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.