Bolesław I the Brave
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox royalty Bolesław I the BraveTemplate:Efn (Template:CircaTemplate:Snd17 June 1025), less often known as Bolesław the Great,Template:Efn was Duke of Poland from 992 to 1025 and the first King of Poland in 1025. He was also Duke of Bohemia between 1003 and 1004 as Boleslaus IV. A member of the Piast dynasty, Bolesław was a capable monarch and a strong mediator in Central European affairs. He continued to proselytise Western Christianity among his subjects and raised Poland to the rank of a kingdom, thus becoming the first Polish ruler to hold the title of rex, Latin for king.
The son of Mieszko I of Poland by his first wife Dobrawa of Bohemia, Bolesław ruled Lesser Poland already during the final years of Mieszko's reign. When the country became divided in 992, he banished his father's widow, Oda of Haldensleben, purged his half-brothers along with their adherents and successfully reunified Poland by 995. As a devout Christian, Bolesław supported the missionary endeavours of Adalbert of Prague and Bruno of Querfurt. The martyrdom of Adalbert in 997 and Bolesław's successful attempt to ransom the bishop's remains, paying for their weight in gold, consolidated Poland's autonomy from the Holy Roman Empire.
At the Congress of Gniezno (11 March 1000), Emperor Otto III permitted the establishment of a Polish church structure with a metropolitan see at Gniezno, independent from the Archbishopric of Magdeburg. Bishoprics were also established in Kraków, Wrocław, and Kołobrzeg, and Bolesław formally repudiated paying tribute to the Empire. Following Otto's death in 1002, Bolesław fought a series of wars against Otto's cousin and heir, Henry II, ending in the Peace of Bautzen (1018). In the summer of 1018, in one of his expeditions, Bolesław I captured Kiev, where he installed his son-in-law Sviatopolk I as ruler. According to legend, Bolesław chipped his blade when striking Kiev's Golden Gate. In honour of this legend, the Szczerbiec ("Jagged Sword") would later become the coronation sword of Polish kings.
Bolesław is widely considered one of Poland's most accomplished Piast monarchs; he was an able strategist and statesman, who transformed Poland into an entity comparable to a hereditary monarchy. Bolesław conducted successful military campaigns to the west, south and east of his realm, and conquered territories in modern-day Slovakia, Moravia, Red Ruthenia, Meissen, Lusatia, and Bohemia. He established the "Prince's Law" and sponsored the construction of churches, monasteries, military forts as well as waterway infrastructure. He also introduced the first Polish monetary unit, the grzywna, divided into 240 denarii,<ref name="ReferenceA">A. Czubinski, J. Topolski, Historia Polski, Ossolineum, 1989.Template:ISBN?Template:Page?</ref> and minted his own coinage.
Early life
[edit]Bolesław was born in 966 or 967,<ref name=PSB248>Tymieniecki Kazimierz, Bolesław Chrobry. In: Konopczyński Władysław (ed): Polski słownik biograficzny. T. II: Beyzym Jan – Brownsford Marja. Kraków: Nakładem Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności, 1936. Template:ISBN. p. 248</ref> the first child of Mieszko I of Poland and his wife, the Bohemian princess Dobrawa, known in Czech as Doubravka.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn His Epitaph, which was written in the middle of the Template:Nobr, emphasised that Bolesław had been born to a "faithless" father and a "true-believing" mother, suggesting that he was born before his father's baptism.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Bolesław was baptised shortly after his birth.Template:Sfn He was named after his maternal grandfather, Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia.Template:Sfn Not much is known about Bolesław's childhood. His Epitaph recorded that he underwent the traditional hair-cutting ceremony at the age of seven and a lock of his hair was sent to Rome.Template:Sfn The latter act suggests that Mieszko wanted to place his son under the protection of the Holy See.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Historian Tadeusz Manteuffel says that Bolesław needed that protection because his father had sent him to the court of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor in token of his allegiance to the emperor.Template:Sfn However, historian Marek Kazimierz Barański notes that the claim that Bolesław was sent as a hostage to the imperial court is disputed.Template:Sfn
Bolesław's mother, Dobrawa, died in 977; his widowed father married Oda of Haldensleben who had already been a nun.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Around that time, Bolesław became the ruler of Lesser Poland, through it is not exactly clear in what circumstances. Jerzy Strzelczyk says that Bolesław received Lesser Poland from his father; Tadeusz Manteuffel states that he seized the province from his father with the local lords' support; and Henryk Łowmiański writes that his uncle, Boleslav II of Bohemia, granted the region to him.Template:Sfn
Accession and consolidation
