XV. Political compromise of Przemysł I
Wanting to stop the gradual takeover of the lands in the area of the lower Warta by the Brandenburg margraves, in 1254 Przemysł I made peace with the Brandenburg margrave John. This peace was to be guaranteed by the marriage of his daughter Konstancja with Jan’s son Konrad. The wedding of the young couple, preceded by a papal dispensation, took place six years later in Santok. As a dowry, the bride brought the castellany of Santok, but without the castle itself.
After obtaining the right to the lands of the castellany, Margrave Jan, consolidating his reign, made the location of the first city in 1257, the so-called Nowa Marchia – Landisberch Nova, Landsberg an der Warthe, Gorzów Wielkopolski. The marriage of Konstancja and Konrad directly contributed to the loss of the Piast lands to the Brandenburgers.
The wedding of Konstancja and Konrad
The difficult political situation prompted Przemysł I – the Duke of Greater Poland – to seek an agreement with the Brandenburgers. A manifestation of these aspirations was the marriage of Konstancja, the daughter of the Greater Poland prince, with Konrad, the son of Margrave John I, agreed in 1254. In order for the young people to get married, Pope Alexander IV – under the bull of December 19, 1254 – granted them a dispensation. It was needed because both Konstancja and Konrad were the great-great-grandchildren of Mieszko the Old, Duke of Greater Poland. The wedding took place 6 years later in Santok, after the death of Przemysł I (1257). As a dowry, the bride brought the lands of the Santok castellany, but without the town in Santok.
Konstancja Przemysłówna (born in 1245 or 1246, died on October 10, 1281) was born as the eldest child of Przemysł I, Duke of Greater Poland, and Princess Elizabeth of Wrocław. In 1255, when Constance was still a minor, she was engaged to Konrad, son of John I, Margrave of Brandenburg.
Konstancja’s brother was the future king of Poland Przemysł II. He was murdered in 1296 in Rogoźno.
Konrad (I) (born around 1240, died in 1304) was the younger son of John I, Margrave of Stendal, and his first wife Sophia. After the death of his father, together with his elder brothers – Otto IV with Arrow and John II – he took power in Brandenburg-Stendal. Later, an even younger brother, Henry I, was admitted to the co-ordinates. In 1260, Konrad married the daughter of Przemysł I, Duke of Greater Poland, Konstancja.
Konstancja’s marriage to Konrad did not bring the expected warming of relations between Brandenburg and Greater Poland. Already in 1265 there were fights, as a result of which the Brandenburgers seized the hillfort in Santok. This war – only with some breaks – was fought throughout Konstancja’s life.
From her marriage to Konrad I, Konstancja had three sons – Jan IV, Otto VII and Waldemar – and a daughter, Agnes.
Konstancja and Konrad were buried in the Cistercian monastery in Chorin (in Brandenburg).
Interesting fact
In 1272, Przemysł II (Konstancja’s brother) burned Konrad’s castle in Strzelce – currently Strzelce Krajeńskie – then belonging to the castellany of Santok.
