Anyone slightly interested in the history of the Poles should also know some specific dates and facts. Yes, dates and facts are like mnemonic devices that help us remember what happened and help us develop a narrative. Without those, it is hard to tell a “story” and without a story history is, well, history as everyone listening just falls asleep. So, with that in mind let us throw out some contours. For a general history of the Polish People, see here. In this post, we will concentrate more on the politics and history of the Polish state.
Prehistory
First there came man. Well, maybe not homo sapiens but Neanderthal but nevertheless a type of man. Signs of habitation in Poland are ancient dating to more than ten thousand years BC. If we are to believe current scientific view, three waves of colonists appeared in Europe and in Poland: the “hunter-gatherers”, the “farmers” and then the “steppe” people – whoever they all may have been.
Almost History
In any event, after some time we have first reports of Polish lands coming in from the Greeks (maybe) and the Romans. Generally, speaking Poles seem to be “composed” of several tribes or tribal unions. First, as with all Suavs, we have the Veneti. These are likely to have included the Legii or Lugii or, perhaps, Lupiones (wolves or wilki), who may have been identical with the Velti (the only tribe that shows up in Ptolemy and in the Middle Ages) – depending on who is writing and who are listed in Suevia but do not seem to count among the Suevi. These people may have also run across some of the Sarmatians – maybe Jazyges with whom they bordered in Pannonia , later maybe Alans as well (after all the Veneti are called the Veneti Sarmatae on the Tabula Peutingeriana – whether that is just a geographic description is uncertain).
As regards the Poles, they are also likely to have Suevi as their ancestors, who may have given their name to all the Suavs. The Suevi clearly had dealings with the Noricans and also, perhaps, with Vindelici who, though often termed Celts, were likely Veneti from the around the river Lech and the Bodensee (Lacus Venetus). On occasion the Suevi fought the Lugii. The Suevi also had contacts and friendly ones with the Sarmatians in Pannonia. Perhaps, it was some of the Suevi that in Pannonia formed the new ethnicity of the Vandals. That, however, was outside of Poland. Later, in Saxony, the Suevi also fought Lombards who were a Gothic (Scandinavian) tribe. This may have been mistakenly translated into Lombard lore as a fight with the Vandals.
A third component, often quite under appreciated, are likely to have been the Aestii (Balts), whose languages – particularly the western Old Prussian – and beliefs seem in some ways to mimic the linguistic and cultural aspects of the Suavic heritage. These may also have encountered/included Finnic tribes as there are some strange references to Finni in Polish territories.
Outside of these three groups, the gene pool seems to have been largely untouched for the next 1,000 years of the Poles existence. At the edges there may have been a few other groups involved (such as later German or Scottish or Dutch colonists) as well as Suavs from the East though they were likely more of the same.
The First Polish State
History begins with written records. So what do we have here? Although some tribes appear in (probably) Polish lands listed by the Bavarian Geographer in the 9th century, they appear to be just that – loose tribal affiliations.
Archeology tells us that there was some warfare and “consolidation” in approximately the 920s-950s. As to the source of that consolidation I am not certain. However, there are some hints that the leaders of the Piast dynasty may have derived their origin from the Lutici, that is the Veleti, Ptolemy’s Veltae. Alternatively, and this may go to the name of the state, they may have been refugees from Kiev where the local eastern Polanie tribe had just been conquered by the Varangian Rus.
Then come the following:
962
This is the first time an indisputably Polish leader appears on the scene when Mieszko fights a battle against the Veleti while commanding the Licicaviki and the company of the Saxon margrave WIchman. Mieszko’s brother dies in the engagement. The Licicaviki refers either to people of Leszek/Leszko (Mieszko’s grandfather) or is a misspelling of the Lutici – another name for the Veleti. In the latter case this engagement could be seem as an intra-Lutici squabble.
966
Mieszko marries Dobrawa of Czechia about 965 and converts to Christianity.
972
Battle of Cedynia: While the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I is in Italy, the German raiders of margrave Hodo attack and are repelled by Mieszko’s [Miseco] and his brother’s Czcibor’s [Cidebur] forces. Most of the Saxons are slain. Among those who survive are Hodo and Siegried von Walbeck, the father of the future bishop and chronicler, Thietmar.
979
In 979, the Emperor Otto II invades Suav lands including Poland but is pushed back.
