Poland during the Piast dynasty
Encyclopedia
History of Poland during the Piast dynasty is the first major stage in the history of Poland
from the 10th to the 14th century when Poland
was established as a state and a nation during the medieval period of European history. The history of the Polish state begins with the founding of the Piast dynasty
by Mieszko I
in the second half of the 10th century
. The indigenous Piast ruling house
was largely responsible for the formation of the Polish state and ruled until the second half of the 14th century. Mieszko chose to be baptized
in the Western Latin Rite in 966, which established a major cultural boundary in Europe
. Mieszko completed the unification of the West Slavic
tribal lands fundamental to the existence of the new country of Poland.
Following the emergence of the Polish nation
, a series of rulers converted the population to Christianity
, created a strong kingdom and integrated Poland into the European culture
. Mieszko's son, Bolesław I Chrobry, established a Polish Church province, pursued territorial conquests and was officially crowned in 1025, becoming the first King of Poland. The first Piast monarchy collapsed with the death of Mieszko II Lambert
in 1034, followed by its restoration under Casimir I. Casimir's son, Bolesław II the Bold, brought back the military assertiveness of Bolesław I, but became fatally involved in a conflict with Bishop Stanislaus of Szczepanów
, and was expelled from the country.
Bolesław III, the last duke of the early period, succeeded in defending his country and recovering territories previously lost. Upon his death in 1138, Poland was divided among his sons. The resulting internal fragmentation eroded the initial Piast monarchy structure in the 12th and 13th centuries and caused fundamental and lasting changes. Konrad I of Masovia
invited the Teutonic Knights
to help him fight the Baltic
Prussian
pagans, which led to centuries of Poland's warfare with the Knights and the German Prussian state.
The Kingdom was restored under Władysław I the Elbow-high, then strengthened and expanded by his son Casimir III the Great. The western provinces of Silesia
and Pomerania
were lost after the fragmentation, and Poland began expanding to the east. The period ended with the reigns of two members of the Angevin dynasty
. The consolidation in the 14th century laid the base for the new powerful Kingdom of Poland
that was to follow.
(Polanie, lit. "people of the fields") of what is now Greater Poland
, gave rise to an embryonic form of the Polish state in the early part of the 10th century
, with the Polans settling in the flatlands around the emerging strongholds of Giecz
, Poznań
, Gniezno
and Ostrów Lednicki
. Accelerated rebuilding of old tribal fortified settlements, construction of massive new ones and territorial expansion took place during 920-950. The process continued and the Polish state developed from tribal roots in the second half of the century. According to the chronicler Gallus Anonymus
, the Polans were ruled by the Piast dynasty
. In existing sources, Piast ruler Mieszko I
was first mentioned by Widukind of Corvey
in his Res gestae saxonicae
, a chronicle of 10th century Germany. Widukind reported that Mieszko's forces were twice defeated in 963 by the Veleti
tribes acting in cooperation with the Saxon
exile Wichmann the Younger
. Under Mieszko's rule (ca. 960 to 992), his tribal state accepted Christianity
and became the Polish state.
The viability of the emerging state was assured by the persistent territorial expansion of the early Piast rulers. Beginning with a very small area around Gniezno (before the town itself existed), the Piast expansion lasted throughout most of the 10th century, resulting in a territory approximating that of present day Poland. The Polanie
tribe conquered and merged with other Slavic
tribes and formed a tribal federation, and later, a centralized state. After the addition of Lesser Poland
, the country of the Vistulans
, and of Silesia
(both taken by Mieszko from the Czech
state during the later part of the 10th century), Mieszko's state reached its mature form, including the main regions regarded as ethnically Polish.
The Piast lands totaled about 250000 km² (96,526 sq mi) in area, with an approximate population of under one million.
Initially a pagan, Mieszko I was the first ruler of the Polans tribal union known from contemporary written sources. A detailed account of aspects of Mieszko's early reign was given by Ibrâhîm ibn Ya`qûb
, a Jewish traveler, according to whom Mieszko was one of four Slavic "kings" established in central and southern Europe in the 960s. In 965, Mieszko, who was allied with Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia at the time, married the duke's daughter, Doubravka, a Christian princess. Mieszko's conversion to Christianity
in its Western Latin Rite
followed on 14 April 966, and is considered to be the founding event of the Polish state. In the aftermath of Mieszko's 967 victory over a force of the Velunzani
, which was led by Wichmann, the first missionary bishop
was appointed. The action counteracted the intended eastern expansion of the Magdeburg Archdiocese
, established at about the same time.
Mieszko's state had a complex political relationship with the German Holy Roman Empire
, as Mieszko was a "friend", ally and vassal
of Otto I
, paying him tribute
from the western part of his lands. It fought wars with the Polabian Slavs
, the margrave
s of the Saxon Eastern March
(Gero
in 963–964 and Hodo
in 972, see Battle of Cedynia
), and the Czechs. The victories over Wichmann and Hodo allowed Mieszko to extend his Pomerania
n possessions west to the vicinity of the Oder River
and its mouth. After the death of Otto I, and then again after the death of Otto II
, Mieszko supported Henry the Quarrelsome
, a pretender to the imperial crown
. After the death of Dobrawa, Mieszko married ca. 980 a German
, Oda von Haldensleben, daughter of Dietrich
, Margrave of the Northern March
. When fighting the Czechs in 990, Mieszko was helped by the Holy Roman Empire. By about the year 990, when Mieszko I officially submitted his country to the authority of the Holy See
(Dagome iudex
), he had transformed Poland into one of the strongest powers in central-eastern Europe
.
Mieszko I died in 992. Contrary to what the first ruler of Poland had intended, when Oda with her (and Mieszko's) minor sons lost the power struggle, Bolesław, Mieszko's oldest son, became the sole ruler of Poland. A man of high ambition and strong personality, Bolesław embarked on further territorial expansion to the west (Lusatia
region), south, and east. While often successful, the campaigns and the gains turned out to be of only passing significance and badly strained the resources of the young nation. Bolesław lost the economically crucial Farther Pomerania
, together with its new bishopric
in Kołobrzeg; the region had previously been conquered with great effort by Mieszko.
Bolesław Chrobry (ruled 992–1025) began his reign by continuing his father's policy of alliance with the Holy Roman Empire. Bolesław received and helped Wojciech
of the Slavník family, a well-connected Czech bishop in exile and missionary who was killed in 997 while on a mission in Prussia
. Bolesław skillfully took advantage of Wojciech's death: the martyrdom
of Wojciech gave Poland a patron saint, St. Adalbert
, and resulted in the creation of an independent Polish province of the Church
with an archbishop
in Gniezno
. In the year 1000, the young Emperor
Otto III
came as a pilgrim to visit St. Adalbert's grave and lent his support to Bolesław during the Congress of Gniezno
; the Gniezno Archdiocese and several subordinate diocese
s were established on this occasion. The Polish ecclesiastical province
effectively served as an essential anchor and an institution to fall back on for the Piast state, helping it to survive in the troubled centuries ahead.
Otto died in 1002 and Bolesław's relationship with his successor Henry II
turned out to be much more difficult, resulting in a series of wars (1002–1005, 1007–1013, 1015–1018). From 1003–1004 Bolesław intervened militarily in Czech dynastic conflicts. After his forces were removed from Bohemia
, Bolesław retained Moravia
. In 1013 the marriage between Bolesław's son Mieszko
and Richeza of Lotharingia, the niece of Emperor Otto III and future mother of Casimir I the Restorer, took place. The conflicts with Germany ended in 1018 with the Peace of Bautzen
accord, on favorable terms for Bolesław. In the context of the 1018 Kiev expedition, Bolesław took over the western part of Red Ruthenia
. In 1025, shortly before his death, Bolesław I the Brave finally succeeded in obtaining the papal permission to crown himself, and became the first king of Poland.
King Mieszko II Lambert
(990–1034) tried to continue the politics of his father using Bolesław's kingdom as an interventionist great power. Mieszko's actions reinforced old resentment and hostility on the part of Poland's neighbors, and his two dispossessed brothers took advantage of it, arranging for Rus'
and German invasions in 1031; Mieszko was defeated and was forced to leave the country. Later, Mieszko's brothers Bezprym
and Otto were killed and Mieszko partially recovered. The first Piast monarchy collapsed with Mieszko's death in 1034. Deprived of a government, Poland was ravaged by an anti-feudal and pagan rebellion
, and in 1039 by the forces of Bretislaus I of Bohemia
. The country suffered territorial losses, and the functioning of the Gniezno archdiocese was disrupted.
The nation made a recovery under Mieszko's son, Duke Casimir I
(1016–1058), properly known as the Restorer. After returning from exile in 1039, Casimir rebuilt the Polish monarchy and the country's territorial integrity through several military campaigns: in 1047, Masovia was taken back from Miecław, and in 1050 Silesia
from the Czechs. Casimir was aided by the recent adversaries of Poland, the Holy Roman Empire and Kievan Rus'
, both of whom disliked the chaos in Poland. Casimir introduced a more mature form of feudalism
and relieved the burden of financing large army units from the duke's treasury by settling his warriors on feudal estates. Faced with the widespread destruction of Greater Poland
after the Czech expedition, Casimir moved his court to Kraków
, replacing the old Piast capitals of Poznań and Gniezno; Kraków functioned as the nation's capital for several centuries.
Casimir's son Bolesław II the Bold, also known as the Generous (ruled 1058–1079), developed Polish military strength and waged several foreign campaigns between 1058 and 1077. As an active supporter of the papal side in its feud with the German emperor
, Bolesław crowned himself king in 1076 with the blessing of Pope Gregory VII
. In 1079 there was an anti-Bolesław conspiracy or conflict that involved the Bishop of Kraków. Bolesław had Bishop Stanislaus of Szczepanów
executed; subsequently Bolesław was forced to abdicate the Polish throne because of the pressure from the Catholic Church and the pro-imperial faction of the nobility. St. Stanislaus
was to become the second martyr and patron saint of Poland, canonized
in 1253.
Sieciech
. When Władysław's two sons, Zbigniew
and Bolesław, finally forced Władysław to remove his hated protégé, Poland was divided among the three of them from 1098, and after the father's death from 1102 to 1106 between the two brothers.
, who attacked Bolesław's Poland in 1109. Bolesław was able to defend his country because of his military abilities, determination and alliances, and also because of a national mobilization across the social spectrum (see Battle of Głogów); Zbigniew who later returned was eliminated. Bolesław's other major achievement was the conquest of all of Mieszko I's
Pomerania
(of which the remaining eastern part had been lost by Poland from after the death of Mieszko II), a task begun by his father and completed by Bolesław around 1123. Szczecin
was subdued in a bloody takeover and Western Pomerania up to Rügen
, except for the directly incorporated southern part, became Bolesław's fief
, to be ruled locally by Wartislaw I
, the first duke of the Griffin dynasty
.
At this time, Christianization
of the region was initiated in earnest, an effort crowned by the establishment of the Pomeranian Wolin
Diocese after Bolesław's death in 1140.
Before he died, Bolesław Krzywousty divided the country, in a limited sense, among four of his sons. He made complex arrangements intended to prevent fratricidal warfare and preserve the Polish state's formal unity, but after Bolesław's death the plan's implementation had failed and in reality a long period of fragmentation was ushered in. For nearly two centuries the Piasts were to spar with each other, the clergy, and the nobility for the control over the divided kingdom. The stability of the system was supposedly assured by the institution of the senior or high duke of Poland, based in Kraków and assigned to the special Seniorate Province
that was not to be subdivided. Following his concept of seniorate, Bolesław divided the country into five principalities: Silesia
, Greater Poland, Masovia
, Sandomierz
and Kraków
. The first four provinces were given to his four sons, who became independent rulers. The fifth province, the Seniorate Province of Kraków, was to be added to the senior among the Princes who, as the Grand Duke of Kraków, was the representative of the whole of Poland. This principle broke down already within the generation of Bolesław III's sons, when Władysław II the Exile, Bolesław IV the Curly, Mieszko III the Old
and Casimir II the Just
fought for power and territory in Poland, and in particular over the Kraków throne.
