[3] A member of the Greater Poland branch of the House of Piast as the only son of Duke Przemysł I and the Silesian Princess Elisabeth, he was born posthumously;[3] for this reason he was brought up at the court of his uncle Bolesław the Pious and received his own district to rule, the Duchy of Poznań in 1273.

However, due to the fact that the word "Przemysł" (English: Industry) means production of a good or service within an economy today, it is reasonable to be considered that his name could be a valid form from Przemysław, especially as this version is undoubtedly more medieval (occurs at the beginning of the 14th century).

With his knowledge that his forces are too weak against Brandenburg, the Pomeranian Duke decided then to make an alliance with the Greater Poland rulers, Bolesław the Pious (who probably was his first-cousin)[32] and Przemysł II.

Finally, together with his uncle, his aunt Jolenta, Bishop Mikołaj I of Poznań and other Greater Poland dignitaries the prince went to the border frontier in Drezdenko, where he solemnly brought Ludgarda to her new home.

[40] In light of modern historiography, the events preceding the issue of this document could be as follows: Przemysł II, unhappy with the prolonged guardianship of his uncle, and with the support of some powerful Greater Poland magnates[41] decided, regardless of the consequences, to assert his rights over Poznań.

In a document issued to Piotr Winiarczyk, the writer used the phrase "qui de nocte consurgens", which supports the assumption that the clerk was asleep and was completely surprised by the arrival of the prince.

This help was evidenced by the conclusion of an alliance (in unknown date) directed against "any man and Polish prince" with the exception of Duke Władysław of Opole and King Ottokar II of Bohemia.

Historians speculate[80] that the reason for the Duke of Wrocław to make this radical move was probably his desire to increase his influence over the neighboring principalities as part of his own plans for a royal coronation.

The first suggestion about Ludgarda's mysterious death came from the 14th century Rocznik Traski: «In the same year died unexpectedly the spouse of Przemysł Duke of Greater, the daughter of Lord Nicholas of Mecklenburg named Lukarda.

The Rocznik małopolski, by the other hand, spoke clearly about Ludgarda's murder in the Szamotuły code, in which added further information about this event: «Regardless of the historian (I might add) we have seen in our youth in the streets of Gniezno a wooden chapel, which in the vernacular language is called vestibule, where exist two great stones in the shape of millstones reddened with the blood of that lady, who are completely worn and faded, and were deposited in her tomb at Gniezno cathedral.»[99]Another source that describes the death of Ludgarda is the Kronika oliwska, written in the mid-14th century by Abbot Stanisław.

The story of the chronicler was as follows: Przemysł II, at the instigation of his mother Elizabeth of Wrocław (who is well known had died in 1265, a long time before the marriage of her son) asked his wife for a divorce and return her to Mecklenburg.

It is unknown how prolonged this siege was, but certainly soon due to the reluctance to fight from the rebels (knights and nobles probably feared that Przemysł II, after the capture of the castle, would not spare nobody), the duke agreed to negotiate with them.

[123] The marriage by proxy took place in the Swedish city of Nyköping on 11 October 1285; in the ceremony, the Duke of Greater Poland was represented by the notary Tylon, who received from Przemysł II the village of Giecz in gratitude for his services.

This is evidenced not only by the fact that he give their daughter the name of the mother, but also by a document issued on 19 April 1293 where he ceded to the Bishopric of Poznań the village of Kobylniki as payment for a lamp lit eternally at his second wife's tomb.

[157] In accordance with custom, Przemysł II had to pay some religious dispositions from Henryk IV: the transfer to Kraków Cathedral of 100 pieces of fine gold and devotion to the implementation of ornaments and liturgical books to the Tyniec monastery.

The fact that Przemysł II did not use the title "Duke of Sandomierz" supports the thesis that both competitors accepted the Elbow-high's authority and formal possession over that land, without precluding the possibility of minor clashes.

His claims were supported by the donation made for his maternal aunt, Gryfina (also named Agrippina) of Halych[170] (widow of Leszek II the Black) and the investiture given to him by King Rudolph I of Germany.

Both documents had no significance under Polish law; however, his military power, wealth and the cultural proximity with the Kingdom of Bohemia made Wenceslaus II a widely accepted candidate in Lesser Poland.

Details of this treaty are not preserved, and the only historic knowledge of this matter derives from a document issued by Władysław I the Elbow-high in Krzywiń on 10 March 1296, in which he emphasizes that Henry III had good rights over Greater Poland.

[184] The wedding ceremony took place shortly before 13 April 1293; according to some historians, it was probably on this occasion that the betrothal between Przemysł II's daughter Ryksa and Otto of Brandenburg-Salzwedel, Margaret's brother, was also celebrated.

Already by 1290, and with the help of Archbishop Jakub of Gniezno, duke began to prepare his coronation, earlier unsuccessfully pursued by Henryk IV Probus, the preliminary step for the unification of Poland.

Another German chronicler, who unequivocally accused the House of Ascania was Dietmar of Lübeck,[220] which also pointed out that Przemysł II's wife Margaret took part in the conspiracy which killed him, due to her family relations.

[229] Almost identical information was shown in the Katalog biskupów krakowskich, dated from the 15th century; however, there is an addition which also indicated that Wenceslaus II and a group of unnamed Polish princes are involved in the crime.

[242] Circumstances of the death of the last of the Piast Greater Poland line was specifically studied by Karol Górski,[243] Kazimierz Jasiński,[244] Zygmunt Boras,[245] Bronisław Nowacki[246] and Edward Rymar.

As was stated by Karol Górski,[257] the sunset of 7 February (or properly 30 January, if we taken into account the subsequent calendar reform) occurred at 16:48, and the sunrise had come about 7:38, which gave fourteen hours to the army to quietly reach to their target.

Although the death of Przemysł II, last male member of the Piast Greater Poland line, certainly surprised his neighbors (including Brandenburg, whose purpose was to kidnap the king, not his murder), it caused the rapid intervention of all the forces who wanted to seize power in his domains.

Probably even in February, and by March, Greater Poland was in the middle of a confrontation between Władysław I the Elbow-high (supported by Bolesław II of Płock)[263] and Henry III of Głogów (with the help of Bolko I of Opole).

[267] The second reason for Władysław I the Elbow-high's quick agreement with Henry III of Głogów was the intervention in Gdańsk of his nephew Leszek of Inowrocław, which made claims to this part of the lands of Przemysł II.

[274] Due to the nature of the extant sources from the times of Przemysł II (documents, and narrative texts recording mainly -if not exclusively- political events) it is difficult to indicate what the major plans of action of the King in the economic sphere were.

The most important ally for Przemysł II was the Roman Catholic Church, and for obvious reasons (copyists and translators, in the vast majority, are from the clergy) most documents who detailed their collaboration have been preserved to this day.