The Scandinavian world of Ryksa Boleslawówna

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The life story of Ryksa, daughter of Bolesław Krzywousty, is quite well known to Polish historiography, taking into consideration the relatively few and scattered source materials relating to this historical figure. Balzer and Jasiński devoted exhaustive biographical studies to Ryksa, whereas the former had established in a convincing way the most significant facts relating to Ryksa’s life. Thus, for instance, the sequence of Ryksa’s marriages now seems to be quite beyond doubt; thanks to the above-mentioned studies, it is now quite clear that she had first married Magnus, a Danish prince, then a Russian prince Włodzimierz, and finally Sverker the Older, king of Sweden. While establishing the time and circumstances of Ryksa’s first two marriages does not seem to raise any major objections, although the identity of her second husband is not quite certain, the aims and the exact date of her third marriage to Sverker are not quite clear. The author argues that the marriage had taken place during the reign of the Polish king Władysław Wygnaniec, most probably around the year 1145, and that its aim was to ensure to Ryksa’s son Knud, a claimant to the Danish throne, the support of Sweden, which he ultimately did obtain. One may also point out to Ryksa’s influence on the Swedish religious life, associating her name with the cult of St. Stanislaw and St. Idzi in Sweden. The name Ryksa had also become a part of both Danish and Swedish dynastic tradition.