The external borders left by Bolesław III at his death closely resembled the borders left by Mieszko I
; this original early Piast monarchy configuration had not survived the fragmentation period.
From the time of the baptism of Poland's ruling elite, foreign churchmen had been arriving and the culture of early Medieval Poland
was developing as a part of European Christendom
. However, it would be a few generations from the time of Mieszko's conversion until significant numbers of native clergymen appeared. After the establishment of numerous monasteries
in the 12th and 13th centuries, Christianization of the populace was accomplished on a larger scale.
Intellectual and artistic activity was concentrated around the institutions of the Church, the courts of the kings and dukes, and emerged around the households of the rising hereditary elite. Written annals
began to be generated in the late 10th century; leaders like Mieszko II and Casimir the Restorer were considered literate and educated. Along with the Dagome iudex
act, the most important written document and source of the period is the Gesta principum Polonorum, a chronicle by Gallus Anonymus
, a foreign cleric from the court of Bolesław the Wry-mouthed. A number of Pre-Romanesque stone churches were built beginning in the 10th century, often accompanied by palatium ruler residencies; Romanesque
buildings proper followed. The earliest coins were minted by Bolesław I around 995. The Gniezno Doors
(1170s) of Gniezno Cathedral
(bronze low relief) are the finest example of Romanesque sculpture. Bruno of Querfurt
was one of the pioneering Western
clergymen spreading Church literacy; some of his prominent writings had been produced in eremitic
monasteries in Poland. Among the preeminent early monastic
religious orders were the Benedictines
(the abbey
in Tyniec
founded in 1044) and the Cistercians.
The 13th century brought fundamental changes to the structure of Polish society and its political system. Because of the fragmentation and constant internal conflicts, the Piast dukes were unable to stabilize Poland's external borders of the early Piast rulers. Western Farther Pomerania
broke its political ties with Poland in the second half of the 12th century and from 1231 became a fief
of the Margraviate of Brandenburg
, which in 1307 extended its Pomeranian possessions even further east, taking over the Sławno and Słupsk areas. Pomerelia
or Gdańsk Pomerania
had been independent of the Polish dukes from 1227. In mid 13th century, Bolesław II the Bald granted Lubusz Land
to the Margraviate, which made possible the creation of the Neumark
and had far reaching negative consequences for the integrity of the western border. In the south-east, Leszek the White
was unable to preserve Poland's supremacy over the Halych
area of Rus'
, a territory that had changed hands on a number of occasions.
The social status was becoming increasingly based on the size of feudal land possessions. Those included the lands controlled by the Piast princes, their rivals the great lay land owners and church entities, all the way down to the knightly class; the work force ranged from hired "free" people, through serfs
attached to the land, to slaves (purchased or war and other prisoners). The upper layer of the feudal lords, first the Church and then others, were able to acquire economic and legal immunity
, which made them exempt to a significant degree from court jurisdiction or economical obligations (including taxation), that had previously been imposed by the ruling dukes.
The civil strife and foreign invasions, such as the Mongol invasions
in 1241, 1259 and 1287, weakened and depopulated the many small Polish principalities, as the country was becoming progressively more subdivided. The depopulation and the increasing demand for labor in the developing economy caused a massive immigration of West European peasants, mostly German settlers
into Poland (early waves from Germany and Flanders
in the 1220s). The German, Polish and other new rural settlements were a form of feudal tenancy with immunity and German town law
s were often utilized as its legal bases. German immigrants were also important in the rise of the cities and the establishment of the Polish burgher
(city dwelling merchants) class; they brought with them West European laws (Magdeburg rights
) and customs which the Poles adopted. From that time the Germans, who created early strong establishments (led by patriciates) especially in the urban centers of Silesia and other regions of western Poland, had been an increasingly influential minority in Poland.
In 1228, the Acts of Cienia were passed and signed into law by Władysław III Laskonogi. The titular Duke of Poland promised to provide a "just and noble law according to the council of bishops and barons." Such legal guarantees and privileges included the lower level land owners—knights, who were evolving into the lower and middle nobility class known later as szlachta
. The fragmentation period weakened the rulers and established a permanent trend in Polish history, whereby the rights and role of the nobility were expanded at the monarch's expense.
In 1226 Konrad I of Masovia
invited the Teutonic Knights
to help him fight the pagan Baltic
Prussian people, who lived in a territory adjacent to his lands; substantial border warfare was taking place and Konrad's province was suffering from Prussian invasions. On the other hand, the Old Prussians
themselves were at that time being subjected to increasingly forced (including papacy-sponsored crusades
), but largely ineffective Christianization efforts. The Teutonic Order
soon overstepped the authority and moved beyond the area granted them by Konrad (Chełmno Land or Kulmerland). In the following decades they conquered large areas along the Baltic Sea
coast and established their monastic state
. As virtually all of the Western Baltic pagans became converted or exterminated (the Prussian conquests were completed by 1283), the Knights confronted Poland and Lithuania
, then the last pagan state in Europe. Teutonic wars with Poland and Lithuania continued for most of the 14th and 15th centuries. The Teutonic state in Prussia, populated by German settlers beginning in the 13th century, had been claimed as a fief
and protected by the popes and Holy Roman Emperors.
Henry I the Bearded
, his son Henry II the Pious
, who was killed in 1241 while fighting the Mongols at the Battle of Legnica
, and Henry IV Probus. In 1295 Przemysł II of Greater Poland
became the first, since Bolesław II, Piast duke crowned as King of Poland, but he ruled over only a part of the territory of Poland (including from 1294 Gdańsk Pomerania
) and was assassinated soon after his coronation. A more extensive unification of Polish lands was accomplished by a foreign ruler, Václav II of Bohemia of the Přemyslid dynasty
, who married Przemysł's daughter
and became King of Poland in 1300. Václav's heavy-handed policies soon caused him to lose whatever support he had earlier in his reign; he died in 1305.
An important factor in the unification process was the Polish Church, which remained a single ecclesiastical province throughout the fragmentation period. Archbishop Jakub Świnka
of Gniezno was an ardent proponent of Poland's reunification; he performed the crowning ceremonies for both Przemysł II and Wenceslaus II. Świnka supported Władysław Łokietek at various stages of the duke's career.
, the social impact of the Church was considerably broader in the 13th century, as networks of parishes were established and cathedral-type schools became more common. The Dominicans
and the Franciscan
s were the leading monastic orders at this time, and they interacted closely with the general population. A proliferation of narrative annals
characterized the period, as well as other written records, laws and documents. More of the clergy were of local origin; others were expected to know the Polish language. Wincenty Kadłubek, the author of an influential chronicle
, was the most recognized representative in the intellectual sphere. Perspectiva, a treatise on optics
by Witelo
, a Silesian monk, was one of the finest achievements of medieval science
. The construction of churches and castles in the Gothic architecture
style predominated in the 13th century; native elements in art forms were increasingly important, with significant advances taking place in agriculture, manufacturing and crafts.
), which left half of the Polish population outside the Kingdom's borders. The western losses had to do with the failure of the unification efforts undertaken by the Silesian Piast
dukes and the German expansion processes. These included the Piast principalities developing (or falling into) dependencies in respect to the German political structures, settler colonization
and gradual Germanization
of the Polish ruling circles. The lower Vistula
was controlled by the Teutonic Order. Masovia was not to be fully incorporated into the Polish state anytime soon. Casimir stabilized the western and northern borders, tried to regain some of the lost territories, and partially compensated the losses by his new eastern expansion, which placed within his kingdom regions that were East Slavic
, and thus ethnically non-Polish.
Despite the territorial truncation, 14th century Poland experienced a period of accelerated economic development and increasing prosperity. This included further expansion and modernization of agricultural settlements, the development of towns and their greater role in briskly growing trade, mining and metallurgy. A great monetary reform was implemented during the reign of Casimir III.
Jewish settlement
was taking place in Poland since very early times. In 1264 Duke Bolesław the Pious of Greater Poland granted the Statute of Kalisz
privilege, which specified a broad range of freedoms (of religious practices, movement, trading) and rights for the Jews, creating a legal precedent of official protection from local harassment and exclusion. The act also exempted the Jews from enslavement or serfdom and was the foundation of future Jewish prosperity in the Polish Kingdom; it was later followed by many other comparable legal pronouncements. Following a series of expulsions of Jews from Western Europe, Jewish communities were established in Cracow
, Kalisz
and elsewhere in western and southern Poland in the 13th century; at Lviv
, Brest-Litovsk
and Grodno further east in the 14th century. King Casimir received Jewish refugees from Germany in 1349, helping accelerate the Jewish expansion in Poland that was to continue until World War II
. German urban and rural settlements were another long-lasting ethnic feature.
Władysław Łokietek (ruled 1305–1333), who began as an obscure Piast duke from Kuyavia
, fought a lifelong, uphill battle with powerful adversaries with persistence and determination. When Łokietek died as the king of a partially reunited Poland, he left the Kingdom in a precarious situation. Although the area under King Władysław's control was limited and many unresolved issues remained, Łokietek may have saved Poland's existence as a state.
Supported by his Hungarian allies
, Władysław returned from exile and challenged Václav II, and after his death Václav III
in 1304–1306. Václav III's murder terminated the Přemyslid dynasty and their involvement in Poland. Afterwards Władysław Łokietek completed the takeover of Lesser Poland
, entering Kraków, and took the lands north of there, through Kuyavia all the way to Gdańsk Pomerania
. In 1308, Pomerania was conquered by the Brandenburg state. In a recovery effort, Łokietek agreed to ask for help the Teutonic Knights; the Knights brutally took over Gdańsk Pomerania
and kept it for themselves.
In 1311–1312, a rebellion in Kraków
instigated by the city's patrician
leadership seeking a rule by the House of Luxembourg
was put down. This event may have had a limiting impact on the emerging political power of towns.
In 1313–1314 Władysław conquered Greater Poland
. In 1320, Władysław I Łokietek became the first King of Poland crowned not in Gniezno
, but in Kraków's Wawel Cathedral
. The coronation was hesitantly agreed to by Pope John XXII
, despite the opposition from John of Bohemia, who had also claimed the Polish crown. John undertook in 1327 an expedition aimed at Kraków, which he was compelled to abort; in 1328, he waged a crusade against Lithuania during which he formalized an alliance with the Teutonic Order. The Order was in a state of war with Poland
from 1327 to 1332 (see Battle of Płowce); the Knights
captured Dobrzyń Land
and Kujawy. Władysław was helped by his alliances with Hungary (his daughter Elizabeth
was married to King Charles Robert
in 1320) and Lithuania (1325 pact against the Teutonic State and the marriage of Łokietek's son Casimir to Aldona, daughter of Lithuanian ruler Gediminas), and from 1329 by a peace agreement with Brandenburg. A lasting achievement of John of Luxembourg (and Poland's greatest loss) was forcing most of the Piast Silesian principalities, often ambivalent about their loyalties, into allegiance
.
