Leszek I The White - Life

Life

Leszek was the eldest surviving son of Casimir II the Just and his wife Helen of Znojmo. Still a minor upon his father's death in 1194, he and his younger brother Konrad made claims to the territories of Sandomierz and Masovia ruled by their mother as regent, while Leszek as the first-born son also succeeded his father in the Seniorate Province at Kraków.

In 1205 Leszek defeated the Rus' army of Prince Roman the Great at the Battle of Zawichost in Lesser Poland.

In 1207 Leszek placed Poland under the vasselage of the Pope, at that point Innocent III. This put Poland clearly in the camp of pro-Papal territories in opposition to the power of the Holy Roman Emperor.

After that Leszek cooperated closely with Archbishop Henry Kietlicz in implementing the reforms of Innocent III.

Leszek fought with Hungary over control of Halich Rus but was not able to extend his rule into that land. Leszek did come to an agreement on eastern expansion with Hungary by which a Hungarian prince would marry one of Leszek's daughters and be set up as a vassal of Hungary with obvious benefits to Poland as well. However Daniel of Galicia, the son of the late Roman the Great, was able to come to power in Galicia in 1214 and Polish designs in those areas, that were closely connected with attempts to spread Catholicism eastward, were thwarted.

In a rather famous anecdote, Leszek once explained to the Pope that Polish knights could not participate in his Crusade because there was no mead/beer to be had in Palestine.