981
in 981, the Kievan Rus warriors attack eastern Polish territories taking Przemyśl, Czerwień and other strongholds later called the “Red Ruthenian” lands. Czerwień, incidentally, refers to a plant but also the color red and is likely the root of the original name for the Visigoths – Tervingi.
1002-1018
Three wars of Mieszko’s son Bolesuav the Brave against the Empire. At the end a Polish border posts are planted in the Souava river (the German Saale and the river of the Suavs). Similarly, Bolesuav invades Czechia and holds Prague and invades and takes Kiev.
1025
After the death of Emperor Henry II, Bolesuav crowns himself the first king of Poland, then promptly expires. HIs son Mieszko II crowns himself second king of Poland on Christmas Day the same year.
1025-1034
The reign of Bolesuav’s son Mieszko II “Lambert” is plagued by new wars against the Empire, the Czechs and new invasions by the Kievan Rus. The Czech assaults destroy Gniezno, the Polish capital and lay much of the lands in waste. In retaliation for an earlier Polish adventure, they also proceed to castrate Mieszko II. A pagan rebellion against the new feudal order as well as Christianity follows Mieszko’s death and further contributes to the overall chaos.
The Second Polish State
A this point the country is basically in ruins, a result of wars with every single neighboring power.
1039-1041
Mieszko II’s son Casimir the Monk returns to Poland with the aid of soldiers provided by Emperor Henry III and reclaims the throne. He, however, will not crown himself a king and remains a duke. The country is more or less restored to Mieszko I’s territories with the exception of Silesia which remains contested between the Poles and the Czechs.
1076
Casimir’s son Bolesuav II the Generous, taking advantage of the Investiture Controversy and split between the Pope and Emperor Henry III, crowns himself the third king of Poland on Christmas Day, 1076. Throughout his rule he also invades Bohemia alongside Kievan Rus warriors of Vladimir II Monomach and intervenes several times in Hungary. Bolesuav manages to take Red Ruthenia again but with all the southern flank focus both Gdansk Pomerania and Western Pomerania make themselves independent.
Bolesuav also executes Bishop Stanisuav on charges of treason, thereby giving the Poles’ their first native Catholic Saint. Unappreciative of this achievement, some of the local lords drive Bolesuav out of the country. He flees to Hungary where, however, he is poisoned in 1079. His younger, weaker brother Wladysuav becomes duke of Poland.
1079-1138
Wladysuav is, by design, a weak ruler. Much power in the country belongs to the palatine Sieciech. Against him rebel two of Wladysuav’s sons, the older but illegitimate Zbigniew and the younger Bolesuav III. They defeat their father’s and Sieciech’s armies. Wladysuav dies in 1102 without specifying succession.
Naturally, Zbigniew and Bolesuav start fighting with the latter winning and tossing Zbigniew out of the country. Bolesuav then became Bolesuav III (but did not crown himself king) and initiated reconquest attempts at the Pomeranias. As anyone who has been sidelined in Poland does, Zbigniew ran for help to the Empire with the result that the Emperor marched against the Poles unsuccessfully besieging Glogow in 1109 before being defeated at the Hounds’ Field. With that settled, Bolesuav blinded his older brother for good measure.
After some penance he headed back north retaking Pomerania – first Gdansk and then Szczecin – and even taking the island of Ruegen (oh, and before he did that he also ravaged Prussia to protect his flank). Bolesuav died in 1138. Given his past conflict with his brother, he did not want to see the same fighting happen among his sons. So, he devised a way to keep everyone happy by dividing the country into little dukedoms with the nominal overlordship of the oldest son Wladysuav. This arrangement did not last soon fighting began.
Country Divided
1138-1320
As a result of the division of Poland, the country became split up for almost two centuries. Wladysuav got chased out of the country (hence his nickname, the “Exile”) and tried to return (naturally) on the backs of Teutonic troops. Not much came out of all this other than stalemate. Although the country suffered further splits with each passing generation, this period is, perhaps, the most interesting in Polish history as various petty dukes vied for domination in an increasingly more and more complicated political landscape. That said, there were three important events that occurred in this era.