After Łokietek's death, the old monarch's 23 year old son became King Casimir III, later known as Kazimierz the Great
(ruled 1333–1370). Unlike his father the new king had no inclination for the hardships of military life. Casimir's contemporaries did not give him much of a chance for overcoming the country's mounting difficulties or succeeding as a leader. But from the beginning, Casimir acted prudently, purchasing in 1335 John's claims to the Polish throne. In 1343, Casimir settled several high-level arbitration disputes with the Teutonic Order by a territorial compromise, culminating in the Treaty of Kalisz, a peace treaty that concluded the Polish-Teutonic War of 1326-1332
. Dobrzyń Land
and Kuyavia
were recovered by Casimir. At that time Poland started to expand to the east and through a series of military campaigns between 1340 and 1366 Casimir had annexed the Halych
–Volodymyr
area of Rus'. The town of Lviv
there attracted newcomers of several nationalities, was granted municipal rights
in 1356, and had thus begun its career as Lwów
, the main Polish center in the midst of a Rus'
Orthodox
population. Supported by Hungary, the Polish king in 1338 promised the Hungarian ruling house
the Polish throne in the event he dies without male heirs.
Casimir unsuccessfully tried to recover Silesia
by conducting military activities against the Luxembourgs
between 1343 and 1348, but then blocked the attempted separation of Silesia from the Gniezno Archdiocese by Charles IV
. Later until his death he pursued the Polish claim to Silesia legally by petitioning the pope; his successors had not continued his efforts.
Allied with Denmark and Western Pomerania (Gdańsk Pomerania was granted to the Order as an "eternal charity"), Casimir was able to impose some corrections on the western border. In 1365 Drezdenko
and Santok
became Poland's fiefs
, while Wałcz district was in 1368 taken outright, severing the land connection between Brandenburg and the Teutonic state and connecting Poland with Farther Pomerania
.
Casimir the Great considerably solidified the country's position in both foreign and domestic affairs. Domestically, he integrated and centralized the reunited Polish state and helped develop what was considered the "Crown of the Polish Kingdom"—the state within its actual, as well as past or potential (legal from the Polish point of view) boundaries. Casimir established or strengthened kingdom-wide institutions (such as the powerful state treasury), independent of the regional, class, or royal court related interests. Internationally, the Polish king was very active diplomatically, cultivated close contacts with other European rulers and was a staunch defender of the Polish national interest. In 1364 he sponsored the Congress of Kraków
, in which a number of monarchs participated, and which was concerned with the promotion of peaceful cooperation and political balance in Central Europe.
, assumed the Polish throne. As Casimir's actual commitment to the Angevin succession seemed problematic from the beginning (in 1368 the Polish king adopted his grandson, Casimir of Słupsk), Louis engaged in succession negotiations with Polish knights and nobility starting in 1351. They supported him, exacting in return further guarantees and privileges for themselves; the formal act was negotiated in Buda
in 1355. After the coronation, Louis returned to Hungary; he left his mother and Casimir's sister Elizabeth in Poland as a regent
.
With the death of Casimir the Great, the period of hereditary (Piast) monarchy in Poland came to an end. The land owners and nobles did not want a strong monarchy; a constitutional monarchy was established between 1370 and 1493 (the beginning of the bicameral General Sejm
).
During the reign of Louis I, Poland formed a union with Hungary. In the pact of 1374 (the Privilege of Koszyce
), the Polish nobility were granted extensive concessions and agreed to extend the Angevin succession to Louis' daughters, as Louis had no sons. Louis' neglect of Polish affairs resulted in the loss of Casimir's territorial gains, including Halych
Rus'
(recovered by Jadwiga
in 1387).
The Hungarian-Polish union lasted for twelve years and ended in war. After Louis' death in 1382 and an ensuing power struggle, the Polish nobility decided that Jadwiga, Louis' youngest daughter, should become the next "King of Poland"; Jadwiga arrived in 1384 and was crowned at the age of eleven. The failure of the union of Poland and Hungary paved the way for the union of Lithuania and Poland
.
churches, castles, urban fortifications and homes of wealthy city residents. The most notable architecture of the medieval period in Poland are the many churches representing the Polish Gothic
style; medieval sculpture, painting and ornamental smithery are best expressed in the furnishings of churches and liturgical items. Polish law was first codified in the Statutes of Casimir the Great
(Piotrków-Wiślica Statutes) from 1346–1362. Accordingly, conflict resolution relied on legal proceedings domestically, while bilateral or multilateral negotiations and treaties were increasingly important in international relations. By this time, the network of cathedral and parish schools had become well developed. In 1364, Casimir the Great, based on a papal concession, established the University of Kraków
, the second oldest university in Central Europe. While many still traveled to southern and western Europe for university studies, the Polish language
, along with the predominant Latin
, is increasingly present in written documents. The Holy Cross Sermons
(ca. early 14th century) constitute possibly the oldest extant Polish prose manuscript.
History of Poland
The History of Poland is rooted in the arrival of the Slavs, who gave rise to permanent settlement and historic development on Polish lands. During the Piast dynasty Christianity was adopted in 966 and medieval monarchy established...
from the 10th to the 14th century when Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
was established as a state and a nation during the medieval period of European history. The history of the Polish state begins with the founding of the Piast dynasty
Piast dynasty
The Piast dynasty was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. It began with the semi-legendary Piast Kołodziej . The first historical ruler was Duke Mieszko I . The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir the Great...
by Mieszko I
Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I , was a Duke of the Polans from about 960 until his death. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of Siemomysł; grandchild of Lestek; father of Bolesław I the Brave, the first crowned King of Poland; likely father of Świętosława , a Nordic Queen; and grandfather of her son, Cnut the...
in the second half of the 10th century
Poland in the Early Middle Ages
The ancient Roman scholars new nothing about the impenetrable forest north of Dacia and the Carpathian Mountains, between the migrating Celts and Germanic tribes to the west, and the Sarmatians to the east. Augustian historian Strabo only assumed the presence of a different tribe reaching north to...
. The indigenous Piast ruling house
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers considered members of the same family. Historians traditionally consider many sovereign states' history within a framework of successive dynasties, e.g., China, Ancient Egypt and the Persian Empire...
was largely responsible for the formation of the Polish state and ruled until the second half of the 14th century. Mieszko chose to be baptized
Baptism of Poland
The Baptism of Poland was the event in 966 that signified the beginning of the Christianization of Poland, commencing with the baptism of Mieszko I, who was the first ruler of the Polish state. The next significant step in Poland's adoption of Christianity was the establishment of various...
in the Western Latin Rite in 966, which established a major cultural boundary in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Mieszko completed the unification of the West Slavic
West Slavs
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking West Slavic languages. They include Poles , Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatian Sorbs and the historical Polabians. The northern or Lechitic group includes, along with Polish, the extinct Polabian and Pomeranian languages...
tribal lands fundamental to the existence of the new country of Poland.
Following the emergence of the Polish nation
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
, a series of rulers converted the population to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, created a strong kingdom and integrated Poland into the European culture
Culture of Europe
The culture of Europe might better be described as a series of overlapping cultures. Whether it is a question of North as opposed to South; West as opposed to East; Orthodoxism as opposed to Protestantism as opposed to Catholicism as opposed to Secularism; many have claimed to identify cultural...
. Mieszko's son, Bolesław I Chrobry, established a Polish Church province, pursued territorial conquests and was officially crowned in 1025, becoming the first King of Poland. The first Piast monarchy collapsed with the death of Mieszko II Lambert
Mieszko II Lambert
Mieszko II Lambert was King of Poland during 1025–1031, and Duke from 1032 until his death.He was the second son of Bolesław I the Brave, but the eldest born from his third wife Emmilda, daughter of Dobromir, possible ruler of Lusatia. He was probably named after his paternal grandfather, Mieszko I...
in 1034, followed by its restoration under Casimir I. Casimir's son, Bolesław II the Bold, brought back the military assertiveness of Bolesław I, but became fatally involved in a conflict with Bishop Stanislaus of Szczepanów
Stanislaus of Szczepanów
Stanislaus of Szczepanów, or Stanisław Szczepanowski, was a Bishop of Kraków known chiefly for having been martyred by the Polish king Bolesław II the Bold...
, and was expelled from the country.
Bolesław III, the last duke of the early period, succeeded in defending his country and recovering territories previously lost. Upon his death in 1138, Poland was divided among his sons. The resulting internal fragmentation eroded the initial Piast monarchy structure in the 12th and 13th centuries and caused fundamental and lasting changes. Konrad I of Masovia
Konrad I of Masovia
Konrad I of Masovia , from the Polish Piast dynasty, was the sixth Duke of Masovia from 1194 until his death and High Duke of Poland from 1229 to 1232.-Life:...
invited the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
to help him fight the Baltic
Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...
Prussian
Old Prussians
The Old Prussians or Baltic Prussians were an ethnic group, autochthonous Baltic tribes that inhabited Prussia, the lands of the southeastern Baltic Sea in the area around the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons...
pagans, which led to centuries of Poland's warfare with the Knights and the German Prussian state.
The Kingdom was restored under Władysław I the Elbow-high, then strengthened and expanded by his son Casimir III the Great. The western provinces of Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
and Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
were lost after the fragmentation, and Poland began expanding to the east. The period ended with the reigns of two members of the Angevin dynasty
Capetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
. The consolidation in the 14th century laid the base for the new powerful Kingdom of Poland
Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)
The Kingdom of Poland of the Jagiellons was the Polish state created by the accession of Jogaila , Grand Duke of Lithuania, to the Polish throne in 1386. The Union of Krewo or Krėva Act, united Poland and Lithuania under the rule of a single monarch...
that was to follow.
Mieszko I; adoption of Christianity (ca. 960–992)
The tribe of the PolansPolans (western)
The Polans were a West Slavic tribe, part of the Lechitic group, inhabiting the Warta river basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century.During the reign of King Svatopluk I of Great Moravia , who subdued the tribes of the Vistulans and Ślężanie...
(Polanie, lit. "people of the fields") of what is now Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
, gave rise to an embryonic form of the Polish state in the early part of the 10th century
Poland in the Early Middle Ages
The ancient Roman scholars new nothing about the impenetrable forest north of Dacia and the Carpathian Mountains, between the migrating Celts and Germanic tribes to the west, and the Sarmatians to the east. Augustian historian Strabo only assumed the presence of a different tribe reaching north to...
, with the Polans settling in the flatlands around the emerging strongholds of Giecz
Giecz
Giecz is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Dominowo, within Środa Wielkopolska County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately north of Dominowo, north-east of Środa Wielkopolska, and east of the regional capital Poznań...
, Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, Gniezno
Gniezno
Gniezno is a city in central-western Poland, some 50 km east of Poznań, inhabited by about 70,000 people. One of the Piasts' chief cities, it was mentioned by 10th century A.D. sources as the capital of Piast Poland however the first capital of Piast realm was most likely Giecz built around...
and Ostrów Lednicki
Ostrów Lednicki
Ostrów Lednicki is a castle in Poland built in medieval times on an island on Lake Lednica. The castle is thought to be the home of the first Kings of the Piast dynasty. Today the ruins are of archaeological significance. Ostrów Lednicki is located between Gniezno and Poznań....
. Accelerated rebuilding of old tribal fortified settlements, construction of massive new ones and territorial expansion took place during 920-950. The process continued and the Polish state developed from tribal roots in the second half of the century. According to the chronicler Gallus Anonymus
Gallus Anonymus
Gallus Anonymus is the name traditionally given to the anonymous author of Gesta principum Polonorum , composed in Latin about 1115....
, the Polans were ruled by the Piast dynasty
Piast dynasty
The Piast dynasty was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. It began with the semi-legendary Piast Kołodziej . The first historical ruler was Duke Mieszko I . The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir the Great...
. In existing sources, Piast ruler Mieszko I
Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I , was a Duke of the Polans from about 960 until his death. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of Siemomysł; grandchild of Lestek; father of Bolesław I the Brave, the first crowned King of Poland; likely father of Świętosława , a Nordic Queen; and grandfather of her son, Cnut the...
was first mentioned by Widukind of Corvey
Widukind of Corvey
Widukind of Corvey was a Saxon historical chronicler, named after the Saxon duke and national hero Widukind who had battled Charlemagne. Widukind the chronicler was born in 925 and died after 973 at the Benedictine abbey of Corvey in East Westphalia...
in his Res gestae saxonicae
Res gestae saxonicae sive annalium libri tres
The three-volume Res gestae saxonicae sive annalium libri tres is a chronicle of 10th century Germany written by Widukind of Corvey...
