Constance, Duchess of Wodzisław

Historians and sources are agreed that she was a member of the Piast dynasty; however, the difficult of establishing who was her father, caused two theories to emerge about her origins.

[11] In those documents, her brothers (considered by historians as the authors of the two complaints) requested an adjournment of their sister's wedding with Henry IV, since they felt that her age wasn't appropriate for a bride.

Historians place the wedding between the second half of 1277 and March 1280,[16] this is, between the six-months of captivity of Henry IV by his uncle Bolesław II the Bald (since 22 July 1277)[17] and the Congress of Vienna.

The wedding couldn't take place prior to 1277, because in the description of the events of Henry IV's imprisonment in the Polish-Silesian Chronicle, the Duke of Wrocław is identified as a boy, which would be impossible if he was then married.

[18] In the Congress of Vienna was settled the dispute between the Dukes of Wrocław and Opole, proved in a document were Władysław called Henry IV his son-in-law.

The complaints presented to the Pope supported the hypothesis that the wedding took place in Opole, and was chaired by the Bishop of Wrocław, Thomas II Zaremba.

After settling the dispute with Henry IV at the Congress in Vienna in March 1280, Władysław of Opole issued a document,[22] in which he promised to the Duke of Wrocław, his son-in-law, assistance in obtaining the Polish royal crown.

Giving into question the credibility of the complaints to the Pope, this document suggests the possibility that the marriage between Henry IV and the princess of Opole took place in Vienna in 1280.

[24] At that time, the disputes with his brothers-in-law, his efforts to obtain the royal crown and the apparent barrenness of his wife added further problems to Henry IV's political aspirations.

According to this hypothesis, the princess of Opole was repudiated by her husband in 1287 at the latest,[26] because between 1287–1288,[27] the Duke of Wrocław married with Matilda, daughter of Otto V the Long, Margrave of Brandenburg-Salzwedel.

On 18 April 1287 Henry IV formally asked Mieszko I to refuse his help to Bishop Thomas II, under the threat of rupture of their good relations.

Although this move clearly was made against his alliance with the Opole Dukes, the apparent reason for the repudiation was the infertility of his wife, however this fact could be unfounded, because Henry IV's second marriage with Matilda of Brandenburg was also childless.

In modern historiography were found two views, according to which Henry IV's first wife died during the 1280s, before the conclusion of his subsequent marriage with Matilda of Brandenburg.

One fact that supported this view was in any contemporary source was read anything about the Duke of Wrocław's ventures seeking the annulment of his marriage with Wladysław of Opole's daughter or any other obstacles, with the exception of a close relationship before marrying Matilda of Brandenburg.

In addition, sources not showed any problems for Henry IV about an irregular marital status during his efforts to obtain the royal crown.

[36] This is supported by the fact that as the wife of Henry IV, she is not mentioned in the Genealogy of St. Hedwig, which happened on several occasions with spouses of short-term childless marriages.

By contrast, the only reference about the repudiation of Henry IV's wife were two complaints sent to the Pope by two brothers, identified as Wladysław of Opole's sons; in both documents, are described the dismissal of their sister and the exile of the Bishop.

Finally, the repudiation of Henry IV's wife wasn't mentioned during his long dispute with Bishop Thomas II Zaremba, who constantly enumerated the Duke's vices.

[43] Following the hypothesis who identified Constance as the daughter of Wladysław of Opole, after she was repudiated by her husband came to Racibórz at the side of her brothers Mieszko I and Przemysław.

Probably because she lived in that district was called Duchess of Racibórz in the Papal letter of 22 September 1321, in which Duke Władysław of Oświęcim and his wife Euphrosyne of Płock received the right to choose their own confessor.

Next to them were discovered numerous traces of lime, a fact who proved that the person who resting in the grave died as result of an infectious disease.