Ostrowski, Jan K.: Cracow (Cracow [u.a.], 1992)

In his will, Boleslaus designated as the senior prince his oldest
son Ladislaus, called the Exiled, who kept the Cracow throne only
until 1146. Boleslaus the Fair-haired (K^dzierzawy) followed and
then Mesco the Old. Later, the youngest of brothers, Casimir the
Just (Sprawiedliwy) gained legitimation for his rule at an assembly
in Lyczyca in 1180. It was the ultimate breach of the seniority
principle. It was sheer power, then, that decided who was to rule
in Cracow. Generally speaking, the throne was kept by descen-
dants of Casimir the Just - Leszek the White and Boleslaus the
Chaste (Wstydliwy), but the Greater Poland dukes never ceased in
their struggle to win the capital: Mesco the Old gained the throne
four times, his son Ladislaus Spindleshancks (Laskonogi) twice.
Conrad of Masovia also ruled in Cracow a number of times, and in
the 1230’s the throne passed into the hands of Silesian dukes:
Henry the Bearded and Henry the Pious. The rule of the Silesian
Piasts, who launched a vigorous policy of economic and cultural
development, brought hopes for permanent unification, later
dashed by the Tartar invasion and the death of Henry the Pious at
the Battle of Legnica (1241). The second half of the thirteenth
century established the practice of bequeathing the Cracow Duchy
in the ruler’s last will. At the turn of the fourteenth century the
city fell for fifteen years under the rule of the Bohemian kings,
who also assumed the title of King of Poland. The constant
struggle for the throne and the lack of continuity of power
strengthened the position of Lesser Poland’s nobility, who often
acted as kingmakers or actively opposed the current duke. The
political status gained by Lesser Poland’s nobles persisted long
after the unification of the kingdom, and as a part of the
traditional system of seniority in state offices it was brought to an
end only by the partitions of Poland in the' eighteenth century.
The period of instability ended when Ladislaus the Short (Lokie-
tek) took Cracow in 1306; his long-fought* battle for unification
culminated in his coronation of 1320.

These turbulent times were by no means a period of stagnation
for Cracow; on the contrary, the second half of the twelfth

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