, a chronicle of 10th century Germany. Widukind reported that Mieszko's forces were twice defeated in 963 by the Veleti
Veleti
The Veleti or Wilzi were a group of medieval Lechites tribes within the territory of modern northeastern Germany; see Polabian Slavs. In common with other Slavic groups between the Elbe and Oder Rivers, they were often described by Germanic sources as Wends. In the late 10th century, they were...
tribes acting in cooperation with the Saxon
Saxons
The Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
exile Wichmann the Younger
Wichmann the Younger
Wichmann II the Younger was a member of the Saxon House of Billung. He was a son of Count Wichmann the Elder and his wife Frederuna, probably a sister of Queen Matilda...
. Under Mieszko's rule (ca. 960 to 992), his tribal state accepted Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and became the Polish state.
The viability of the emerging state was assured by the persistent territorial expansion of the early Piast rulers. Beginning with a very small area around Gniezno (before the town itself existed), the Piast expansion lasted throughout most of the 10th century, resulting in a territory approximating that of present day Poland. The Polanie
Polans (western)
The Polans were a West Slavic tribe, part of the Lechitic group, inhabiting the Warta river basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century.During the reign of King Svatopluk I of Great Moravia , who subdued the tribes of the Vistulans and Ślężanie...
tribe conquered and merged with other Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
tribes and formed a tribal federation, and later, a centralized state. After the addition of Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland is one of the historical regions of Poland, with its capital in the city of Kraków. It forms the southeastern corner of the country, and should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only a small, southern part of Lesser Poland...
, the country of the Vistulans
Vistulans
Vistulans were an early medieval West Slavic tribe inhabiting the land of modern Lesser Poland.From the 1st century and possibly earlier, the Vistulans , were part of the Carpian Tribe, which got its name from the area that they lived in, which was beside the Carpathian Mountain Range...
, and of Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
(both taken by Mieszko from the Czech
Czech lands
Czech lands is an auxiliary term used mainly to describe the combination of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. Today, those three historic provinces compose the Czech Republic. The Czech lands had been settled by the Celts , then later by various Germanic tribes until the beginning of 7th...
state during the later part of the 10th century), Mieszko's state reached its mature form, including the main regions regarded as ethnically Polish.
The Piast lands totaled about 250000 km² (96,526 sq mi) in area, with an approximate population of under one million.
Abraham ben Jacob
Abraham ben Jacob, better known under his Arabic name of Ibrâhîm ibn Ya`qûb was a 10th century Hispano-Arabic, plausibly Sephardi Jewish, traveller, probably a merchant, whose brief may have included diplomacy and espionage...
, a Jewish traveler, according to whom Mieszko was one of four Slavic "kings" established in central and southern Europe in the 960s. In 965, Mieszko, who was allied with Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia at the time, married the duke's daughter, Doubravka, a Christian princess. Mieszko's conversion to Christianity
Baptism of Poland
The Baptism of Poland was the event in 966 that signified the beginning of the Christianization of Poland, commencing with the baptism of Mieszko I, who was the first ruler of the Polish state. The next significant step in Poland's adoption of Christianity was the establishment of various...
in its Western Latin Rite
Western Christianity
Western Christianity is a term used to include the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church and groups historically derivative thereof, including the churches of the Anglican and Protestant traditions, which share common attributes that can be traced back to their medieval heritage...
followed on 14 April 966, and is considered to be the founding event of the Polish state. In the aftermath of Mieszko's 967 victory over a force of the Velunzani
Velunzani
The Wolinians, Wolinianie, Velunzani, or Uelunzani were a medieval tribe in Pomerania. They were first mentioned as "Velunzani" with 70 towns by the Bavarian Geographer, ca. 845. Associated with both the Veleti and the Pomeranians, they were based on the island of Wolin and the adjacent mainland...
, which was led by Wichmann, the first missionary bishop
Jordan (bishop of Poland)
Jordan was the first Bishop of Poland from 968 with his seat, most probably, in Poznań. He was an Italian or German.Most evidence shows that he was missionary bishop subordinate directly to the Pope. He arrived in Poland, probably from Italy or the Rhineland, in 966 with Dubrawka to baptise...
was appointed. The action counteracted the intended eastern expansion of the Magdeburg Archdiocese
Archbishopric of Magdeburg
The Archbishopric of Magdeburg was a Roman Catholic archdiocese and Prince-Bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire centered on the city of Magdeburg on the Elbe River....
, established at about the same time.
Mieszko's state had a complex political relationship with the German Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, as Mieszko was a "friend", ally and vassal
Vassal
A vassal or feudatory is a person who has entered into a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. The obligations often included military support and mutual protection, in exchange for certain privileges, usually including the grant of land held...
of Otto I
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto I the Great , son of Henry I the Fowler and Matilda of Ringelheim, was Duke of Saxony, King of Germany, King of Italy, and "the first of the Germans to be called the emperor of Italy" according to Arnulf of Milan...
, paying him tribute
Tribute
A tribute is wealth, often in kind, that one party gives to another as a sign of respect or, as was often the case in historical contexts, of submission or allegiance. Various ancient states, which could be called suzerains, exacted tribute from areas they had conquered or threatened to conquer...
from the western part of his lands. It fought wars with the Polabian Slavs
Polabian Slavs
Polabian Slavs - is a collective term applied to a number of Lechites tribes who lived along the Elbe river, between the Baltic Sea to the north, the Saale and the Limes Saxoniae to the west, the Ore Mountains and the Western Sudetes to the south, and Poland to the east. They have also been known...
, the margrave
Margrave
A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...
s of the Saxon Eastern March
Saxon Eastern March
The Saxon Eastern March or Ostmark was a march of the Holy Roman Empire from the 10th until the 12th century. The term "eastern march" or "ostmark" comes from the Latin term marchia Orientalis and originally could refer to either a march created on the eastern frontier of the Duchy of Saxony or...
(Gero
Gero
Gero I , called the Great , ruled an initially modest march centred on Merseburg, which he expanded into a vast territory named after him: the marca Geronis. During the mid-10th century, he was the leader of the Saxon Drang nach Osten.-Succession and early conflicts:Gero was the son of Count...
in 963–964 and Hodo
Odo I, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark
Odo I was the Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark from 965 until his death....
in 972, see Battle of Cedynia
Battle of Cedynia
In the Battle of Cedynia or Zehden, an army of Mieszko I of Poland defeated forces of Hodo or Odo I of Lusatia on 24 June 972, near the Oder river...
), and the Czechs. The victories over Wichmann and Hodo allowed Mieszko to extend his Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
n possessions west to the vicinity of the Oder River
Oder
The Oder is a river in Central Europe. It rises in the Czech Republic and flows through western Poland, later forming of the border between Poland and Germany, part of the Oder-Neisse line...
and its mouth. After the death of Otto I, and then again after the death of Otto II
Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto II , called the Red, was the third ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty, the son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy.-Early years and co-ruler with Otto I:...
, Mieszko supported Henry the Quarrelsome
Henry II, Duke of Bavaria
Henry II , called the Wrangler or the Quarrelsome, in German Heinrich der Zänker, was the son of Henry I and Judith of Bavaria.- Biography :...
, a pretender to the imperial crown
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
. After the death of Dobrawa, Mieszko married ca. 980 a German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, Oda von Haldensleben, daughter of Dietrich
Dietrich of Haldensleben
Dietrich of Haldensleben was the first margrave of the Northern March from 965 until his deposition in 983...
, Margrave of the Northern March
Northern March
The Northern March or North March was created out of the division of the vast Marca Geronis in 965. It initially comprised the northern third of the Marca and was part of the territorial organisation of areas conquered from the Wends...
. When fighting the Czechs in 990, Mieszko was helped by the Holy Roman Empire. By about the year 990, when Mieszko I officially submitted his country to the authority of the Holy See
Holy See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
(Dagome iudex
Dagome iudex
"Dagome iudex" is one of the earliest historical documents relating to Poland. Poland is not mentioned by name, but reference is made to Dagome and Ote and their sons in 991, placing their land under the protection of the Apostolic See...
), he had transformed Poland into one of the strongest powers in central-eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
.
Bolesław I; Church province, conquests, Kingdom of Poland (992–1025)
Lusatia
Lusatia is a historical region in Central Europe. It stretches from the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers in the east to the Elbe valley in the west, today located within the German states of Saxony and Brandenburg as well as in the Lower Silesian and Lubusz voivodeships of western Poland...
region), south, and east. While often successful, the campaigns and the gains turned out to be of only passing significance and badly strained the resources of the young nation. Bolesław lost the economically crucial Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania, Further Pomerania, Transpomerania or Eastern Pomerania , which before the German-Polish border shift of 1945 comprised the eastern part of the Duchy, later Province of Pomerania, roughly stretching from the Oder River in the West to Pomerelia in the East...
, together with its new bishopric
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
in Kołobrzeg; the region had previously been conquered with great effort by Mieszko.
Adalbert of Prague
This article is about St Adalbert of Prague. For other uses, see Adalbert .Saint Adalbert, Czech: ; , , Czech Roman Catholic saint, a Bishop of Prague and a missionary, was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians. He evangelized Poles and Hungarians. St...
of the Slavník family, a well-connected Czech bishop in exile and missionary who was killed in 997 while on a mission in Prussia
Prussia (region)
Prussia is a historical region in Central Europe extending from the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea to the Masurian Lake District. It is now divided between Poland, Russia, and Lithuania...
. Bolesław skillfully took advantage of Wojciech's death: the martyrdom
Christian martyrs
A Christian martyr is one who is killed for following Christianity, through stoning, crucifixion, burning at the stake or other forms of torture and capital punishment. The word "martyr" comes from the Greek word μάρτυς, mártys, which means "witness."...
of Wojciech gave Poland a patron saint, St. Adalbert
Adalbert of Prague
This article is about St Adalbert of Prague. For other uses, see Adalbert .Saint Adalbert, Czech: ; , , Czech Roman Catholic saint, a Bishop of Prague and a missionary, was martyred in his efforts to convert the Baltic Prussians. He evangelized Poles and Hungarians. St...
, and resulted in the creation of an independent Polish province of the Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
with an archbishop
Radim Gaudentius
Radim Gaudentius was Archbishop of Gniezno and the first Polish archbishop.Radim was an illegitimate son of Prince Slavník, and thus the half-brother of Adalbert of Prague....
in Gniezno
Gniezno
Gniezno is a city in central-western Poland, some 50 km east of Poznań, inhabited by about 70,000 people. One of the Piasts' chief cities, it was mentioned by 10th century A.D. sources as the capital of Piast Poland however the first capital of Piast realm was most likely Giecz built around...
. In the year 1000, the young Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
Otto III
Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor
Otto III , a King of Germany, was the fourth ruler of the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. He was elected King in 983 on the death of his father Otto II and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 996.-Early reign:...
came as a pilgrim to visit St. Adalbert's grave and lent his support to Bolesław during the Congress of Gniezno
Congress of Gniezno
The Congress of Gniezno was an amical meeting between the Polish duke Bolesław I Chrobry and Emperor Otto III, which took place at Gniezno on March 11, 1000...
; the Gniezno Archdiocese and several subordinate diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
s were established on this occasion. The Polish ecclesiastical province
Ecclesiastical Province
An ecclesiastical province is a large jurisdiction of religious government, so named by analogy with a secular province, existing in certain hierarchical Christian churches, especially in the Catholic Church and Orthodox Churches and in the Anglican Communion...
effectively served as an essential anchor and an institution to fall back on for the Piast state, helping it to survive in the troubled centuries ahead.
