehardiner dynasty. She married Piast Duke Bolesław I the Bra ...

on Cziczani. After the death of his father in 1025, Otto expected to obtain a part of Bolesław's heritage, according to Slavic custom, under which a father should divide his legacy among all his sons. However, because Poland became a kingdom, the country could not be divided, and in consequence Otto received nothing from his father's legacy. The sole heir of Bolesław was

, his eldest son from his marriage to Emnilda. Along with Otto, his older half-brother

Bezprym Bezprym (Old �bɛspʂɨm �vɛspreːm 986–1032) was the duke of Poland from 1031 until his death. He was the eldest son of the Polish king Bolesław the Brave, but was deprived of the succession by his father, who around 1001 sent him t ...

was also disinherited. Bezprym was the older son of Bolesław I by his second wife,

Judith of Hungary Judith of Hungary (; , Esztergom – , Kraków?) was a Hungarian princess and member of the Árpád dynasty. She was briefly married to the Piast duke of Poland, Bolesław the Brave. According to some sources, she was the eldest child of Géza ...

, who was repudiated shortly after Bezprym was born. Possibly as a result of this he was allegedly disliked by his father, who determined that Mieszko II was to be his sole heir.

Conflict

Soon after Mieszko took over the governing of Poland, he either expelled his brothers or forced them to flee from the country. Otto went to Germany, probably to

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

to the court of his sister Regelinda. In 1031 a combined attack of Kievan and German forces led to the downfall of Mieszko II, who had to flee to

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. The government was taken by Bezprym alone; this allegedly caused Otto's resentment and his approach to Mieszko II. As a result, in the first half of 1032 Bezprym was murdered probably as a result of a conspiracy organized by his half-brothers. In

Merseburg Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...

on 7 July 1032,

Emperor Conrad II Conrad II (, – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdom ...

divided Poland between Mieszko, Otto, and their cousin Dytryk, grandson of

Mieszko I Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...

. It is unknown exactly how the country was divided between them. Otto died in 1033 either of natural causes or killed by his own vassals.G. Labuda, ''Pierwsze państwo polskie'', Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, Kraków 1989, p. 54.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boleslawowic, Otto 1000 births 1033 deaths Piast dynasty 11th-century Polish monarchs Sons of kings