First, the continued incursions of the pagan Baltic Prussians into Mazovia resulted in rather unsuccessful retaliatory campaigns by the Mazovian duke Konrad. Frustrated with his inability to keep out the marauding Prussians and unable to call upon the Polish state (seeing as that was not around), in 1226 Konrad had the not too terribly bright idea of inviting the Teutonic Knights (recently expelled from Hungary for showing too much “initiative”) to Mazovia. Apparently, he did not do his due diligence on this shady group or, like a woman in love, thought “I can change these guys.” In any event, these gentlemen interpreted “keeping out the Prussians” as an invitation to exterminate all of them. While at it, they and their likeminded brethren from the Livonian Brotherhood of the Sword, helped themselves to Livonia, portions of the territories of Novgorod, portions of Lithuania and, ultimately, Gdansk Pomerania. It kind of made sense since that is, after all, how the Frankish realm was constructed too from whose bosom they ultimately graced the southern Baltic littoral. In 1308, when called in to protect Gdansk from the invading Brandenburg army, in order to make themselves better appreciated, they drove out their fellow Germans and then proceeded to slaughter the inhabitants of the city. Wherever they went they tended to replace the local populations with German (or Germanized) colonists from the West and, in southern Prussia, with Poles from Mazovia (hence the southern portion of “East” Prussia came to be known as Masuria). Ultimately, with nothing left to conquer, they also stole the Prussian name and appropriated it for their own usage.
Second, in 1241, that is just about fifteen years after the Teutonic Knights showed up in Poland, so did the Mongols. Though the Mongols were apparently content with having captured Kiev and having destroyed the Kievan Rus state, they noticed that some of the Cumans had fled from them to Hungary. What does Poland have to do with that? Well, the Mongols thought that they need a diversion (so to speak). As part of their divertive activities they raided and burned down Sandomierz, Cracow (having famously interrupted the playing of the daily bugle – the hejnal – via an arrow shot to the throat of the official town bugler) and then joyously headed for Silesia.
Although the Poles and Czechs were still undecided as to whom Silesia ought to belong to, they both agreed that it should not be the Mongols. The Poles had even gathered the newly established Teutonic Knights to their cause. All to little avail, at the battle of Legnica the forces of the Piast dukes, Henry the Pious, Mieszko the Fat, Sulisuav of Cracow aided by the twice-expelled from Bohemia, Czech prince Bolesuav the Lisper, were thoroughly defeated. Thus, did the Mongols demonstrate that neither piety, gluttony, mirth nor speech impediments are helpful to the art of leading men in warfare. Interestingly, the one duke that managed to get away, notwithstanding his girth, was Mieszko the Fat. Apparently, his quick-minded recognition of the dire situation was enough to compensate him for the otherwise halting effect of his overwhelming mass. The Mongols, having been diverted quite enough, promptly left Poland and headed to Hungary. The ravaging effects of their brief stay were, however, such that the remaining Silesian Piast dukes were forced to repopulate vast swaths of their lands with colonists who, at that time, happened to be available in droves in, of course, Germany.
Third, while not engaging the Prussians (and also Baltic Jatvings and Lithuanians) or Mongols, the Piast dukes spent most of their time plotting against each other. They all seemed to agree on the basic concept of reuniting the country but, for some reason, could not decide as to who was best suited for the task. With each passing generation, more Piast dukes were born and their parents’ lands were subject to further and further subdivision. One of the dukes, Przemysl II actually managed to unite the province of Greater Poland (around Poznan) and the lands of Gdansk Pomerania and, in 1295, to crown himself the fourth king of Poland. (Technically, two Czech monarchs also claimed the title in the meantime but the Poles, naturally, do not count those gentlemen, them being f’rners and all). However, he got into a lot of kerfuffles with the Brandenburgian participants in the Drang Nach Osten and was taken out, likely by them, just a year later. He did, however, pave the path for his eventual ally, Wladysuav the Short to also unite Greater Poland with Lesser Poland (though having lost Gdansk Pomerania to the Teutonic Order as described above) and upon that event (with Silesia still contested with the Czechs and Mazovia an independent, though allied, province to crown himself the fifth King of Poland in 1320.
The Third Polish State
The third Piast state was the state of Wladysuav and Casimir (the Great). It lasted until 1370 and was the last Piast to encompass most of the country. Silesian Piasts continued for some time longer. Obviously the female lines might have continued but historians did not pay attention to them as much. Thereafter, the country would have a decent Hungarian monarch whose daughter would then marry Iogaila of Lithuania to start the Jagiellonian dynasty.
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