Mieszko IV Tanglefoot

Mieszko IV Tanglefoot (c. 1130 – 16 May 1211) was Duke of Kraków and High Duke of Poland from 9 June 1210 until his death one year later. He was also Duke of Silesia from 1163 to 1173 (with his brother as co-ruler), Duke of Racibórz from 1173, and Duke of Opole from 1202. His nickname "Tanglefoot" (Plątonogi) appeared in the chronicles from the 14th and 15th centuries. From Rocznik Sędziwoja, annals written in the mid-fifteenth century, the entry for the year 1192: "Cracovia civitas devastata est a Mescone loripede dicto Platonogy nepote ducis Kazimiriensis filio Wladislai exulis" (en: "The city of Kraków was devastated by Mieszko the bandy-legged, called Platonogy, nephew of Duke Casimir, son of Władysław the Exile"). Early life Mieszko was the second son of Władysław II the Exile and Agnes of Babenberg. From 1146, after the deposition of his father, Mieszko and his family mainly lived in the town of Altenburg in Saxony, which was granted as a temporary possession to Władysław II by Agnes's half-brother King Conrad III of Germany. During his time in exile, Mieszko studied in Michaelsberg and Bamberg. The exile for the deposed high duke turned out to be permanent; he died in Altenburg in 1159. His sons continued the fight to recover their inheritance, and finally three years later, in 1163, and thanks to the intervention of the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, Mieszko and his older brother Bolesław I the Tall returned to Silesia.