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Mieszko I died on 25 May 992.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The contemporaneous Thietmar of Merseburg recorded that Mieszko left "his kingdom to be divided among many claimants", but Bolesław unified the country "with fox-like cunning"<ref name="Chronicon_ch4.58_p192">The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (ch. 4.58.), p. 192.</ref> and expelled his stepmother and half-brothers from Poland.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Two Polish lords Odilien and Przibiwoj,<ref name="Chronicon_ch4.58_p193">The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (ch. 4.58.), p. 193.</ref> who had supported Oda and her sons, were blinded on Bolesław's order.Template:Sfn How long it took him to take control of all of Poland is a matter of dispute, but the consensus is within a few years.Template:Efn
Bolesław's first coins were issued around 995.Template:Sfn One of them bore the inscription Vencievlavus, showing that he regarded his mother's uncle Duke Wenceslaus I of Bohemia as the patron saint of Poland.Template:Sfn Bolesław sent reinforcements to the Holy Roman Empire to fight against the Polabian Slavs in summer 992.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Bolesław personally led a Polish army to assist the imperial troops in invading the land of the Abodrites or Veleti in 995.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn During the campaign, he met the young German monarch, Otto III.Template:Sfn
Soběslav, the head of the Bohemian Slavník dynasty, also participated in the 995 campaign.Template:Sfn Taking advantage of Soběslav's absence, Boleslav II of Bohemia invaded the Slavníks' domains and had most members of the family murdered.Template:Sfn After learning of his kinsmen's fate, Soběslav settled in Poland.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Bolesław gave shelter to him "for the sake of [Soběslav's] holy brother",<ref name="Life_of_Saint_Adalbert_ch25_p165">Life of Saint Adalbert Bishop of Prague and Martyr (ch. 25.), p. 165.</ref> Bishop Adalbert of Prague, according to the latter's hagiographies.Template:Sfn Adalbert (known as Wojciech before his consecration)Template:Sfn also came to Poland in 996, because Bolesław "was quite amicably disposed towards him".Template:Sfn<ref name="Life_of_Saint_Adalbert_ch26_p167">Life of Saint Adalbert Bishop of Prague and Martyr (ch. 26.), p. 167.</ref> Adalbert's hagiographies suggest that the bishop and Bolesław closely cooperated.Template:Sfn In early 997 Adalbert left Poland to proselytise among the Prussians, who had been invading the eastern borderlands of Bolesław's realm.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn However, the pagans murdered him on 23 April 997.Template:Sfn Bolesław ransomed Adalbert's remains, paying its weight in gold, and buried it in Gniezno.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn He sent parts of the martyr bishop's corpse to Emperor Otto III who had been Adalbert's friend.Template:Sfn
Congress of Gniezno and its aftermath (999–1002)
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Emperor Otto III held a synod in Rome where Adalbert was canonised on the emperor's request on 29 June 999.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Before 2 December 999, Adalbert's brother, Radim Gaudentius, was consecrated "Saint Adalbert's archbishop".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Otto III made a pilgrimage to Saint Adalbert's tomb in Gniezno, accompanied by Pope Sylvester II's legate, Robert, in early 1000.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Thietmar of Merseburg mentioned that it "would be impossible to believe or describe"<ref name="Chronicon_ch4.45_p183">The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (ch. 4.45.), p. 183.</ref> how Bolesław received the emperor and conducted him to Gniezno.Template:Sfn A century later, Gallus Anonymus added that "[m]arvelous and wonderful sights Bolesław set before the emperor when he arrived: the ranks first of the knights in all their variety, and then of the princes, lined up on a spacious plain like choirs, each separate unit set apart by the distinct and varied colors of its apparel, and no garment there was of inferior quality, but of the most precious stuff that might anywhere be found."Template:Sfn<ref name="Gallus_Anonymus_ch6_p35">The Deeds of the Princes of the Poles (ch. 6.), p. 35.</ref>
