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Swietoslawa av Polen

Female Abt 0967 - Abt 1014  (47 years)


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  • Name Swietoslawa av Polen 
    Nickname "Gunhilda" 
    Birth Abt 0967  [1
    • Navnet Swietoslawa er en rekonstruksjon som først og fremst er begrunnet på en inskripsjon i - Liber vitae of the New Minster and Hyde Abbey Winchester - om at en søster til sønnen Knut den store skal ha hett - Santslaue – den fulle inskripsjonen lyder:

      Santslaue soror CNVTI regis nostri.

      Antagelig var denne datteren trolig døpt etter sin mor. Hun er ellers kjent under navnet Gunhild eller Gunhilda, en mulig norrøn forenkling av hennes opprinnelige navn.

      I henhold til islandske sagaer og andre kilder var Svein Tjugeskjeggs hustru den vestgøtiske stormannsdatteren Sigrid Storråde. Kildekritiske forskere på 1900-tallet argumentert for at Sigrid Storråde var en oppdiktet og fiktiv person og at begge navnene Gunhild og Sigrid har vært norrøne forenklinger av det polske navnet Swietoslawa.
      I den senere tid har forskerne derimot hellet til begrunnelser at Sigrid Storråde var en faktisk historisk person, og at Svein Tjugeskjegg var gift 2 ganger, og at Adam av Bremen tok feil, og de islandske sagaene hadde rett. Sigrid Storråde var da gift med både Erik Seiersæl og Svein Tjugeskjegg, og Swietoslawa av Polen var kun gift med danskekongen.

      Ifølge Snorre Sturlasson hadde Gunhild 2 søstre, Geira og Astrid. Geira ble i 982 gift med Olav Tryggvason som senere ble norsk konge (995-1000). Geira døde ifølge kildene barnløs i 985. Prinsesse Astrid ble gift med jomsvikingenes høvding Sigvalde jarl. [1]
    Gender Female 
    Death Abt 1014  [1
    Person ID I4480  My Genealogy
    Last Modified 18 Aug 2016 

    Father Mieszko av Polen, "Mieszko 1",   b. Between 0922 and 0945   d. 25 May 0992 (Age 70 years) 
    Relationship Birth 
    Mother Dobrawa (Doubravka) av Böhmen,   b. Between 0940 and 0945, Böhmen, Tsjekkia Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Abt 0977 (Age 37 years) 
    Relationship Birth 
    Marriage Between 0965 and 0966  [1
    • According to earlier sources, Dobrawa urged her husband Mieszko 1 of Poland to accept baptism in 966, the year after their marriage. Modern historians believe, however, that the change of religion by Mieszko was one of the points discussed in the Polish-Bohemian agreement concluded soon before his marriage with Dobrawa. Her role in his conversion is not considered now to be as important as it is often represented in medieval chronicles.

      In the second half of 964 an alliance between Boleslav 1 the Cruel, Duke of Bohemia, and Mieszko 1 of Poland was concluded. In order to consolidate the agreement, in 965 Boleslav 1's daughter Dobrawa was married to Mieszko 1. There was a difference of religion between the spouses; she was a Christian, he was a pagan.

      Two independent sources attribute Dobrawa's important role in the conversion to Christianity of Mieszko 1 and Poland. The first is the chronicles of Thietmar, who was born two years before the death of Dobrawa. He wrote that the Bohemian princess tried to persuade her husband to accept Christianity (even at the cost of breaking their marriage and with it the Polish-Bohemian Alliance). It the end, she finally obtained the conversion of Mieszko 1 and with him, of all Poland.
      In turn, the 12th century chronicler Gallus Anonymus says that Dobrawa came to Poland surrounded by secular and religious dignitaries. She agreed to marry Mieszko I providing that he was baptized. The Polish ruler accepted, and only then was able to marry the Bohemian princess.
      However, modern historians allege that the baptism of Mieszko I was dictated by political benefits and should not be attributed to any action of Dobrawa, who according to them had virtually no role in the conversion of her husband. They note that the conversion of Mieszko 1 thanks to Dobrawa formed part of the tradition of the Church which stressed the conversion of Pagan rulers through the influence of women.
      On the other hand, literature doesn't refuse to give Dobrawa a significant role in the Christianization of the Poles. In her wedding procession, she arrived to Poland with Christian clergymen, among them possibly Jordan, the first Bishop of Poland (since 968).

      Tradition attributes to Dobrawa the establishment of the Holy Trinity and St. Wit Churches in Gniezno and the Church of the Virgin Mary in Ostrow Tumski, Poznan.
      Dobrawa's marriage cemented the alliance of Mieszko 1 with Bohemia, which continued even after her death. On 21 September 967 Mieszko 1 was assisted by Bohemians in the decisive Battle against the Volinians led by Wichmann the Younger.

      When, after the death of Emperor Otto 1 in 973, a struggle for the supremacy in Germany began, both Dobrawa's husband and brother Boleslav II the Pious, Duke of Bohemia, supported the same candidate for the German throne, Duke Henry 2 of Bavaria.

      The marriage of Mieszko 1 and Dobrawa produced 3 children:

      1. Boleslaw 1 the Brave (Chrobry) (b. 967 - d. 17 June 1025).

      2. A daughter, perhaps named Swietoslawa, perhaps identical to the legendary Sigrid the Haughty (b. 968/72 - d. ca. 1016), perhaps married firstly with Eric the Victorious, King of Sweden, and later wife of Sweyn Forkbeard, King of Denmark, by whom she is said to have been mother of Canute the Great, King of Denmark, Norway and England.

      3. Gunhilda of Poland, who married Swyen 1 Forkbeard, King of Denmark and England [1]
    Family ID F2460  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Svein Haraldsen, "Otto 1",   b. Abt 0960   d. 03 Feb 1014, Gainsborough, North Lincolnshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 54 years) 
    Marriage Aft 0994  [1
    • Den polske prinsessens ekteskap med Svein Tjugeskjegg var ikke lykkelig og hun ble tvunget til å flytte tilbake til sitt hjemland hvor hun levde til hennes sønner tok makten i Danmark. Hun flyttet da altså ikke til Sverige og Olof Skötkonung var da ikke hennes sønn. [1]
    Children 
     1. Harald Sveinsen av Danmark,   b. Aft 0994   d. Abt 1018 (Age < 22 years)  [Birth]
     2. Knut Sveinsen av Danmark, "Knut 2",   b. Abt 0995   d. 12 Nov 1035, Shaftesbury, Dorset, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 40 years)  [Birth]
    Family ID F2438  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 18 Aug 2016 

  • Sources 
    1. [S754] Wikipedia (Reliability: 1).


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