Agnes of Austria. The Tigress of Kraków

Leopold III the Saint and his daughter Agnes connected Austria with one of Europe’s most important imperial dynasties – the Babenbergs entered into an alliance with the Piasts through their daughter’s marriage. This German aristocrat became the wife of Polish Duke Władysław II, and their union held crucial significance for twelfth-century dynastic politics. The conflict over senioral power ended with the ducal couple’s exile, which lasted until their deaths.

Dynastic Marriage and Agnes’s Position

The margrave of Austria’s daughter married the eldest son of Bolesław the Wrymouth around 1125. This union represented an enormous diplomatic success, as it linked the Piasts with the powerful Babenberg and Hohenstaufen dynasties. Agnes was born after 1111, and her mother Agnes von Waiblingen was the daughter of Emperor Henry IV and sister of Henry V.

The duchess’s half-brother, Conrad III, later assumed the royal throne in Germany. The marriage with Władysław produced several children: Bolesław the Tall, Mieszko Tanglefoot, Conrad Spindleshanks, and Richeza – the future Iberian queen. The dynasty had not contracted such a prestigious marriage since Mieszko II’s union with Richeza.

Struggle for Senioral Power After 1138

Władysław assumed the senioral duchy along with Silesia following his father’s death in 1138. The duchess actively supported her husband’s efforts to centralize power, for which chronicler Vincent Kadłubek contemptuously called her „the Tigress.” Sources describe her as a proud, ambitious, and energetic woman who effectively co-ruled alongside the duke.

The ducal couple entered into sharp conflict with Władysław’s younger brothers and the magnates. Agnes is credited with initiating the capture of Palatine Peter Włostowic, who favored the junior dukes – he was blinded and exiled. This ruthless action deepened political antagonisms.

Downfall and Years of Exile

The civil war lasted intermittently between 1142 and 1146. The decisive battle near Poznań ended in Władysław’s defeat, and he fled to Germany seeking help from his brother-in-law Conrad III. Agnes remained in Kraków defending the capital with her children, but burghers opened the gates to the junior dukes’ armies.

The defeated duchess joined her husband with their offspring in Altenburg in Saxony, where Conrad assigned them a castle and revenues. She did not abandon attempts to reclaim the throne – she sought intervention from both the king and the pope. Conrad’s first expedition in August 1146 ended in failure.

Final Years and Death

The next imperial campaign took place only in 1157 under Frederick Barbarossa’s command. The expedition did not restore the couple to the Kraków throne – the emperor obtained only the feudal homage of Bolesław the Curly at Krzyżkowo. The promise to return Silesia was not fulfilled during the Exile’s lifetime.

Władysław died on May 30, 1159, in Altenburg. Agnes survived her husband but did not live to see her sons’ return to Silesia, which they recovered in 1163. The duchess died on January 24 or 25 between 1160 and 1163, never returning to Poland. She was laid to rest in the Cistercian abbey of Pforta near Naumburg.