Richeza of Poland (, ; – after 25 December 1156), a 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 ...
, was twice
Queen of Sweden and once Princess of
Minsk
Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
through her three marriages. Tradition describes her as unusually beautiful.
Early life
Richeza was the daughter of
Bolesław III Wrymouth
Bolesław III Wrymouth (; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between 1107 and 1138. He was the onl ...
,
Duke of Poland, by his second wife,
Salomea of Berg. The year of her birth is unknown, but is often assumed to be 1116.
First marriage
Bolesław III entered in an alliance with King
Niels of Denmark against
Wartislaw I,
Duke of Pomerania (now in northwestern Poland and northeastern
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
). In order to seal this alliance, a marriage was arranged between Bolesław III's daughter Richeza with Niels' eldest son
Magnus the Strong. The wedding took place in
Ribe
Ribe () is a town in south-west Jutland, Denmark, with a population of 8,367 (2025). It is the seat of the Diocese of Ribe. Until 1 January 2007, Ribe was the seat of both a surrounding municipality and county. It is now part of the enlarged E ...
around 1127.
[Hans Olrik, "Richiza", ''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'', https://runeberg.org/nfcc/0165.html] Richeza bore her husband two sons:
Knud in 1129 and Niels in 1130.
[Hans Gillingstam: ''Rikissa'' n ''Svenskt biografiskt lexikon band 30'', 2000, https://sok.riksarkivet.se/Sbl/Presentation.aspx?id=6754.]
As one of the heirs of his maternal grandfather King
Inge I, Magnus claimed Sweden. He was recognized King of
Götaland
Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep wo ...
or parts thereof by the
Geats
The Geats ( ; ; ; ), sometimes called ''Geats#Goths, Goths'', were a large North Germanic peoples, North Germanic tribe who inhabited ("land of the Geats") in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the Late Middle Ages. They are one of ...
(''Götar'') in c. 1129 after the death of his mother's cousin King
Inge II. Then Richeza became
Queen consort of Sweden
This is a list of Sweden, Swedish Queen consort, queens consort and spouses of Swedish monarchs and regents. The list covers a large time span and the role of a consort has changed much over the centuries. The first Swedish consorts are spoken of i ...
. However, Magnus' rule was not accepted by the
Svear, another tribe to the north of the Geats, who vetoed him and elected
Ragnvald Knaphövde as the new King. According to the chronicler
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus (), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author ...
, Ragnvald was murdered by supporters of Magnus, who then won the realm ("imperium") as
King of Sweden
The monarchy of Sweden is centred on the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the #IOG, Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. by law a constitutional monarchy, constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parl ...
. However, there soon appeared another contender for the throne,
Sverker I, who had his power base in
Östergötland.
Richeza and her husband had their base in Denmark rather than Sweden. Alarmed by the popularity and Imperial support of his cousin
Knud ''Lavard'', Duke of
Schleswig, both Magnus and his father King Niels acted against Knud, who was murdered by Magnus on 7 January 1131. Knud's half-brother
Erik rebelled against Niels and Magnus, but was defeated and took refuge in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, where he convinced the local nobility and the
Holy Roman Emperor Lothair III to launch a retaliatory expedition against Niels. Meanwhile, Sverker I finally made the Swedes abandon Magnus in c. 1132, when he was busy with the civil war in Denmark; he then unified the country under his rule. Niels was defeated in the
Battle of Fotevik (4 June 1134), and also lost his son Magnus who was slain during the battle. Niels escaped to Schleswig, where he was killed by the citizens (25 June 1134). Now a widow, Richeza returned to Poland, apparently leaving her two sons behind in Denmark.
Second marriage
Once in Poland, Duke Bolesław III arranged a new marriage for his daughter. Richeza remarried in 1134 or 1135, but the identity of her second husband is debated. Most commonly, he is assumed to be Prince
Vsevolod Mstislavich of
Novgorod
Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...
.
Alternatively, he is identified as
Volodar Glebovich,
a member of the
Rurikid dynasty, and a Prince of
Minsk
Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
and
Grodno
Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...
, who at that time was in exile in the Polish court. The union would have been made in order to seal the alliance of Minsk and Poland against Denmark and the powerful
Monomakh Kiev
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
an dynasty. During this marriage, Richeza gave birth to three children: two sons, Vladimir (later Prince of Minsk) and Vasilko (Prince of Logoysk or
Lahojsk), and a daughter,
Sophia, born ca. 1139/40.
Around 1145, the political advantages of the Polish-Minsk union began to disappear after the Monomach dynasty lost its hegemony among the Rurikid ruling branches. Likely this was the cause of the dissolution of the marriage of Richeza and Volodar. Richeza returned again to Poland, this time with her daughter Sophia, but left her two sons behind with her former husband. Volodar never remarried and died around 1186. She moved to Denmark when her son Knud or
Canute V was enthroned in 1146.
