Mikołaj Gryfita

[2] Gryfita was considered an extraordinary figure and was said to "make crowned heads tremble before him", and also that: "he exposed princes to ridicule by arbitrarily appointing them and deposing them from the throne".

After the death of Prince Casimir in 1194, Gryfita, together with the bishop of Kraków Pełka and Kazimierz's widow Helena, took over the regency on behalf of the minor Leszek the White.

Casimir, not frightened by the greater scale of his enemies, gave heart to his soldiers by telling them that unmotivated slaves swelled the ranks of the Ruthenians, and thus that: "sometimes a small detachment scattered great hosts".

[3][4] On the left wing, commanded by Gryfita, the lightly-armed enemy archers pierced or wounded their horses, causing the Poles to start retreating.

[3][5][6] The Duke of Greater Poland, Mieszko III (the only living son of Bolesław Wrymouth), decided to remove his nephew, Leszek the White, from power to become a senior prince again.

After the death of Casimir the Just, he obtained the support of other Piasts, namely two Silesian princes, Mieszko IV Tanglefoot and his nephew, Jarosław of Opole.

Gryfita, supported by the reinforcements of the prince of Vladimir, Roman of Halych, and the voivode of Sandomierz, Goworek (who was late and joined the fighting in the second stage of this battle), fought against the troops of Mieszko the Old and his Silesian allies.

He regained power in the senior district in 1198 under an agreement with Princess Helena, where Mieszko's successor on the throne of Kraków was to be Leszek the White, and not one of the sons of the Duke of Greater Poland.

Szczepan was one of the few officials who had a successful rule in Kraków alongside the seniors of the Piast dynasty, princes Boleslaw Kędzierzawy and Mieszko III.