Otto died in 1002 and Bolesław's relationship with his successor Henry II
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II , also referred to as Saint Henry, Obl.S.B., was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of the Germans in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004...
turned out to be much more difficult, resulting in a series of wars (1002–1005, 1007–1013, 1015–1018). From 1003–1004 Bolesław intervened militarily in Czech dynastic conflicts. After his forces were removed from Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, Bolesław retained Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
. In 1013 the marriage between Bolesław's son Mieszko
Mieszko II Lambert
Mieszko II Lambert was King of Poland during 1025–1031, and Duke from 1032 until his death.He was the second son of Bolesław I the Brave, but the eldest born from his third wife Emmilda, daughter of Dobromir, possible ruler of Lusatia. He was probably named after his paternal grandfather, Mieszko I...
and Richeza of Lotharingia, the niece of Emperor Otto III and future mother of Casimir I the Restorer, took place. The conflicts with Germany ended in 1018 with the Peace of Bautzen
Peace of Bautzen
The Peace of Bautzen or the Peace of Budziszyn was a treaty concluded on January 30, 1018 between the Ottonian Holy Roman Emperor Henry II and the Piast ruler of Poland Boleslaw I which ended a series of Polish-German wars over the control of Lusatia and Upper Lusatia as well as Bohemia,...
accord, on favorable terms for Bolesław. In the context of the 1018 Kiev expedition, Bolesław took over the western part of Red Ruthenia
Red Ruthenia
Red Ruthenia is the name used since medieval times to refer to the area known as Eastern Galicia prior to World War I; first mentioned in Polish historic chronicles in the 1321, as Ruthenia Rubra or Ruthenian Voivodeship .Ethnographers explain that the term was applied from the...
. In 1025, shortly before his death, Bolesław I the Brave finally succeeded in obtaining the papal permission to crown himself, and became the first king of Poland.
Mieszko II; collapse of the reign (1025–1039)
Mieszko II Lambert
Mieszko II Lambert was King of Poland during 1025–1031, and Duke from 1032 until his death.He was the second son of Bolesław I the Brave, but the eldest born from his third wife Emmilda, daughter of Dobromir, possible ruler of Lusatia. He was probably named after his paternal grandfather, Mieszko I...
(990–1034) tried to continue the politics of his father using Bolesław's kingdom as an interventionist great power. Mieszko's actions reinforced old resentment and hostility on the part of Poland's neighbors, and his two dispossessed brothers took advantage of it, arranging for Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
and German invasions in 1031; Mieszko was defeated and was forced to leave the country. Later, Mieszko's brothers Bezprym
Bezprym
Bezprym was a Duke of Poland during 1031–1032.He was the eldest son of Bolesław I the Brave, King of Poland, but was deprived of the succession by his father, who around 1001 sent him to Italy, in order to became a monk at one of Saint Romuald's hermitages in Ravenna.Expelled by his half-brother...
and Otto were killed and Mieszko partially recovered. The first Piast monarchy collapsed with Mieszko's death in 1034. Deprived of a government, Poland was ravaged by an anti-feudal and pagan rebellion
Pagan reaction in Poland
The Pagan reaction in Poland was a series of events in the Kingdom of Poland of the 1030s that culminated in a popular uprising. It was caused by dissatifaction with the economic situation and with the process of Christianization.-See also:...
, and in 1039 by the forces of Bretislaus I of Bohemia
Bretislaus I of Bohemia
Bretislaus I , known as Bohemian Achilles, of the house of the Přemyslids, was the duke of Bohemia from 1035 till death.-Youth:...
. The country suffered territorial losses, and the functioning of the Gniezno archdiocese was disrupted.
Restoration under Casimir I (1039–1058)
Casimir I of Poland
Casimir I the Restorer , was a Duke of Poland of the Piast dynasty and the de facto monarch of the entire country from 1034 until his death....
(1016–1058), properly known as the Restorer. After returning from exile in 1039, Casimir rebuilt the Polish monarchy and the country's territorial integrity through several military campaigns: in 1047, Masovia was taken back from Miecław, and in 1050 Silesia
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
from the Czechs. Casimir was aided by the recent adversaries of Poland, the Holy Roman Empire and Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rus was a medieval polity in Eastern Europe, from the late 9th to the mid 13th century, when it disintegrated under the pressure of the Mongol invasion of 1237–1240....
, both of whom disliked the chaos in Poland. Casimir introduced a more mature form of feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
and relieved the burden of financing large army units from the duke's treasury by settling his warriors on feudal estates. Faced with the widespread destruction of Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
after the Czech expedition, Casimir moved his court to Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, replacing the old Piast capitals of Poznań and Gniezno; Kraków functioned as the nation's capital for several centuries.
Bolesław II; conflict with Bishop Stanisław (1058–1079)
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such...
, Bolesław crowned himself king in 1076 with the blessing of Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII
Pope St. Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Sovana , was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal...
. In 1079 there was an anti-Bolesław conspiracy or conflict that involved the Bishop of Kraków. Bolesław had Bishop Stanislaus of Szczepanów
Stanislaus of Szczepanów
Stanislaus of Szczepanów, or Stanisław Szczepanowski, was a Bishop of Kraków known chiefly for having been martyred by the Polish king Bolesław II the Bold...
executed; subsequently Bolesław was forced to abdicate the Polish throne because of the pressure from the Catholic Church and the pro-imperial faction of the nobility. St. Stanislaus
Stanislaus of Szczepanów
Stanislaus of Szczepanów, or Stanisław Szczepanowski, was a Bishop of Kraków known chiefly for having been martyred by the Polish king Bolesław II the Bold...
was to become the second martyr and patron saint of Poland, canonized
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
in 1253.
Władysław I Herman (1079–1102)
After Bolesław's exile the country found itself under the unstable rule of his younger brother Władysław I Herman (ruled 1079–1102). Władysław was strongly dependent on PalatineCount palatine
Count palatine is a high noble title, used to render several comital styles, in some cases also shortened to Palatine, which can have other meanings as well.-Comes palatinus:...
Sieciech
Sieciech
- Biography :All information about Sieciech has come down from the chronicler Gallus Anonymus. He was a count palatine at the court of duke Władysław I Herman of Poland. Though the exact dates of his birth and death are unknown, he is said by Gallus Anonymus to have lived in the second half of the...
. When Władysław's two sons, Zbigniew
Zbigniew of Poland
Zbigniew , Duke of Poland from 1102 until 1107.-Early years:Zbigniew was the first-born son of Prince Władysław I Herman and Przecława, who apparently belonged to the Prawdzic clan...
and Bolesław, finally forced Władysław to remove his hated protégé, Poland was divided among the three of them from 1098, and after the father's death from 1102 to 1106 between the two brothers.
Bolesław III (1102–1138)
After a power struggle, Bolesław III the Wry-mouthed (ruled 1102–1138) became the Duke of Poland by defeating his half-brother in 1106–1107. Zbigniew had to leave the country, but received support from Emperor Henry VHenry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...
, who attacked Bolesław's Poland in 1109. Bolesław was able to defend his country because of his military abilities, determination and alliances, and also because of a national mobilization across the social spectrum (see Battle of Głogów); Zbigniew who later returned was eliminated. Bolesław's other major achievement was the conquest of all of Mieszko I's
Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I , was a Duke of the Polans from about 960 until his death. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of Siemomysł; grandchild of Lestek; father of Bolesław I the Brave, the first crowned King of Poland; likely father of Świętosława , a Nordic Queen; and grandfather of her son, Cnut the...
Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
(of which the remaining eastern part had been lost by Poland from after the death of Mieszko II), a task begun by his father and completed by Bolesław around 1123. Szczecin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
was subdued in a bloody takeover and Western Pomerania up to Rügen
Rügen
Rügen is Germany's largest island. Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of the Vorpommern-Rügen district of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.- Geography :Rügen is located off the north-eastern coast of Germany in the Baltic Sea...
, except for the directly incorporated southern part, became Bolesław's fief
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
, to be ruled locally by Wartislaw I
Wartislaw I, Duke of Pomerania
Wartislaw I was the first historical ruler of the Duchy of Pomerania and the founder of the Griffin dynasty....
, the first duke of the Griffin dynasty
House of Pomerania
The House of Griffins or House of Pomerania, , also known as House of Greifen; House of Gryf, was a dynasty of Royal dukes that ruled the Duchy of Pomerania from the 12th century until 1637, after their power was temporarily derivated to Prussian Royal House...
.
At this time, Christianization
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
of the region was initiated in earnest, an effort crowned by the establishment of the Pomeranian Wolin
Wolin
Wolin is the name both of an island in the Baltic Sea, just off the Polish coast, and a town on that island. It is separated from the island of Usedom by the Świna river, and from mainland Pomerania by the Dziwna river...
Diocese after Bolesław's death in 1140.
Fragmentation of the realm (1138–ca. 1314)
Seniorate Province
Seniorate Province, also known as the Senioral Province , Duchy of Kraków , Duchy of Cracow, Principality of Cracow, Principality of Kraków, was the superior among the five provinces established in 1138 according to the Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty...
that was not to be subdivided. Following his concept of seniorate, Bolesław divided the country into five principalities: Silesia
Duchy of Silesia
The Duchy of Silesia with its capital at Wrocław was a medieval duchy located in the historic Silesian region of Poland. Soon after it was formed under the Piast dynasty in 1138, it fragmented into various Duchies of Silesia. In 1327 the remaining Duchy of Wrocław as well as most other duchies...
, Greater Poland, Masovia
Duchy of Masovia
The Duchy of Masovia with its capital at Płock was a medieval duchy formed when the Polish Kingdom of the Piasts fragmented in 1138. It was located in the historic Masovian region of northeastern Poland...
, Sandomierz
Sandomierz
Sandomierz is a city in south-eastern Poland with 25,714 inhabitants . Situated in the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship , previously in Tarnobrzeg Voivodeship . It is the capital of Sandomierz County . Sandomierz is known for its Old Town, a major tourist attraction...
and Kraków
Seniorate Province
Seniorate Province, also known as the Senioral Province , Duchy of Kraków , Duchy of Cracow, Principality of Cracow, Principality of Kraków, was the superior among the five provinces established in 1138 according to the Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty...
. The first four provinces were given to his four sons, who became independent rulers. The fifth province, the Seniorate Province of Kraków, was to be added to the senior among the Princes who, as the Grand Duke of Kraków, was the representative of the whole of Poland. This principle broke down already within the generation of Bolesław III's sons, when Władysław II the Exile, Bolesław IV the Curly, Mieszko III the Old
Mieszko III the Old
Mieszko III the Old , of the royal Piast dynasty, was Duke of Greater Poland from 1138 and High Duke of Poland, with interruptions, from 1173 until his death....
and Casimir II the Just
Casimir II the Just
Casimir II the Just was a Lesser Polish duke at Wiślica during 1166–1173, and at Sandomierz since 1173. He became ruler over the Polish Seniorate Province at Kraków and thereby High Duke of Poland in 1177; a position he held until his death, interrupted once by his elder brother and predecessor...
fought for power and territory in Poland, and in particular over the Kraków throne.
The external borders left by Bolesław III at his death closely resembled the borders left by Mieszko I
Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I , was a Duke of the Polans from about 960 until his death. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of Siemomysł; grandchild of Lestek; father of Bolesław I the Brave, the first crowned King of Poland; likely father of Świętosława , a Nordic Queen; and grandfather of her son, Cnut the...
; this original early Piast monarchy configuration had not survived the fragmentation period.
