Leszek I the White

Who was Leszek I the White?

Leszek I "the White", also listed by some sources as Leszek II "the White", was Prince of Sandomierz and High Duke of Poland from 1194 until his death, except for the short periods following his deposition as Polish ruler. Both his uncle, Duke Mieszko III, and his cousin, Władysław III, from the Greater Polish branch of the royal Piast dynasty contested Leszek's right to be senior duke during this era. Leszek was crowned in 1202. Other sources give a complicated picture of Leszek's rule, where between 1198 and 1210 there were three points of Leszek's removal from the throne. He is considered in this plan to have been ousted in 1198, restored in 1199, ousted in 1202 and restored again in 1206 and then ousted a third time in 1210 and restored in 1211. The third ousting involved putting Duke Mieszko IV of the Silesian Piasts in as the chief ruler of Poland.