European Kingdoms

Duchy of Belz (Mazovia) (Poland)
AD 1426 - 1442

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Mieszko Piast became the first documented ruler of a duchy of Poland when he accepted Christianity into the newly created state in AD 966. At this time, the Polish state encompassed territory which was similar to that of modern Poland, but without many of the northern regions which were still tribal. Occasional kings of Poland had to be able to control various, often rebellious, Polish sub-states, early Mazovia included.

Mazovia was an eastern borderland territory which also encompassed western-central parts of Prussia. As one of a series of small states in the region it was probably formed in the ninth or tenth century, contemporaneously with the formation of the Western Polans state on its western flank.

On 28 October 1138, and not for the first time, Poland was divided into several principalities: Great Poland, Mazovia with Kujavia, Silesia, and Sandomierz. Little Poland was reserved for the senior Polish prince who was nominal overlord for all the principalities until 1180.

Further subdivisions occurred in Mazovia throughout the next two centuries which fractured the duchy into several tiny 'statelets' which could be picked off by anyone with an eye to territorial expansion. Konrad I in 1234 subdivided an area of control around Płock for his son, Bolesław I.

Bolesław succeeded him to become duke of all Mazovia, but a precedent seems to have been established. Another subdivision took place in 1264 when the duchy of Czersk was established. Belz was a short-lived division which was independent only for the lifetime of its sole ruler. In 1382 it had been a part of Płock which had been seized by the Teutonic Knights.

With Mazovia's stability now rather uncertain, the death of Ziemowit 'the Younger' in 1426 allowed his sons to individually govern their own areas of responsibility while agreeing to share unified responsibility for Mazovia as a whole. The brothers were Trojden II and Wladyslaw I of Płock, Janusz I of Czersk, Ziemowit V of Rawa, and Kazimierz I of Belz.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Krzysiek Popończyk, from The Russian Primary Chronicle (Laurentian Text), Samuel Hazzard Cross & Olgerd P Sherbowitz-Wetzor (Eds and translators, Mediaeval Academy of America), from A History of Poland from its Foundation, M Ross, from Geography, Ptolemy, from The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157), Theodore Murdock Andersson & Kari Ellen Gade Morkinskinna, from The History of the Baltic Countries, Zigmantas Kiaupa, Ain Mäesalu, Ago Pajur, & Gvido Straube (Eds, Estonia 2008), and from External Link: The Forgotten Kingdom of Lechia (the argument for the mythical 'Kingdom of Lechia').)

1426 - 1442

Son of Ziemowit IV of Płock. Co-ruled Mazovia with brothers.

1427

The death of the childless Trojden II of Płock means that his younger brother, Wladyslaw, succeeds him there as Wladyslaw I. In fact, this process is the first step in a fuller reunification of Mazovia.

The medieval city of Belz was originally part of Halicia-Volyn, located fifteen kilometres to the west of Sheptytskyi and seventy kilometres to the north of Lviv, near today's Polish border

1434

Political divisions have emerged between the various surviving sons of Ziemowit 'the Younger'. Wladyslaw I of Płock has especially diverged from the pro-Polish monarchy view of his brothers.

Now, upon the coronation of King Wladyslaw III (VI), they formally divide Mazovia between them, with Wladyslaw secure in Płock, Wizna, and Zawkrze, Bolesław IV in Czersk, Ziemowit V in Rawa, and Kazimierz I in Belz.

1442

While engaged in supporting - with reluctance - a campaign by Bolesław IV of Czersk and Warsaw against the Lithuanians, Wladyslaw I of Płock is able to gain Rawa and Belz following the deaths of Ziemowit V and Kazimierz I respectively. Mazovia is now almost fully reunited.

Jagiello of Lithuania, king of Poland, is memorialised in statue form in New York's Central Park, NY, USA (External Link: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International)