Culture
Culture of medieval Poland
The culture of medieval Poland was closely linked to the Catholic Church in Poland and its involvement in the country's affairs, especially during the first centuries of the Polish state's history...
was developing as a part of European Christendom
Christendom
Christendom, or the Christian world, has several meanings. In a cultural sense it refers to the worldwide community of Christians, adherents of Christianity...
. However, it would be a few generations from the time of Mieszko's conversion until significant numbers of native clergymen appeared. After the establishment of numerous monasteries
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
in the 12th and 13th centuries, Christianization of the populace was accomplished on a larger scale.
Intellectual and artistic activity was concentrated around the institutions of the Church, the courts of the kings and dukes, and emerged around the households of the rising hereditary elite. Written annals
Annals
Annals are a concise form of historical representation which record events chronologically, year by year. The Oxford English Dictionary defines annals as "a narrative of events written year by year"...
began to be generated in the late 10th century; leaders like Mieszko II and Casimir the Restorer were considered literate and educated. Along with the Dagome iudex
Dagome iudex
"Dagome iudex" is one of the earliest historical documents relating to Poland. Poland is not mentioned by name, but reference is made to Dagome and Ote and their sons in 991, placing their land under the protection of the Apostolic See...
act, the most important written document and source of the period is the Gesta principum Polonorum, a chronicle by Gallus Anonymus
Gallus Anonymus
Gallus Anonymus is the name traditionally given to the anonymous author of Gesta principum Polonorum , composed in Latin about 1115....
, a foreign cleric from the court of Bolesław the Wry-mouthed. A number of Pre-Romanesque stone churches were built beginning in the 10th century, often accompanied by palatium ruler residencies; Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
buildings proper followed. The earliest coins were minted by Bolesław I around 995. The Gniezno Doors
Gniezno Doors
The Gniezno Doors are a pair of bronze doors at the entrance to Gniezno Cathedral in Gniezno, Poland, a Gothic building which the doors pre-date, having been carried over from an earlier building. They are decorated with eighteen scenes in bas-relief from the life of St...
(1170s) of Gniezno Cathedral
Gniezno Cathedral
Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Adalbert is a Gothic cathedral in Gniezno, Poland. The Cathedral is known for its twelfth-century , two-winged bronze doors decorated with scenes of martyrdom of St. Wojciech and a silver relic coffin of that saint...
(bronze low relief) are the finest example of Romanesque sculpture. Bruno of Querfurt
Bruno of Querfurt
Saint Bruno of Querfurt , also known as Brun and Boniface, is a sainted missionary bishop and martyr, who was beheaded near the border of Kievan Rus and Lithuania while trying to spread Christianity in Eastern Europe...
was one of the pioneering Western
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
clergymen spreading Church literacy; some of his prominent writings had been produced in eremitic
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
monasteries in Poland. Among the preeminent early monastic
Christian monasticism
Christian monasticism is a practice which began to develop early in the history of the Christian Church, modeled upon scriptural examples and ideals, including those in the Old Testament, but not mandated as an institution in the scriptures. It has come to be regulated by religious rules Christian...
religious orders were the Benedictines
Order of Saint Benedict
The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
(the abbey
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
in Tyniec
Tyniec
Tyniec is a historic village in Poland on the Vistula river, since 1973 a part of the city of Kraków . Tyniec is notable for its famous Benedictine abbey founded by king Casimir the Restorer in 1044.-See also:...
founded in 1044) and the Cistercians.
State and society; German settlement
Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania, Further Pomerania, Transpomerania or Eastern Pomerania , which before the German-Polish border shift of 1945 comprised the eastern part of the Duchy, later Province of Pomerania, roughly stretching from the Oder River in the West to Pomerelia in the East...
broke its political ties with Poland in the second half of the 12th century and from 1231 became a fief
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
of the Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
, which in 1307 extended its Pomeranian possessions even further east, taking over the Sławno and Słupsk areas. Pomerelia
Pomerelia
Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...
or Gdańsk Pomerania
Gdańsk Pomerania
For the medieval duchy, see Pomeranian duchies and dukesGdańsk Pomerania or Eastern Pomerania is a geographical region in northern Poland covering eastern part of Pomeranian Voivodeship...
had been independent of the Polish dukes from 1227. In mid 13th century, Bolesław II the Bald granted Lubusz Land
Lubusz Land
Lubusz Land is a historical region and cultural landscape in Poland and Germany, on both sides of the Oder river.Originally the settlement area of the West Slavic Leubuzzi, a Veleti tribe, the swampy area was located east of Mark Brandenburg and west of Greater Poland, south of Pomerania and north...
to the Margraviate, which made possible the creation of the Neumark
Neumark
Neumark comprised a region of the Prussian province of Brandenburg, Germany.Neumark may also refer to:* Neumark, Thuringia* Neumark, Saxony* Neumark * Nowe Miasto Lubawskie or Neumark, a town in Poland, situated at river Drwęca...
and had far reaching negative consequences for the integrity of the western border. In the south-east, Leszek the White
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 when he was deposed as Polish ruler...
was unable to preserve Poland's supremacy over the Halych
Halych
Halych is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The town gave its name to the historic province and kingdom of Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, of which it was the capital until the early 14th century, when the seat of the local princes was moved to Lviv...
area of Rus'
Rus (name)
Originally, the name Rus referred to the people, the region, and the medieval states of the Rus' Khaganate and Kievan Rus' polities...
, a territory that had changed hands on a number of occasions.
The social status was becoming increasingly based on the size of feudal land possessions. Those included the lands controlled by the Piast princes, their rivals the great lay land owners and church entities, all the way down to the knightly class; the work force ranged from hired "free" people, through serfs
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
attached to the land, to slaves (purchased or war and other prisoners). The upper layer of the feudal lords, first the Church and then others, were able to acquire economic and legal immunity
Sovereign immunity
Sovereign immunity, or crown immunity, is a legal doctrine by which the sovereign or state cannot commit a legal wrong and is immune from civil suit or criminal prosecution....
, which made them exempt to a significant degree from court jurisdiction or economical obligations (including taxation), that had previously been imposed by the ruling dukes.
Mongol invasions
Mongol invasions progressed throughout the 13th century, resulting in the vast Mongol Empire which covered much of Asia and Eastern Europe by 1300....
in 1241, 1259 and 1287, weakened and depopulated the many small Polish principalities, as the country was becoming progressively more subdivided. The depopulation and the increasing demand for labor in the developing economy caused a massive immigration of West European peasants, mostly German settlers
Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung , also called German eastward expansion, was the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from modern day western and central Germany into less-populated regions and countries of eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia...
into Poland (early waves from Germany and Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
in the 1220s). The German, Polish and other new rural settlements were a form of feudal tenancy with immunity and German town law
German town law
German town law or German municipal concerns concerns town privileges used by many cities, towns, and villages throughout Central and Eastern Europe during the Middle Ages.- Town law in Germany :...
s were often utilized as its legal bases. German immigrants were also important in the rise of the cities and the establishment of the Polish burgher
Bourgeoisie
In sociology and political science, bourgeoisie describes a range of groups across history. In the Western world, between the late 18th century and the present day, the bourgeoisie is a social class "characterized by their ownership of capital and their related culture." A member of the...
(city dwelling merchants) class; they brought with them West European laws (Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg Rights or Magdeburg Law were a set of German town laws regulating the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by a local ruler. Modelled and named after the laws of the German city of Magdeburg and developed during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, it was...
) and customs which the Poles adopted. From that time the Germans, who created early strong establishments (led by patriciates) especially in the urban centers of Silesia and other regions of western Poland, had been an increasingly influential minority in Poland.
In 1228, the Acts of Cienia were passed and signed into law by Władysław III Laskonogi. The titular Duke of Poland promised to provide a "just and noble law according to the council of bishops and barons." Such legal guarantees and privileges included the lower level land owners—knights, who were evolving into the lower and middle nobility class known later as szlachta
Szlachta
The szlachta was a legally privileged noble class with origins in the Kingdom of Poland. It gained considerable institutional privileges during the 1333-1370 reign of Casimir the Great. In 1413, following a series of tentative personal unions between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of...
. The fragmentation period weakened the rulers and established a permanent trend in Polish history, whereby the rights and role of the nobility were expanded at the monarch's expense.
Teutonic Knights
Konrad I of Masovia
Konrad I of Masovia , from the Polish Piast dynasty, was the sixth Duke of Masovia from 1194 until his death and High Duke of Poland from 1229 to 1232.-Life:...
invited the Teutonic Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
to help him fight the pagan Baltic
Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...
Prussian people, who lived in a territory adjacent to his lands; substantial border warfare was taking place and Konrad's province was suffering from Prussian invasions. On the other hand, the Old Prussians
Old Prussians
The Old Prussians or Baltic Prussians were an ethnic group, autochthonous Baltic tribes that inhabited Prussia, the lands of the southeastern Baltic Sea in the area around the Vistula and Curonian Lagoons...
themselves were at that time being subjected to increasingly forced (including papacy-sponsored crusades
Northern Crusades
The Northern Crusades or Baltic Crusades were crusades undertaken by the Christian kings of Denmark and Sweden, the German Livonian and Teutonic military orders, and their allies against the pagan peoples of Northern Europe around the southern and eastern shores of the Baltic Sea...
), but largely ineffective Christianization efforts. The Teutonic Order
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
soon overstepped the authority and moved beyond the area granted them by Konrad (Chełmno Land or Kulmerland). In the following decades they conquered large areas along the Baltic Sea
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
coast and established their monastic state
Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights
The State of the Teutonic Order, , also Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights or Ordensstaat , was formed in 1224 during the Northern Crusades, the Teutonic Knights' conquest of the pagan West-Baltic Old Prussians in the 13th century....
. As virtually all of the Western Baltic pagans became converted or exterminated (the Prussian conquests were completed by 1283), the Knights confronted Poland and Lithuania
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
, then the last pagan state in Europe. Teutonic wars with Poland and Lithuania continued for most of the 14th and 15th centuries. The Teutonic state in Prussia, populated by German settlers beginning in the 13th century, had been claimed as a fief
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
and protected by the popes and Holy Roman Emperors.
Reunification attempts; Przemysł II, Václav II (1232–1305)
As the disadvantages of national division were becoming increasingly apparent in various segments of the society, some of the Piast dukes had begun making serious efforts aimed at the reunification of the Polish state. Important among the earlier attempts were the activities of the Silesian dukesSilesian Piasts
The Silesian Piasts were the oldest line of the Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile, son of Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Poland...
Henry I the Bearded
Henry I the Bearded
Henry I the Bearded , of the Silesian line of the Piast dynasty, was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław from 1201 and Duke of Kraków and thus High Duke of all Poland - internally divided - from 1232 until his death.-Heir of Wroclaw:...
, his son Henry II the Pious
Henry II the Pious
Henry II the Pious , of the Silesian line of the Piast dynasty was Duke of Silesia at Wrocław and Duke of Kraków and thus High Duke of all Poland as well as Duke of Southern Greater Poland from 1238 until his death. During 1238–1239 he also served as a regent of two other Piast duchies: Sandomierz...
, who was killed in 1241 while fighting the Mongols at the Battle of Legnica
Battle of Legnica
The Battle of Legnica , also known as the Battle of Liegnitz or Battle of Wahlstatt , was a battle between the Mongol Empire and the combined defending forces of European fighters that took place at Legnickie Pole near the city of Legnica in Silesia on 9 April 1241.A combined force of Poles,...
, and Henry IV Probus. In 1295 Przemysł II of Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
became the first, since Bolesław II, Piast duke crowned as King of Poland, but he ruled over only a part of the territory of Poland (including from 1294 Gdańsk Pomerania
Pomerelia
Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...
