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A BRIEF HISTORY OF POLAND

 

Copyright 1994 - AngloPol Corporation -- Distributed by the Polonia Media Network

Part 1

 

The Polish State Emerges

10th-12th Centuries

 

The name of Poland comes from the name of the Polanie tribe or people tilling land. That tribe settled down in the Warta River basin, an area which was later called Wielkopolska [Great Poland]. The center of authority was in Gniezno. Archaeological excavations permit an examination of the development of the Gniezno castle and its powerful fortifications, dating back to the 8th century. The tribal rulers of the Polanie who later resided in the castle were called the Piasts, from the name of their legendary ancestor.

 

Throughout the 10th century, the Polanie and their Piast princes conquered and consolidated their rule over other Lecithic tribes living between the Odra and Bug Rivers, the Baltic coast and the Carpathian Mountains. The Polanie conquered successively the Kujawianie tribe, whose main castle was in Kruszwica, the Mazowszanie tribe and their castle of Plock, the Ledzianie tribe and Sandomierz, and the Pomeranian tribe and their castles of Gdansk and Wolin. Toward the end of the century they seized the Wislanie tribe with their castle of Krakow, as well as the Silesian tribes with Wroclaw, Opole and Legnica.

 

Mieszko I was the first prince of the Piast dynasty to be mentioned by contemporary historical sources (ca. 960-992). We even know the names of his forefathers from oral tradition. Nonetheless, it is Mieszko I who is recognized as the founder of the Polish state. It was during his time that conquests were completed and the tribes whose languages and cultures showed great affinity were united. The prince reorganized the new territories and united them into a uniform state system. In 966, Mieszko was baptized, thus placing the Polish state in the political system of Central Europe and determining the European and Christian road of development of the Polish state and society.

 

Poland of the 10th through 12th centuries, as many other states of the early Middle Ages, was a monarchy treated by the ruler as a dynastic property and heritage--a patriarchy. The duke and a small group of magnates who surrounded him (the erstwhile tribal chiefs or people elevated to power by the duke) commanded strong and centralized powers. The army was made up of an elite several- thousand-strong team, provided for and equipped by the duke, as well as of free yeomen called to serve whenever such need arose.

 

The state was divided into provinces, but the administrative set-up had much to do with old tribal patterns. Provinces, in turn, were divided into castle districts, some one hundred of them altogether. In each district there was the master representing the duke and wielding power on his behalf: military, judicial, fiscal and administrative. He had an entourage of a small number of warriors. Yeomen, making up the hardcore of the population, had to pay a levy to the duke. High social position during these early stages of the monarchy stemmed not from personal wealth or tribal ownership, but from having a share in power and the rights bestowed by the duke to use part of the state income.

 

When in 960 Mieszko was assuming power around 960, the basic dilemma appeared for Poland, which would confront her over the next few centuries: what attitude the Piast-created state should take towards the Empire and the Papacy. The expansion of the German state to the lands on the middle and lower stretches of the Elbe River, the conquest of the Slavonic tribes living there, caused the Polish state to face a powerful, dangerous and, at the same time, relatively civilized neighbor.

 

The aspirations of Germany found expression in the imperial coronation of Otto I in 962. The Polish Prince could opt either for supporting a pagan realm and struggle for full political independence (this would have been an option eventually leading to defeat) or for acceptance of baptism and bringing Poland into the sphere of European Christian civilization. The latter choice would shape relations with the Empire on the principle of the recognition of its informal superiority. Thanks to the decision of Mieszko I, Poland was provided with the foundations of her development and participation in the commonwealth of the states and nations of Europe.

 

In 965 Mieszko married Czech Princess Dabrowka. Her retinue included priests who took up missionary work in Poland. The ruler himself was baptized in 966. Two years later, the first Polish bishopric was established in Poznan with Bishop Jordan at the head. The alliance with the Czech state, the baptism and the person of bishop Jordan (most probably an Italian) reflect Poland's striving to counter-balance her attitude of dependence on the Empire. A more eloquent manifestation of this policy is provided by the act of putting Poland under the papal protection by Mieszko I around 990.

