Mieszko I Tanglefoot Mieszko I Tanglefoot Mieszko IV Tanglefoot () (ca. 1130 – 16 May 1211) was Duke of Kraków and High Duke of Poland from 1202 and from 9 June 1210 until his death. 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 (as Mieszko I Tanglefoot). He was the second son of Władysław II the Exile by his wife Agnes of Babenberg, daughter of Margrave Leopold III of Austria and half-sister of King Conrad III of Germany. As a member of the Piast Dynasty he was
Mieszko I of Poland socially connected primarily by tribal structures. It appears that the elders cooperating with the Duke first felt the need for super-tribal unity, as expansion allowed them to broaden their influence. Mieszko and his people were described around 966 by Abraham ben Jacob, a Sephardi Jewish traveller, who at that time visited the Prague court of Duke Boleslav I the Cruel. Abraham presented Mieszko I as one of the four Slavic "kings", reigning over a vast "northern" area, with a highly regarded and substantial military force at his disposal. More precise contemporary records regarding Mieszko were compiled by Widukind of Corvey,