| Salome of Poland | |
|---|---|
| Queen of Halych (Galicia) | |
 | |
| Reign | 1215–1219 |
| Born | 1211/1212 Kraków, Kingdom of Poland |
| Died | 1268 Skała, Lesser Poland Province, Crown of the Kingdom of Poland |
| Burial | Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Kraków, Poland |
| Spouses | Coloman of Galicia |
| House | Piast |
| Father | Leszek the White |
| Mother | Grzymisława of Łuck |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Blessed Salome, O.S.C. | |
|---|---|
| Virgin | |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church (Order of St. Clare) |
| Beatified | 1672, Rome, Papal States, by Pope Clement X |
| Major shrine | Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, Kraków, Poland |
| Feast | November 18 |
Salome of Poland (1211/1212 – 1268), also known as Salome of Cracow or Blessed Salome (Polish: Błogosławiona Salomea), (1211–1268) was a Polish princess and from 1215 to 1219 the Queen of Halych by virtue of being the wife of Kálmán or Coloman of Galicia.
Life
Salomea was the daughter of Leszek I the White, who was the Duke of Kraków and thus the High Duke in Poland, and his wife Grzymisława of Łuck (or Lutsk). She was the older sister of Bolesław V the Chaste. Her marriage to Kálmán, who was the son of King András or Andrew II of Hungary, was negotiated when she was about three. Since her mother had ancestral connections to the lands of Galicia, and both her father and King Andrew wanted to dominate that area, this plan seemed to meet the needs of both parties. The marriage of Salomea and Kálmán, who was seven at the time, occurred in 1215. In 1219 their control in Galicia was ended and for a time they were taken as prisoners. After their release they returned to Hungary and lived in Szepes, now Spiš in the nation of Slovakia.
In 1226 Kálmán was named Duke of Slavonia by his father, and he took responsibility for the rule of Slavonia, Croatia, and Dalmatia. He died in 1241 from wounds suffered at the Battle of Mohi during the Mongol invasion of Europe.
Salomea supported the Franciscans in Poland. In 1245 she joined the Order of Poor Ladies and founded a monastery in Zawichost in which to live as nuns according to the Rule of Saint Clare. Because of the danger of a Mongol invasion into Poland, Salomea and the other Poor Ladies moved westward from Zawichost in March 1257, and relocated to Skała, north of Kraków. Salomea was considered saintly and it was said that a star flew out of her mouth when she died.
She was beatified in 1672 by Pope Clement X. Her tomb is in Kraków in a chapel within the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. She is also depicted in a stained glass window to the left of the main altar.
References
- The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: History, Memory, Legacy (Andrzej Chwalba, Krzysztof Zamorski, eds.) Routledge, 2020, n.p. ISBN 9781000203998
- Monks of Ramsgate. "Salomea". Book of Saints 1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 20 November 2016
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- ^ "Salomea of Little Poland", Epistolae
- The Making of Christian Myths in the Periphery of Latin Christendom (c. 1000-1300) (Lars Boje Mortensen, ed.) Museum Tusculanum Press, 2006, p. 183 ISBN 9788763504072
- Koziara, Thomas P., Historia Nostra: The Complete History of Poland: Volume III: 1333 to 1586 Aurifera S.A., 2020. p. 13
Sources
- Gábor Klaniczay (14 March 2002). Holy Rulers and Blessed Princesses: Dynastic Cults in Medieval Central Europe. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-42018-1. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
- Holly, Karol (2007). "Princess Salomea and Hungarian – Polish Relations in the Period 1214 – 1241". Historický časopis. 55 (Supplement): 5–32. ISSN 0018-2575.