Abstract
In 1177, subsequent to a baronial rebellion, junior Piast duke Kazimir the Just obtained the principal Duchy of Kraków with the active support of the Krakovian episcopacy and produced a new political reality that altered the established order of dynastic succession and reconfigured power relations in Little Poland. After Kazimir’s death, the bishopric remained a loyal supporter of the duke’s lineage in Kraków, even when persistent claims of the senior of the Piast dynasty to the city, baronial regencies, and conflicting interests within the local oligarchy significantly delayed the succession of Kazimir’s son. This article examines the ideological sources and practical ramifications of episcopal efforts to construct a new model of ducal rulership according to the Gregorian view of a secular government subject to clerical judgment and responsive to ecclesiastical leadership. It also emphasizes the complexity of the position of bishops of Kraków between an assertive baronial elite in Little Poland and a hierarchical Church advocating the new criteria of succession rights. These criteria, inspired by Church reformers, expressed the promise of creating a stable and effective secular arm of the ecclesiastical authority.