) and was assassinated soon after his coronation. A more extensive unification of Polish lands was accomplished by a foreign ruler, Václav II of Bohemia of the Přemyslid dynasty
Premyslid dynasty
The Přemyslids , were a Czech royal dynasty which reigned in Bohemia and Moravia , and partly also in Hungary, Silesia, Austria and Poland.-Legendary rulers:...
, who married Przemysł's daughter
Elisabeth Richeza of Poland
Elisabeth Richenza of Poland was a daughter and the only surviving child of Przemysl II of Poland and his second wife Richenza of Sweden, herself a daughter of Valdemar I of Sweden and Sofia of Denmark.Her name at birth was Richeza; she adopted the name Elisabeth after her first marriage...
and became King of Poland in 1300. Václav's heavy-handed policies soon caused him to lose whatever support he had earlier in his reign; he died in 1305.
An important factor in the unification process was the Polish Church, which remained a single ecclesiastical province throughout the fragmentation period. Archbishop Jakub Świnka
Jakub Swinka
Jakub Świnka was a Polish Catholic priest, the Archbishop of Gniezno and a notable politician and supporter of the idea of unification of all Polish lands under the rule of Władysław I the Elbow-high. His Coat of Arms was Świnka....
of Gniezno was an ardent proponent of Poland's reunification; he performed the crowning ceremonies for both Przemysł II and Wenceslaus II. Świnka supported Władysław Łokietek at various stages of the duke's career.
Culture
CulturallyCulture of medieval Poland
The culture of medieval Poland was closely linked to the Catholic Church in Poland and its involvement in the country's affairs, especially during the first centuries of the Polish state's history...
, the social impact of the Church was considerably broader in the 13th century, as networks of parishes were established and cathedral-type schools became more common. The Dominicans
Dominican Order
The Order of Preachers , after the 15th century more commonly known as the Dominican Order or Dominicans, is a Catholic religious order founded by Saint Dominic and approved by Pope Honorius III on 22 December 1216 in France...
and the Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
s were the leading monastic orders at this time, and they interacted closely with the general population. A proliferation of narrative annals
Annals
Annals are a concise form of historical representation which record events chronologically, year by year. The Oxford English Dictionary defines annals as "a narrative of events written year by year"...
characterized the period, as well as other written records, laws and documents. More of the clergy were of local origin; others were expected to know the Polish language. Wincenty Kadłubek, the author of an influential chronicle
Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae
Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae is a Latin history of Poland written by Wincenty Kadłubek between 1190 and 1208 CE. The work was probably commissioned by Casimir II of Poland...
, was the most recognized representative in the intellectual sphere. Perspectiva, a treatise on optics
Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
by Witelo
Witelo
Witelo was a friar, theologian and scientist: a physicist, natural philosopher, mathematician. He is an important figure in the history of philosophy in Poland...
, a Silesian monk, was one of the finest achievements of medieval science
Science in the Middle Ages
Science in the Middle Ages consisted of the study of nature, including practical disciplines, the mathematics and natural philosophy in medieval Europe. Following the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the decline in knowledge of Greek, Christian Western Europe was cut off from an important...
. The construction of churches and castles in the Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
style predominated in the 13th century; native elements in art forms were increasingly important, with significant advances taking place in agriculture, manufacturing and crafts.
Reunited kingdom of the last Piast rulers
Władysław the Elbow-high and his son Casimir the Great were the last two rulers of the Piast dynasty in the unified Kingdom of Poland of the 14th century. Their rule was not a return to the Polish state as it existed before the period of fragmentation, because of the loss of internal cohesion and territorial integrity. The regional Piast princes remained strong and for economic and cultural reasons some of them gravitated toward Poland's neighbors. The Kingdom lost Pomerania and Silesia, the most highly developed and economically important of the original ethnically Polish lands (a disputable designation in case of Slavic Western PomeraniaWest Pomeranian Voivodeship
West Pomeranian Voivodeship, , is a voivodeship in northwestern Poland. It borders on Pomeranian Voivodeship to the east, Greater Poland Voivodeship to the southeast, Lubusz Voivodeship to the south, the German federal-state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania to the west, and the Baltic Sea to the north...
), which left half of the Polish population outside the Kingdom's borders. The western losses had to do with the failure of the unification efforts undertaken by the Silesian Piast
Silesian Piasts
The Silesian Piasts were the oldest line of the Piast dynasty beginning with Władysław II the Exile, son of Bolesław III Wrymouth, Duke of Poland...
dukes and the German expansion processes. These included the Piast principalities developing (or falling into) dependencies in respect to the German political structures, settler colonization
Ostsiedlung
Ostsiedlung , also called German eastward expansion, was the medieval eastward migration and settlement of Germans from modern day western and central Germany into less-populated regions and countries of eastern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The affected area roughly stretched from Slovenia...
and gradual Germanization
Germanisation
Germanisation is both the spread of the German language, people and culture either by force or assimilation, and the adaptation of a foreign word to the German language in linguistics, much like the Romanisation of many languages which do not use the Latin alphabet...
of the Polish ruling circles. The lower Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
was controlled by the Teutonic Order. Masovia was not to be fully incorporated into the Polish state anytime soon. Casimir stabilized the western and northern borders, tried to regain some of the lost territories, and partially compensated the losses by his new eastern expansion, which placed within his kingdom regions that were East Slavic
East Slavs
The East Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking East Slavic languages. Formerly the main population of the medieval state of Kievan Rus, by the seventeenth century they evolved into the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian peoples.-Sources:...
, and thus ethnically non-Polish.
Despite the territorial truncation, 14th century Poland experienced a period of accelerated economic development and increasing prosperity. This included further expansion and modernization of agricultural settlements, the development of towns and their greater role in briskly growing trade, mining and metallurgy. A great monetary reform was implemented during the reign of Casimir III.
Jewish settlement
History of the Jews in Poland
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back over a millennium. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jewish community in the world. Poland was the centre of Jewish culture thanks to a long period of statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy. This ended with the...
was taking place in Poland since very early times. In 1264 Duke Bolesław the Pious of Greater Poland granted the Statute of Kalisz
Statute of Kalisz
The General Charter of Jewish Liberties known as the Statute of Kalisz was issued by the Duke of Greater Poland Boleslaus the Pious on September 8, 1264 in Kalisz...
privilege, which specified a broad range of freedoms (of religious practices, movement, trading) and rights for the Jews, creating a legal precedent of official protection from local harassment and exclusion. The act also exempted the Jews from enslavement or serfdom and was the foundation of future Jewish prosperity in the Polish Kingdom; it was later followed by many other comparable legal pronouncements. Following a series of expulsions of Jews from Western Europe, Jewish communities were established in Cracow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, Kalisz
Kalisz
Kalisz is a city in central Poland with 106,857 inhabitants , the capital city of the Kalisz Region. Situated on the Prosna river in the southeastern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, the city forms a conurbation with the nearby towns of Ostrów Wielkopolski and Nowe Skalmierzyce...
and elsewhere in western and southern Poland in the 13th century; at Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, Brest-Litovsk
Brest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
and Grodno further east in the 14th century. King Casimir received Jewish refugees from Germany in 1349, helping accelerate the Jewish expansion in Poland that was to continue until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. German urban and rural settlements were another long-lasting ethnic feature.
Władysław I the Elbow-high (1305–1333)
Kuyavia
Kujawy , is a historical and ethnographic region in the north-central Poland, situated in the basin of the middle Vistula and upper Noteć Rivers, with its capital in Włocławek.-Etymology:The origin of the name Kujawy was seen differently in history...
, fought a lifelong, uphill battle with powerful adversaries with persistence and determination. When Łokietek died as the king of a partially reunited Poland, he left the Kingdom in a precarious situation. Although the area under King Władysław's control was limited and many unresolved issues remained, Łokietek may have saved Poland's existence as a state.
Supported by his Hungarian allies
Charles I of Hungary
Charles I , also known as Charles Robert , was the first King of Hungary and Croatia of the House of Anjou. He was also descended from the old Hungarian Árpád dynasty. His claim to the throne of Hungary was contested by several pretenders...
, Władysław returned from exile and challenged Václav II, and after his death Václav III
Wenceslaus III of Bohemia
Wenceslaus III Premyslid was the King of Hungary , King of Bohemia and the king of Poland ....
in 1304–1306. Václav III's murder terminated the Přemyslid dynasty and their involvement in Poland. Afterwards Władysław Łokietek completed the takeover of Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland is one of the historical regions of Poland, with its capital in the city of Kraków. It forms the southeastern corner of the country, and should not be confused with the modern Lesser Poland Voivodeship, which covers only a small, southern part of Lesser Poland...
, entering Kraków, and took the lands north of there, through Kuyavia all the way to Gdańsk Pomerania
Pomerelia
Pomerelia is a historical region in northern Poland. Pomerelia lay in eastern Pomerania: on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea and west of the Vistula and its delta. The area centered on the city of Gdańsk at the mouth of the Vistula...
. In 1308, Pomerania was conquered by the Brandenburg state. In a recovery effort, Łokietek agreed to ask for help the Teutonic Knights; the Knights brutally took over Gdańsk Pomerania
Teutonic takeover of Danzig (Gdansk)
The city of Danzig was captured by the State of the Teutonic Order on 13 November 1308, resulting in a massacre of its inhabitants and marking the beginning of tensions between Poland and the Teutonic Order. Originally the knights moved into the fortress as an ally of Poland against the...
and kept it for themselves.
In 1311–1312, a rebellion in Kraków
Rebellion of wójt Albert
The Rebellion of wójt Albert was an uprising of burghers of the Polish city of Kraków against the duke Władysław I the Elbow-high in the years 1311–12...
instigated by the city's patrician
Patricianship
Patricianship, the quality of belonging to a patriciate, began in the ancient world, where cities such as Ancient Rome had a class of patrician families whose members were the only people allowed to exercise many political functions...
leadership seeking a rule by the House of Luxembourg
House of Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.-History:...
was put down. This event may have had a limiting impact on the emerging political power of towns.
In 1313–1314 Władysław conquered Greater Poland
Greater Poland
Greater Poland or Great Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska is a historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief city is Poznań.The boundaries of Greater Poland have varied somewhat throughout history...
. In 1320, Władysław I Łokietek became the first King of Poland crowned not in Gniezno
Gniezno
Gniezno is a city in central-western Poland, some 50 km east of Poznań, inhabited by about 70,000 people. One of the Piasts' chief cities, it was mentioned by 10th century A.D. sources as the capital of Piast Poland however the first capital of Piast realm was most likely Giecz built around...
, but in Kraków's Wawel Cathedral
Wawel Cathedral
The Wawel Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Stanisław and Vaclav, is a church located on Wawel Hill in Kraków–Poland's national sanctuary. It has a 1,000-year history and was the traditional coronation site of Polish monarchs. It is the Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Kraków...
. The coronation was hesitantly agreed to by Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII
Pope John XXII , born Jacques Duèze , was pope from 1316 to 1334. He was the second Pope of the Avignon Papacy , elected by a conclave in Lyon assembled by Philip V of France...