Bolesław took advantage of the emperor's pilgrimage.Template:Sfn After the Emperor's visit in Gniezno, Poland started to develop into a sovereign state, in contrast with Bohemia, which remained a vassal state, incorporated in the Kingdom of Germany.Template:Sfn Thietmar of Merseburg condemned Otto III for "making a lord out of a tributary"<ref name="Chronicon_ch5.10_p212">The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (ch. 5.10.), p. 212.</ref> in reference to the relationship between the Emperor and Bolesław.Template:Sfn Gallus Anonymus emphasised that Otto III declared Bolesław "his brother and partner" in the Holy Roman Empire, also calling Bolesław "a friend and ally of the Roman people".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn<ref name="Gallus_Anonymus_ch6_p37"/> The same chronicler mentioned that Otto III "took the imperial diadem from his own head and laid it upon the head of Bolesław in pledge of friendship"<ref name="Gallus_Anonymus_ch6_p37">The Deeds of the Princes of the Poles (ch. 6.), p. 37.</ref> in Gniezno.Template:Sfn Bolesław also received "one of the nails from the cross of our Lord with the lance of St. Maurice"<ref name="Gallus_Anonymus_ch6_p37"/> from the Emperor.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Gallus Anonymus claimed that Bolesław was "gloriously raised to kingship by the emperor"<ref name="Gallus_Anonymus_ch6_p39">The Deeds of the Princes of the Poles (ch. 6.), p. 39.</ref> through these acts, but the Emperor's acts in Gniezno only symbolised that Bolesław received royal prerogatives, including the control of the Church in his realm.Template:Sfn Radim Gaudentius was installed as the archbishop of the newly established Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno.Template:Sfn At the same time, three suffragan bishoprics, subordinated to the see of Gniezno—the dioceses of Kołobrzeg, Kraków and Wrocław—were set up.Template:Sfn Bolesław had promised that Poland would pay Peter's Pence to the Holy See to obtain the pope's sanction to the establishment of the new archdiocese.Template:Sfn Unger, who had been the only prelate in Poland and was opposed to the creation of the archdiocese of Gniezno, was made bishop of Poznań, directly subordinated to the Holy See.Template:Sfn However, Polish commoners only slowly adopted Christianity: Thietmar of Merseburg recorded that Bolesław forced his subjects with severe punishments to observe fasts and to refrain from adultery:Template:Sfn
During the time the Emperor spent in Poland, Bolesław also showed off his affluence.Template:Sfn At the end of the banquets, he "ordered the waiters and the cupbearers to gather the gold and silver vessels ... from all three days' coursis, that is, the cups and goblets, the bowls and plates and the drinking-horns, and he presented them to the emperor as a toke of honor ... [h]is servants were likewise told to collect the wall-hangings and the coverlets, the carpets and tablecloths and napkins and everything that had been provided for their needs and take them to the emperor's quarters",<ref name="Gallus_Anonymus_ch6_p39"/> according to Gallus Anonymus.Template:Sfn Thietmar of Merseburg recorded that Bolesław presented Otto III with a troop of "three hundred armoured warriors".Template:Sfn<ref name="Chronicon_ch4.46_p184">The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (ch. 4.46.), p. 184.</ref> Bolesław also gave Saint Adalbert's arm to the Emperor.Template:Sfn
After the meeting, Bolesław escorted Otto III to Magdeburg in Germany where "they celebrated Palm Sunday with great festivity"<ref name="Chronicon_ch4.46_p185">The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (ch. 4.46.), p. 185.</ref> on 25 March 1000.Template:Sfn A continuator of the chronicle of Adémar de Chabannes recorded, decades after the events, that Bolesław also accompanied Emperor Otto from Magdeburg to Aachen where Otto III had Charlemagne's tomb reopened and gave Charlemagne's golden throne to Bolesław.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
An illustrated Gospel, made for Otto III around 1000, depicted four women symbolising Roma, Gallia, Germania and Sclavinia as doing homage to the Emperor who sat on his throne.Template:Sfn Historian Alexis P. Vlasto writes that "Sclavinia" referred to Poland, proving that it was regarded as one of the Christian realms subjected to the Holy Roman Empire in accordance with Otto III's idea of Renovatio imperiiTemplate:Sfn—the renewal of the Roman Empire based on a federal concept.Template:Sfn Within that framework, Poland, along with Hungary, was upgraded to an eastern foederatus of the Holy Roman Empire, according to historian Jerzy Strzelczyk.Template:Sfn
Coins struck for Bolesław shortly after his meeting with the emperor bore the inscription Gnezdun Civitas, showing that he regarded Gniezno as his capital.Template:Sfn The name of Poland was also recorded on the same coins referring to the Princes Polonie Template:Sic.Template:Sfn The title princeps was almost exclusively used in Italy around that time, suggesting that it also represented the Emperor's idea of the renewal of the Roman Empire.Template:Sfn However, Otto's premature death on 23 January 1002 put an end to his ambitious plans.Template:Sfn The contemporaneous Bruno of Querfurt stated that "nobody lamented" the 22-year-old emperor's "death with greater grief than Bolesław".<ref>Life of the Five Brethren by Bruno of Querfurt (ch. 8.), p. 237.</ref>Template:Sfn
In 1000 Bolesław issued a law prohibiting hunting beavers<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and created a office called "Bobrowniczy"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> whose task was to enforce prince's ordinances.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Expansion (1002–1018)
