page_title: Władysław I Łokietek
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Władysław I Łokietek / Background
context_page_description: Władysław I Łokietek, in English known as the "Elbow-high" or Ladislaus the Short was the King of Poland from 1320 to 1333, and duke of several of the provinces and principalities in the preceding years. He was a member of the Piast family of rulers, son of Duke Casimir I of Kujawy, and great-grandson of King Casimir II the Just.
  Władysław I inherited a small portion of his father's domain, but his dominion grew as some of his brothers died young. He unsuccessfully tried to incorporate the Duchy of Krakow in 1289, following the death of his half-brother Leszek II the Black and the withdrawal from contention of his ally Bolesław II of Masovia. After a period in exile during the rule of Wenceslaus II, Władysław regained several duchies and then Krakow in 1306 when Wenceslaus III was murdered. He temporarily took control of part of Greater Poland after the death of his ally Przemysł II, lost it, and then subsequently regained it.
  Władysław was a skilled military leader, but also an administrator; he conquered Gdańsk Pomerania, and left it to familial governors.
context_section_description: In 1138, the Kingdom of Poland, which had been growing in strength under the rule of the Piast dynasty, encountered an obstacle which impeded its development for nearly two hundred years. In the will of King Bolesław III Wrymouth (Bolesław III Krzywousty), Poland was divided into five provinces: Silesia, Mazovia with eastern Kuyavia, Greater Poland, the Sandomierz Region, and the Seniorate Province. The Seniorate Province initially comprised Kraków and western Lesser Poland, eastern Greater Poland including Gniezno and Kalisz, western Kuyavia, Łęczyca and Sieradz (maintained by the Dowager Duchess Salomea of Berg for her lifetime), and with Pomerelia as a fiefdom. To prevent his four sons from quarreling, Bolesław granted one province to each of them, while the Seniorate Province was to be given to the eldest brother on the grounds of primogeniture. This decision was meant to forestall dynastic feuds and prevent the disintegration of the kingdom. However, it proved inadequate, and began nearly two centuries of what it had sought to counteract: constant fighting and disorder. Władysław I succeeded in re-uniting most of these lands back into the kingdom of Poland.
caption: Edict by Władysław the Short in 1325 confirming the Cistercians of Byszewo continue to have the same rights as under German law, and the continued ownership of their Abbey in Byszewo.
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