, despite the opposition from John of Bohemia, who had also claimed the Polish crown. John undertook in 1327 an expedition aimed at Kraków, which he was compelled to abort; in 1328, he waged a crusade against Lithuania during which he formalized an alliance with the Teutonic Order. The Order was in a state of war with Poland
Polish–Teutonic War (1326–1332)
Polish–Teutonic War was the war between the Kingdom of Poland and the State of the Teutonic Order over Pomerelia, fought from 1326 to 1332.-Background:...
from 1327 to 1332 (see Battle of Płowce); the Knights
Teutonic Knights
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem , commonly the Teutonic Order , is a German medieval military order, in modern times a purely religious Catholic order...
captured Dobrzyń Land
Dobrzyn Land
Dobrzyń Land is a historic region around the town of Dobrzyń nad Wisłą in Poland, east of the Vistula River and south of the Drwęca, where it borders on the Kulmerland...
and Kujawy. Władysław was helped by his alliances with Hungary (his daughter Elizabeth
Elisabeth of Poland
Elisabeth of Poland was Queen consort of Hungary and regent of Poland. She is also known as Elisabeth of Kujavia and Elisabeth Piast.-Early life:...
was married to King Charles Robert
Charles I of Hungary
Charles I , also known as Charles Robert , was the first King of Hungary and Croatia of the House of Anjou. He was also descended from the old Hungarian Árpád dynasty. His claim to the throne of Hungary was contested by several pretenders...
in 1320) and Lithuania (1325 pact against the Teutonic State and the marriage of Łokietek's son Casimir to Aldona, daughter of Lithuanian ruler Gediminas), and from 1329 by a peace agreement with Brandenburg. A lasting achievement of John of Luxembourg (and Poland's greatest loss) was forcing most of the Piast Silesian principalities, often ambivalent about their loyalties, into allegiance
Allegiance
An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed by a subject or a citizen to his/her state or sovereign.-Etymology:From Middle English ligeaunce . The al- prefix was probably added through confusion with another legal term, allegeance, an "allegation"...
.
Casimir III the Great (1333–1370)
Casimir III of Poland
Casimir III the Great , last King of Poland from the Piast dynasty , was the son of King Władysław I the Elbow-high and Hedwig of Kalisz.-Biography:...
(ruled 1333–1370). Unlike his father the new king had no inclination for the hardships of military life. Casimir's contemporaries did not give him much of a chance for overcoming the country's mounting difficulties or succeeding as a leader. But from the beginning, Casimir acted prudently, purchasing in 1335 John's claims to the Polish throne. In 1343, Casimir settled several high-level arbitration disputes with the Teutonic Order by a territorial compromise, culminating in the Treaty of Kalisz, a peace treaty that concluded the Polish-Teutonic War of 1326-1332
Polish–Teutonic War (1326–1332)
Polish–Teutonic War was the war between the Kingdom of Poland and the State of the Teutonic Order over Pomerelia, fought from 1326 to 1332.-Background:...
. Dobrzyń Land
Dobrzyn Land
Dobrzyń Land is a historic region around the town of Dobrzyń nad Wisłą in Poland, east of the Vistula River and south of the Drwęca, where it borders on the Kulmerland...
and Kuyavia
Kuyavia
Kujawy , is a historical and ethnographic region in the north-central Poland, situated in the basin of the middle Vistula and upper Noteć Rivers, with its capital in Włocławek.-Etymology:The origin of the name Kujawy was seen differently in history...
were recovered by Casimir. At that time Poland started to expand to the east and through a series of military campaigns between 1340 and 1366 Casimir had annexed the Halych
Halych
Halych is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The town gave its name to the historic province and kingdom of Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, of which it was the capital until the early 14th century, when the seat of the local princes was moved to Lviv...
–Volodymyr
Volodymyr-Volynskyi
Volodymyr-Volynsky is a city located in Volyn Oblast, in north-western Ukraine. Serving as the administrative centre of the Volodymyr-Volynsky District, the city itself is also designated as a separate raion within the oblast...
area of Rus'. The town of Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
there attracted newcomers of several nationalities, was granted municipal rights
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg Rights or Magdeburg Law were a set of German town laws regulating the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by a local ruler. Modelled and named after the laws of the German city of Magdeburg and developed during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, it was...
in 1356, and had thus begun its career as Lwów
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
, the main Polish center in the midst of a Rus'
Rus' (people)
The Rus' were a group of Varangians . According to the Primary Chronicle of Rus, compiled in about 1113 AD, the Rus had relocated from the Baltic region , first to Northeastern Europe, creating an early polity which finally came under the leadership of Rurik...
Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
population. Supported by Hungary, the Polish king in 1338 promised the Hungarian ruling house
Capetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
the Polish throne in the event he dies without male heirs.
Silesia
Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...
by conducting military activities against the Luxembourgs
House of Luxembourg
The House of Luxembourg was a late medieval German dynasty, which between 1308 and 1437 ruled the Holy Roman Empire, twice interrupted by the rivaling House of Wittelsbach.-History:...
between 1343 and 1348, but then blocked the attempted separation of Silesia from the Gniezno Archdiocese by Charles IV
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....
. Later until his death he pursued the Polish claim to Silesia legally by petitioning the pope; his successors had not continued his efforts.
Allied with Denmark and Western Pomerania (Gdańsk Pomerania was granted to the Order as an "eternal charity"), Casimir was able to impose some corrections on the western border. In 1365 Drezdenko
Drezdenko
Drezdenko is a town in Poland, in Lubusz Voivodeship, in Strzelce-Drezdenko County. It has 10,421 inhabitants .- People :* Karl Ludwig Hencke* Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum* Adam Krieger* Joachim von der Marwitz* Carl Spude* Krystian Burchart...
and Santok
Santok
Santok is a village in Gorzów County, Lubusz Voivodeship, in western Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Santok. It is located at the confluence of the Noteć and Warta rivers, approximately east of Gorzów Wielkopolski...
became Poland's fiefs
Fiefdom
A fee was the central element of feudalism and consisted of heritable lands granted under one of several varieties of feudal tenure by an overlord to a vassal who held it in fealty in return for a form of feudal allegiance and service, usually given by the...
, while Wałcz district was in 1368 taken outright, severing the land connection between Brandenburg and the Teutonic state and connecting Poland with Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania
Farther Pomerania, Further Pomerania, Transpomerania or Eastern Pomerania , which before the German-Polish border shift of 1945 comprised the eastern part of the Duchy, later Province of Pomerania, roughly stretching from the Oder River in the West to Pomerelia in the East...
.
Casimir the Great considerably solidified the country's position in both foreign and domestic affairs. Domestically, he integrated and centralized the reunited Polish state and helped develop what was considered the "Crown of the Polish Kingdom"—the state within its actual, as well as past or potential (legal from the Polish point of view) boundaries. Casimir established or strengthened kingdom-wide institutions (such as the powerful state treasury), independent of the regional, class, or royal court related interests. Internationally, the Polish king was very active diplomatically, cultivated close contacts with other European rulers and was a staunch defender of the Polish national interest. In 1364 he sponsored the Congress of Kraków
Congress of Kraków
The Congress of Kraków was a meeting of monarchs initiated by King Casimir III the Great of Poland and held in Kraków around September 22-27, 1364...
, in which a number of monarchs participated, and which was concerned with the promotion of peaceful cooperation and political balance in Central Europe.
Louis I and Jadwiga of the Angevin dynasty (1370–1399)
Immediately after Casimir's death in 1370, the heirless king's nephew, Louis of Hungary of the Angevin dynastyCapetian House of Anjou
The Capetian House of Anjou, also known as the House of Anjou-Sicily and House of Anjou-Naples, was a royal house and cadet branch of the direct House of Capet. Founded by Charles I of Sicily, a son of Louis VIII of France, the Capetian king first ruled the Kingdom of Sicily during the 13th century...
, assumed the Polish throne. As Casimir's actual commitment to the Angevin succession seemed problematic from the beginning (in 1368 the Polish king adopted his grandson, Casimir of Słupsk), Louis engaged in succession negotiations with Polish knights and nobility starting in 1351. They supported him, exacting in return further guarantees and privileges for themselves; the formal act was negotiated in Buda
Buda
For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...
in 1355. After the coronation, Louis returned to Hungary; he left his mother and Casimir's sister Elizabeth in Poland as a regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
.
With the death of Casimir the Great, the period of hereditary (Piast) monarchy in Poland came to an end. The land owners and nobles did not want a strong monarchy; a constitutional monarchy was established between 1370 and 1493 (the beginning of the bicameral General Sejm
General sejm
The general sejm was the parliament of Poland for four centuries from the late 15th until the late 18th century.-Genesis:The power of early sejms grew during the period of Poland's fragmentation , when the power of individual rulers waned and that of various councils and wiece grew...
).
During the reign of Louis I, Poland formed a union with Hungary. In the pact of 1374 (the Privilege of Koszyce
Privilege of Koszyce
The Privilege of Koszyce was a set of concessions made by Louis I of Hungary to the Polish szlachta in 1374. The privileges were granted in Košice...
), the Polish nobility were granted extensive concessions and agreed to extend the Angevin succession to Louis' daughters, as Louis had no sons. Louis' neglect of Polish affairs resulted in the loss of Casimir's territorial gains, including Halych
Halych
Halych is a historic city on the Dniester River in western Ukraine. The town gave its name to the historic province and kingdom of Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia, of which it was the capital until the early 14th century, when the seat of the local princes was moved to Lviv...
Rus'
Rus (name)
Originally, the name Rus referred to the people, the region, and the medieval states of the Rus' Khaganate and Kievan Rus' polities...
(recovered by Jadwiga
Jadwiga of Poland
Jadwiga was monarch of Poland from 1384 to her death. Her official title was 'king' rather than 'queen', reflecting that she was a sovereign in her own right and not merely a royal consort. She was a member of the Capetian House of Anjou, the daughter of King Louis I of Hungary and Elizabeth of...
in 1387).
Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty
History of Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty is the period in the history of Poland that spans the late Middle Ages and early Modern Era. Beginning with the Lithuanian Grand Duke Jogaila , the Jagiellon dynasty formed the Polish–Lithuanian union...
.
Culture
In the 14th century, many large scale brick building projects were undertaken during Casimir's reign, including the construction of GothicGothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
churches, castles, urban fortifications and homes of wealthy city residents. The most notable architecture of the medieval period in Poland are the many churches representing the Polish Gothic
Polish Gothic
The Gothic style arrived in Poland in first half the 13th century with Dominican and Franciscan orders. The first elements of the new style is evident in the foundation built during the bishop Iwo Odrowąż in Dominican Trinity church in Kraków...
style; medieval sculpture, painting and ornamental smithery are best expressed in the furnishings of churches and liturgical items. Polish law was first codified in the Statutes of Casimir the Great
Statutes of Casimir the Great
Statutes of Casimir the Great or Piotrków-Wiślica Statutes - a collection of laws issued by Casimir III the Great, the king of Poland, in the years 1346-1362 during congresses in Piotrków and Wiślica...
(Piotrków-Wiślica Statutes) from 1346–1362. Accordingly, conflict resolution relied on legal proceedings domestically, while bilateral or multilateral negotiations and treaties were increasingly important in international relations. By this time, the network of cathedral and parish schools had become well developed. In 1364, Casimir the Great, based on a papal concession, established the University of Kraków
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
, the second oldest university in Central Europe. While many still traveled to southern and western Europe for university studies, the Polish language
Old Polish language
Old Polish is a name used to describe the period in the history of the Polish language between 9th and 16th centuries.-History:...
, along with the predominant Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
, is increasingly present in written documents. The Holy Cross Sermons
Holy Cross Sermons
The Holy Cross Sermons are the oldest extant manuscripts of fine prose in the Polish language dating from the early 14th century. The documents are named after the place where they had originally been housed—the Holy Cross Monastery in Poland's Holy Cross Mountains .-Description and history:The...
(ca. early 14th century) constitute possibly the oldest extant Polish prose manuscript.
See also
- Poland in the Early Middle AgesPoland in the Early Middle AgesThe ancient Roman scholars new nothing about the impenetrable forest north of Dacia and the Carpathian Mountains, between the migrating Celts and Germanic tribes to the west, and the Sarmatians to the east. Augustian historian Strabo only assumed the presence of a different tribe reaching north to...
- History of Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty
External links
- Górczyk, Wojciech, " Półksiężyc, orzeł, lew i smok. Uwagi o godłach napieczętnych Piastów" (Piast heraldic emblems on seals) Histmag (English)