King Boleslaw of Poland II

  General Notes:

the Generous, also known as the Bold and the Cruel (Polish: Boleslaw II Szczodry or Smialy or Okrutny; ca. 1041 or 1042 \endash 2 or 3 April 1081 or 1082),[1] was Duke of Poland (1058\endash 76) and third King of Poland (1076\endash 79).

He was the eldest son of Casimir I the Restorer and Maria Dobroniega, daughter of Grand Duke Vladimir I of Kiev.

Boleslaw II is considered to have been one of the most capable of the Piast rulers. According to Gallus Anonymus during his reign he was called largus ("the Generous" in English, "Szczodry" in Polish) because he founded many churches and monasteries throughout Poland. He rebuilt the Gniezno bishopric in 1075 (consecrated in 1064) and established a bishopric in Plock (1075). He founded Benedictine monasteries in Mogilno, Lubin and Wroclaw. These had an enormous influence on the economic and cultural development of the country.

The nickname "the Bold" (Smialy) was only given to Boleslaw II for the first time in the later Chronicle of the Polish kings, although it was considered by historiography of the 19th and 20th centuries as a contemporary nickname. Modern research suggests that this epithet given to him a few centuries after he died was not accurate.

Boleslaw II was also the first Polish monarch to produce his own coinage in quantity great enough to replace the foreign coins prevalent in the country during the reigns of the first Piast kings. He established royal mints in Kraków and Wroclaw and reformed the coinage, which brought considerable revenue into the royal coffers.