 

The son of and successor to Mieszko, Boleslaus the Brave (992-1025), went along the same path of increasing Poland's independence at the early stages of his rule. In 997, he organized a mission by the Czech Bishop Adalbert to the lands of the Prussian tribes and, after the missionary perished, he paid for his body, deposited it in the Gniezno Cathedral and took advantage of the canonization of the martyr to upgrade Poland's rank. The short-lived international political conditions favored those plans.

 

The idealistically-minded Emperor Otto III wanted to build a universal Christian community to embrace Sclavinia (Slavonic) lands, to be represented by Boleslaus the Brave. Both rulers met at the St. Adalbert's grave in Gniezno in the year 1000. There the Emperor dubbed Boleslaus a patrician of the Empire and handed him St. Maurice's spear, put the imperial diadem on his head and, most importantly, agreed (with Rome's approval) to establish a Polish Church metropolis in Gniezno. The Church hierarchy, complemented with the first Benedictine monasteries, became an important component of the political structure of the state. The political independence acquired in that way had to be defended by Poland later, when heirs to Otto III changed the Empire's policy toward Poland.

 

Boleslaus the Brave defeated the Germans in the long war of 1002-1018. Afterward, he consolidated his edge in East-Central Europe with an expedition against Kiev in 1018. Poland's independence was manifested by the royal coronations of her rulers (Boleslaus the Brave in 1025 and Mieszko II in 1025.)

 

However, Mieszko II was deprived of his crown in 1031 following a lost war against the Germans, Ruthenians and Czechs, resulting in the outburst of infighting for the princely throne, the death of Mieszko II, a rebellion of magnates and a subsequent rebellion of pagan subjects, destruction of the Church organization and flight from Poland of Casimir, the young heir to the throne. Casimir returned to Poland with German assistance, rebuilt the state and became known as the Restorer, but he did not attempt to shed the dependence on the Empire.

 

Casimir's son, Boleslaus II, the Bold (1054-1079,) reconstituted the Church Metropolis and, as a result of numerous battle victories, reached for the crown in 1076. In doing so, he took advantage of the Empire's conflict with the Pope by siding with Gregory VII's struggle against Henry IV. However, he also fell into conflict with Polish magnates concerned by over-centralized state power. Fighting the opposition, the king killed the Krakow Bishop Stanislaus (future saint and Poland's patron,) which caused such great indignation that it swept him from the throne.

 

Boleslaus II's brother and successor, Ladislaus Herman, settled for the title of prince and acknowledged a loose dependence on the Empire. His son, Boleslaus III, the Wrymouth (1102-1138,) also was a prince although he waged numerous successful wars, repelling a German invasion in 1109. He united the magnates and knights in Poland with a struggle to regain Pomerania. He did conquer the land and helped organize the missionary activity by Otto of Bamberg, who baptized the Pomeranians.

 

Gallus Anonimus left behind a clearly formulated account of the political program of Boleslaus II and his camp. The ruler is presented in the chronicle as a prince, but the state he ruled is characterized as a kingdom [regnum]. The supreme duty of the prince was to defend the "old freedom of Poland."

 

"I prefer to lose the Kingdom of Poland, while defending her freedom," the prince was quoted as saying to the Imperial envoys, "than to retain control in the ignominy of serfdom."

 

What were the reasons for the constant return by the Polish princes, despite setbacks, to the independence-oriented policy?

 

Certainly one of the reasons was the military character of the state of the first Piasts. That state come into being through conquests, with the prince commanding strong and well-armed troops. The territorial and demographic potential of the Polish state also favored the struggle for independence. Poland's territory amounted to about 250,000 sq. kilometers with a population of some one million.

Part 2

 

Division into Provinces

 

The system of the princely law, of the strongly centralized authority in the hands of the dynasts, the dependence of the magnates on the prince, was eroding under the impact of a gradual feudalization of social relations. In the 12th century, a number of magnates had the land bestowed upon them by the prince. The Church, too, was bringing to Poland feudal organizational patterns and striving to acquire real estate. The feudalization of the system was cutting into the magnates' dependence on the prince. That was expressed by the magnate support for one or another candidate to the throne.

