On the Chronology of Vladislaus of Opole’s Rule as a Count Palatine of Poland

Abstract

The correct date of the rule of Vladislaus of Opole as a Count palatine in Poland has not yet been established which results in an erroneous explanation of circumstances of their occurrence, but also their progress and significance. The author aims at placing the facts in a correct timeframe. The proposal of dating the rule of Vladislaus of Opole as the Count palatine is based on a contextual analysis of Chronicle of Jan of Czarnków and explains hypothetical reasons for a clear chronological disorder in its narrative. It allows to shed new light upon the episode of the governorship of the Duke of Opole in Poland. Determining the sequence of events described in chapters 32–45 of the Chronicle proves that its author dated the Duke’s nomination to the Count palatine to 1377. He became the Count palatine at the end of February 1377, directly after relinquishing regency in Poland by the Queen Elizabeth of Poland. Although this nomination was immediately protested against by the dignitaries of Greater Poland, the Duke remained in his office and was dismissed, or alternatively, he resigned, not earlier than in the middle of April 1378. Even though the abovementioned protest was justified in terms of legality, initially it was not met with an adequate reaction since the protesters were not a sufficient political force from the monarch’s point of view.