Sandomierz, Duchy of
Substate | Defunct
1138 CE to 1305 CE
The Duchy of Sandomierz is one of the territories created during the period of the fragmentation of Poland (early twelfth century).
It is originally part of the central Seniorate Province, inherited by Duke Henry of Sandomierz (see Testament of Boleslaw III Krzywousty).
The Duchy is located in the southeastern corner of the Kingdom of Poland, between the rivers of Pilica, Vistula, San, and Dunajec.
In the late Middle Ages, it becomes part of historic province of Lesser Poland, together with adjacent Duchy of Krakow.
In the early fourteenth century, the Duchy is turned into Sandomierz Voivodeship.
Its main urban centers are the historic towns of Sandomierz and Wislica.
Other main towns are Lublin, Radom, Checiny, Pilzno, Lukow and Stezyca.
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The Great Crossroads
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Polish monarch Boleslaw Wrymouth makes complex arrangements intended to prevent fratricidal warfare and preserve the Polish state's formal unity.
Following his concept of seniority, Boleslaw divides the country into five principalities: Silesia, Greater Poland, Mazovia, Sandomierz and Kraków.
The first four provinces are given to his four sons, who became independent rulers.
The fifth province, the Seniorate Province of Kraków, is to be added to the senior among the Princes who, as the Grand Duke of Kraków, is the representative of the whole of Poland.
The stability of the system is supposedly assured by the institution of the senior or high duke of Poland, based in Kraków and assigned to the special Seniorate Province that is not to be subdivided.
This principle breaks down within the generation of Boleslaw III's sons, when Wladyslaw II the Exile, Boleslaw IV the Curly, Mieszko III the Old and Casimir II the Just fight for power and territory in Poland, and in particular over the Kraków throne.
The external borders left by Boleslaw III at his death closely resemble the borders left by Mieszko I; this original early Piast monarchy configuration does not survive the fragmentation period.
For nearly two centuries, the Piasts will spar with each other, the clergy, and the nobility for the control over the divided kingdom.
Poland has divided by 1240 into four states, each under the control of the Piast family.
Kraków’s King Boleslaw V is legally the preeminent ruler, but his cousin Duke Henry II of Silesia is the preeminent lord.
The Mongols on March 18 at Chmielnik meet another Polish army.
These forces, commanded by Wlodzimierz, voivode (palatine) of Kraków, and Pakoslaw, voivode of Sandomierz, represent most of the Polish knights from those two provinces (the Kraków Province, also known as the Seniorate Province, and the Sandomierz Province).
The Duke of Kraków withdraws prior to the battle and does not participate in it.
Bolesław's escape damages the morale of the army, and causes many others to withdraw as well, weakening the forces available to Wlodzimierz and Pakosław.
While the Polish forces have the advantage in the first phase of the battle, the Mongols, seeing that they will not defeat the Poles in straight combat, feign a retreat.
When the Polish forces begin to pursue them, they are hit by the Mongols' reinforcements and defeated comprehensively.
Polish casualties are very heavy; the provincial nobility is annihilated.
King Daniel of Galicia dies in 1284 and Shvarn, one of his sons, receives nominal overlordship over all of the Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia as its duke.
Immediately, he mounts a major campaign against Poland, this time aiming for Lesser Poland.
However, although joint armies manage to plunder Skaryszew, Tarczek and Wiślica, this time the campaign is less successful and the allied Ruthenian and Lithuanian armies are repelled.
The Yotvingian auxiliaries are defeated by Bolesław V the Chaste at the Battle of Brańsk.
Boleslaus V the Chaste, High Duke of Poland, promulgates legal protection for his Jewish subjects in 1264, including protection from the kidnapping and forcible baptism of Jewish children.
On August 16, 1264, Boleslaw grants the first written privilege to the Jews of Greater Poland (the Statute of Kalisz).
It regulates the judicial authority over the Jewish population, and Jewish credit and trading activity.
The comparatively liberal statute will serve as a basis for Jewish privileges in Poland until 1795.