 

Those decentralizing tendencies were characteristic for a number of feudal states in medieval Europe. In Poland, as in Ruthenia, those tendencies assumed the form of a split into provinces. The state was divided into dukedoms and principalities, each of which was ruled by a branch of the Piast dynasty.

 

The beginning of the provincial split was provided by the testament of Boleslaus III, the Wrymouth, in 1138. He carved up the state for his five sons, instituting the eldest of them as the senior. Quickly, however, this seniority was abolished and the growth of the dynasty produced ever new splits. In the peak period of the provincial division (mid-13th century) Poland consisted of some twenty duchies. The disappearance of central authority and the weakening of individual provincial rulers paved the way for a growing independence of the Church and magnates, as well as of the rank-and-file knights.

 

The 12th and 13th centuries were a period of demographic growth and intensive settlement of newcomers. Princes, bishops and knights had an interest not only in exploiting the existing estates, but also in setting up new villages, as well as in reorganizing the existing towns and setting up new urban centers. In doing so, they were following the organizational patterns brought to Poland from abroad--from Flanders and, above all, from Germany. Waves of German settlers started flowing into Poland, encouraged by the favorable conditions. Rulers and petty feudal lords bestowed privileges on them, called location charters, enabling them either to reorganize the existing urban centers or establish entirely new villages and towns. The German Magdeburg Law specified the organization of the privileged towns and settlements and ushered in city and village self-government: their own jurisdiction and the principles for treasury and rents.

 

The settlement action based on the German Law, continuing from the latter part of the 12th century until the 14th century, and in some regions even till the 15th century, brought to Poland not only legal patterns, but also merchant capital, in addition to handicraft and farming technologies. Farmers were now using the heavy plough and the three-field rotation system. In processing, water mills and fulling mills were in general use. The economic development was faster; the population increased as did the number of villages and towns. Trade flourished and money went into general use.

 

The influx of German settlers created a new ethnic situation in Poland. Up to the 12th century Poland had been inhabited almost exclusively by the native population, the Slavs, descendants of the Lechite tribes of the pre-state period. The newcomers, composed of the German clergy, French and Italian priests, knights of various provinces, German or Jewish merchants, belonged to the elite and were few and far between. From the 13th century onwards, people of German origin grew in number among the ducal subjects, especially in towns.

 

A wealthy Jewish population also settled in towns. In 1264, they were granted special freedoms by the Krakow Prince, Boleslaus the Pious.

 

No less important were the changes in culture. Until the 12th century, art and literature were for the elite class only. The greatest works of architecture and Roman sculpture, the texts of the First Polish chronicles, decorative and handicraft arts, achieved a high level, but they were available to only a few. The 13th century saw the dissemination of those accomplishments, but also a lowering of their artistic sophistication. The number of churches grew markedly and a new style--the Gothic--appeared. Not only the cathedral churches, but Cistercian, Dominican and Franciscan churches, started operating schools, as did major urban parishes. Literature, still in Latin, became available to a larger number of readers.

 

Economic, demographic, social and cultural development constituted a positive by-product of the territorial division, but adverse phenomena were not lacking either. Poland, weakened by internal divisions, became the target of invasions. The local Princes of Western Pomerania grew independent in the North, while Brandenburg seized the province of Lebus. The Teutonic Knights, invited by the Mazowsze Prince, Konrad, to settle in the Chelmno Land, then conquered the lands of the Prussians and later, starting with the early 14th century, turned their expansion towards Poland.

 

Great destruction was wrought by the three invasions of the Mongols in 1241, 1259 and 1287. The first incursion reached all the way to Silesia. The Poles were beaten in the battle of Legnica and Henry the Pious of Silesia was killed, yet Poland preserved her independence, avoiding the fate that had befallen Ruthenia when it was conquered by the Mongols. External threats strengthened the striving for uniting the Polish lands.