Zbyslava OF KIEV (aft1085-1113)

Individual Events and Attributes

Marriage

	Boleslaw III Wrymouth, King of Poland by Jan Matjko		Wladyslaw Wygnaniec, Chronica Polonorum by Maciej Miechowita, 1519

Individual Note

Zbyslava of Kiev (Polish: Zbyslawa Kijowska; b. ca. 1085/90 - d. ca. 1112/14), was a Kievan Rus' princess member of the Rurikid dynasty and by marriage Duchess of Poland.

She was the daughter of Sviatopolk II, Grand Prince of Kiev by his first wife, who is believed was a Premyslid princess.[1]

Life

During his fight against his half-brother Zbigniew, the Junior Duke of Poland, Boleslaw III Wrymouth, allied himself with Kievan Rus and Hungary. In order to seal his alliance with the Grand Prince of Kiev, Boleslaw III was betrothed to his eldest daughter Zbyslava. The Primary Chronicle names Zbyslava, daughter of Svyatopolk when recording that she was taken to Poland on 16 November 1102 to marry Boleslaw III.[2] Thus, the marriage took place between that date or in early 1103. They had only one known son, the future Wladyslaw II the Exile, born in 1105,[3] and a daughter (perhaps named Judith), born around 1111 and later wife of Vsevolod Davidovich, Prince of Murom.[4]

Her date of death is uncertain. Web sources placed Zbyslava's death between the years 1109/12.[5][6] Currently, it is assumed that she died probably in 1114[7] at least, because one year later (in 1115), Boleslaw III married Salomea, daughter of Henry, Count of Berg-Schelklingen.

NOTES:

1 The assumption that Sviatopolk II's first wife was a Bohemian princess was made by the historian Aleksandr Nazarenko: according to him, Polish chronicles stated that was necessary to obtain the Pope's dispensation for Zbyslava's marriage, because she and her husband are closely related. This is understandable, if is true the version that Sviatopolk II was the son of Gertrude of Poland. However, Nazarenko drew attention to the "Gertrude Psalter", in which she calls Prince Yaropolk unicus filius meus (my only son) and in consecuence, Sviatopolk II could be an illegitimate child. In this case, the link that makes Zbyslava and her husband close relatives, must go through the female line: between Boleslaw III and Zbyslava's mother, the first wife of Sviatopolk II. This fact allows Nazarenko come to a conclusion regarding the origin and identity of this woman. From his point of view, she was the daughter of Spytihnev II, Duke of Bohemia (d. 1061) by his wife Ida, sister of Dedi I, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark (whose stepdaughter Cunigunde of Orlamünde married with Prince Yaropolk, Sviatopolk II's brother). A. V. Nazarenko, International Relations of Ancient Rus, p. 576

2 Russian Primary Chronicle (1102), ed. 1973, p. 199.

3 Gallus Anonymus recorded the birth of a second son from Boleslaw III and Zbyslava, but modern historians believed that this child never existed. Oswald Balzer placed the birth of this son between 1107/08; O. Balzer: Genealogia Piastów, p. 121.

4 J. Zylinska: Piastówny i zony Piastów, Warsaw 1975, pp. 99, 113.

5 POLAND

6 Complete Genealogy of the Piast dinasty

7 A wide scientific discussion over the death of Zbyslava was presented in the work of K. Kollinger. See K. Kollinger: The problem of food in 1109, Zbyslava's death and the Polish-Kievan alliance in 1102-1114 [access 13 September 2009], pp. 42-46.²

Sources