Katarina Šubić (Polish: Katarzyną; d. bef. 5 March 1358), was a Croatian noblewoman from Croatian noble Šubić family and by marriage, Duchess of Legnica-Brzeg.
Biography
Katharina was the daughter of Mladen II Šubić, Ban of Croatia and Lord of all of Bosnia.
Katharina married Bolesław III the Generous, Duke of Legnica-Brzeg, in 1326, four years after the death of his first wife, Princess Margareta of Bohemia. The marriage, which lasted almost twenty-six years, was childless.
After the abdication of her husband in 1342, Katharina retired with him to Brzeg, where they remained until Bolesław III's death ten years later, on 21 April 1352.
In his will, Bolesław III left the Duchies of Brzeg and Oława to Katharina as her dower. This was the second documented case where a Piast ruler granted his widow lands in her own right; the first was Salome of Berg, who received Łęczyca from her husband Bolesław III Wrymouth when he died in 1138. The terms of the dower grant stated that the beneficiary could obtain the full sovereignty over the land for her life, and could lose it in two cases: if she remarried or became a nun (resignation was not considered).
Katharina reigned as Duchess of Brzeg for six years until her own death, in 1358. Brzeg returned to the hands of her stepsons, Wenceslaus I and Louis I.
References
- Ančić, Mladen (2002). "Od kralja "poluboga" do prvih ideja o "nacionalnom kraljevstvu"" [From the "Demigod" King to the First Ideas About a "National Kingdom"]. Kolomanov put (katalog izložbe). Zagreb: Hrvatski povijesni muzej. p. 100.
Taj se niz činjenica odnosi na jednu malo poznatu epizodu iz povijesti kuće Šubića, naime na brak Katarine, kćerke bana Mladena II. i unuke bana Pavla, s poljskim vojvodom Boleslavom III. od Wroclava, sklopljen sredinom 20-ih godina 14. stoljeća (Wertner 1901.). O okolnostima u kojima je Katarina otišla u Wroclav, o tomu tko ju je tamo otpratio i o eventualnim vezama s postojbinom, ne zna se ništa. No, ipak je ostalo zabilježeno da je bila "rođena u Hrvatskoj, a dovedena (u Wroclav) iz Ugarske". U svezu s tim njezinim boravkom čini se da bi trebalo dovesti postanak bar dijela jednoga inače zagonetnog i neobičnog djela, poznatog pod imenom Ugarsko-poljska kronika.
| Preceded byBolesław III the Generous | Duchess of Brzeg 1352–1358 |
Succeeded byWenceslaus I |