It was not until 1138, after the death of Bolesław III, that he moved with his parents to Kraków, which became the capital of the Seniorate Province, ruled by his father as high duke and overlord of Poland.

According to the chronicler Wincenty Kadłubek, the confrontation between the siblings was mainly instigated by Władysław II's wife, Agnes of Babenberg, who believed that her husband, as the eldest son, was the rightful sole ruler of the whole country.

On the other hand, Salomea of Berg, widow of Bolesław III and Władysław II's stepmother, attempted to form alliances with foreign rulers and took every opportunity to secure the reign of her sons, the junior dukes.

After a short time in Bohemia, Władysław II and his family moved to Germany, where his brother-in-law, King Conrad III, offered his hospitality and assistance toward the high duke's restoration.

From 1158 to 1162 he took part in the Barbarossa's expedition to Italy, where he won fame after killing a well-known Italian knight in a duel on the walls of Milan.

Bolesław's faithful service to the emperor was finally rewarded in 1163, when Barbarossa succeeded through diplomacy in restoring to the descendants of Władysław II their inheritance over Silesia.

[2] However Bolesław IV decided to maintain the security of his lands and retain the control over the main Silesian cities of Wroclaw, Opole, Racibórz, Głogów, and Legnica.

After almost 16 years of exile, Bolesław returned to Silesia with his second wife, Christina (Zvenislava had died around 1155); his elder children, Jarosław and Olga; and his younger brother Mieszko Tanglefoot.

Bolesław and Mieszko initially ruled jointly and two years later (1165) both retook the major Silesian cities handed back by the high duke and obtained full control over all Silesia.

Mieszko III gave Barbarossa 8000 pieces of silver and promised him the restoration of Bolesław, who finally returned home at the beginning of 1173.

Thanks to the mediation of Casimir II, Bolesław returned to his Duchy without major troubles in 1177; however, he suffered a further diminution of his authority when he was compelled to give Głogów to his youngest brother Konrad.

Colonization, initially from poor German areas, substantially accelerated the economic development of the duchy, and was continued by his son Henry I the Bearded.

Bolesław founded the Cistercian Abbatia Lubensis abbey in Lubiąż with the collaboration of monks from Pforta, across the Saale River in Thuringia.

[3] They had two children: By 1157, Bolesław married his second wife Christina (d. 21 February 1204/1208), a German; according to the historian Kazimierz Jasiński, she was probably a member of the comital house of Everstein, Homburg, or Pappenheim.

They had seven children:[citation needed] In German and Polish historiography there exists a controversy about the relations between Silesia and the Holy Roman Empire in the early medieval period.