Third marriage
In c. 1148, Queen
Ulvhild Håkansdotter, Sverker I's wife and Richeza's old stepmother-in-law, died. Soon afterwards, the widowed King married Richeza, who arrived in Sweden with her daughter Sophia. The King likely married her with support from Richeza's first husband's allies in Götaland.
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The union produced one son, Bulizlaus or Burislev, who was named after his Polish maternal grandfather. The chronicles assign
Sune Sik as the youngest son of Sverker I, possibly born by Richeza.
In 1150, Richeza's oldest son Knud V, King of
Jutland
Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
, took refuge in Sweden after he was expelled from Denmark by
Sweyn III Grathe, King of
Zealand
Zealand ( ) is the largest and most populous islands of Denmark, island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size) at 7,031 km2 (2715 sq. mi.). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 Januar ...
. In this way, the marriage with Sverker I give Richeza the opportunity to help her son, and some historians assume that she partially married the Swedish King for this reason.
One year later (1151), Knud asked for the help of
Henry the Lion, Duke of
Saxony
Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
and
Hartwig I,
Archbishop of Bremen
This list records the bishops of the Archdiocese of Bremen, Roman Catholic diocese of Bremen (), supposedly a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Cologne, Archbishopric of Cologne, then of the bishops of Bremen, who were in personal union archbishops ...
, but was defeated by Sweyn III's forces. Only after the mediation of the
King of the Germans
This is a list of monarchs who ruled over East Francia, and the Kingdom of Germany (), from Treaty of Verdun, the division of the Francia, Frankish Empire in 843 and Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire in ...
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...
during the
Imperial Diet in
Merseburg was there made a settlement between both parties: Knud V renounced his claim and was compensated by lands in Zealand, while Sweyn III was made king of Denmark. After this decision, both Knud V and
Valdemar Knudsson (son of
Knud Lavard, the enemy of his own father Magnus) rebelled against Sweyn III, who was expelled in 1154: Knud V and Valdemar became co-rulers of Denmark.
In 1156 Knud V married
Helena, daughter of King Sverker I and his first wife Ulvhild; in consequence, Richeza became the step-mother-in-law of her own son. On
Christmas Day
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...
of that year, Sverker I was murdered by a servant. When Knud V heard about the deed, he went to Sweden in order to console Richeza, but also to bring his half-sister Sophia of Minsk to Denmark to be married to Valdemar, to whom she had been betrothed since 1154. The marriage took place in 1157. On 9 August of that year, King Knud V was killed during a meeting with Valdemar I and Sweyn III. In 1158 Richeza's second son Niels, probably a monk in
Esrom Abbey, also died.
Death and aftermath
Richeza is known to have survived Sverker I's death, although the facts of her later life and her date of death are unknown: a
legend
A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess certain qualities that give the ...
says that she remarried the stable master who took part in the assassination of Sverker I.
Burislev, Richeza's son by Sverker I, is sometimes identified with
Burislev, a rival claimant to the Swedish throne against
Knut Eriksson after 1167. He acted in concert with another pretender
Kol, but was defeated and eliminated, according to a much later source in 1169. He is believed either to have been slain by Knut's men or to have fled to Denmark or Poland some time before 1173.
However, medieval Swedish genealogies say that the claimants Kol and Burislev were in fact sons of
Johan, a son of Sverker and Ulvhild.
[Nils Ahnlund, "Vreta klosters äldsta donatorer", ''Historisk tidskrift'' 65, 1945.] If so, the younger Burislev was given the prestigious name after his grandfather's second marriage without actually being related to Bolesław III. The only thing we know about Richeza's son Burislev is that his goods were inherited by his uterine sister Sophia of Minsk.
Richeza's daughter Sophia of Minsk,
Queen of Denmark by her first marriage to Valdemar I, give Richeza her only known legitimate grandchildren: the later kings
Knud VI and
Valdemar II of Denmark; Sophie (Countess of
Orlamünde); Margareta and Maria, nuns at
Roskilde
Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 53,354 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...
;
Ingeborg (the later repudiated
Queen of France); Helena (Duchess of
Brunswick-Luneburg) and
Rikissa, named after her grandmother and who, like her, became
Queen of Sweden.
Bibliography
*
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richeza of Poland, Queen of Sweden
1110s births
12th-century deaths
Piast dynasty
Richeza 1125
Remarried queens consort
Danish royal consorts
Princesses of Poland
Poland–Sweden relations
12th-century Swedish people
12th-century Polish women
12th-century Polish people
12th-century Swedish women
Mothers of Danish monarchs