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Three candidates were competing with each other for the German crown after Otto III's death.Template:Sfn One of them, Duke Henry IV of Bavaria, promised the Margraviate of Meissen to Bolesław in exchange for his assistance against Eckard I, Margrave of Meissen who was the most powerful contender.Template:Sfn However, Eckard was murdered on 30 April 1002, which enabled Henry of Bavaria to defeat his last opponent, Herman II, Duke of Swabia.Template:Sfn Fearing that Henry II would side with elements in the German Church hierarchy which were unfavorable towards Poland,<ref name=PSB250>Tymieniecki Kazimierz, Bolesław Chrobry. In: Konopczyński Władysław (ed): Polski słownik biograficzny. T. II: Beyzym Jan – Brownsford Marja. Kraków: Nakładem Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności, 1936. Template:ISBN. p. 250</ref> and taking advantage of the chaos that followed Margrave Eckard's death and Henry of Bavaria's conflict with Henry of Schweinfurt, Bolesław invaded Lusatia and Meissen.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He "seized Margrave Gero's march as far as the river Elbe",<ref name="Chronicon_ch5.9_p211">The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (ch. 5.9.), p. 211.</ref> and also Bautzen, Strehla and Meissen.Template:Sfn At the end of July, he participated at a meeting of the Saxon lords where Henry of Bavaria, who had meanwhile been crowned king of Germany, only confirmed Bolesław's possession of Lusatia, and granted Meissen to Margrave Eckard's brother, Gunzelin, and Strehla to Eckard's oldest son, Herman.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The relationship between King Henry and Bolesław became tense after assassins tried to murder Bolesław in Merseburg, because he accused the king of conspiracy against him.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In retaliation, he seized and burned Strehla and took the inhabitants of the town into captivity.Template:Sfn
Duke Boleslaus III of Bohemia was dethroned and the Bohemian lords made Vladivoj, who had earlier fled to Poland, duke in 1002.Template:Sfn The Czech historian Dušan Třeštík writes that Vladivoj seized the Bohemian throne with Bolesław's assistance.Template:Sfn After Vladivoj died in 1003, Bolesław invaded Bohemia and restored Boleslaus III who had many Bohemian noblemen murdered.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Bohemian lords who survived the massacre "secretly sent representatives" to Bolesław, asking "him to rescue them from fear of the future",<ref name="Chronicon_ch5.30_p225">The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (ch. 5.30.), p. 225.</ref> according to Thietmar of Merseburg.Template:Sfn Bolesław invaded Bohemia and had Boleslaus III blinded.Template:Sfn He entered Prague in March 1003 where the Bohemian lords proclaimed him duke.Template:Sfn<ref name="PSB251">Tymieniecki Kazimierz, Bolesław Chrobry. In: Konopczyński Władysław (ed): Polski słownik biograficzny. T. II: Beyzym Jan – Brownsford Marja. Kraków: Nakładem Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności, 1936. Template:ISBN. p. 251 Template:Better source needed</ref> King Henry sent his envoys to Prague, demanding that Bolesław take an oath of loyalty and pay tribute to him, but Bolesław refused to obey.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He also allied himself with the king's opponents, including Henry of Schweinfurt to whom he sent reinforcements.Template:Sfn King Henry defeated Henry of Schweinfurt, forcing him to flee to Bohemia in August 1003.Template:Sfn Bolesław invaded the Margraviate of Meissen, but Margrave Gunzelin refused to surrender his capital.Template:Sfn It is also likely that Polish forces took control of Moravia and the northern parts of the Kingdom of Hungary (present-day mostly Slovakia) in 1003 as well. The proper conquest date of the Hungarian territories is 1003 or 1015 and this area stayed a part of Poland until 1018.<ref name='Makk'>Template:Cite book</ref>
King Henry allied himself with the pagan Lutici,<ref name=PSB251/> and broke into Lusatia in February 1004, but heavy snows forced him to withdraw.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He invaded Bohemia in August 1004, taking the oldest brother of the blinded Boleslaus III of Bohemia, Jaromír, with him.Template:Sfn The Bohemians rose up in open rebellion and murdered the Polish garrisons in the major towns.Template:Sfn Bolesław left Prague without resistance, and King Henry made Jaromír duke of Bohemia on 8 September.Template:Sfn Bolesław's ally Soběslav died in this campaign.<ref name=PSB251/>
During the next part of the offensive King Henry retook Meissen and in 1005, his army advanced as far into Poland as the city of Poznań where a peace treaty was signed.<ref name="ReferenceC">Thietmar of Merseburg, Thietmari merseburgiensis episcopi chronicon, 1018</ref> According to the peace treaty Bolesław lost Lusatia and Meissen and likely gave up his claim to the Bohemian throne. Also in 1005, a pagan rebellion in Pomerania overturned Bolesław's rule and resulted in the destruction of the newly established local bishopric.<ref>Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeiten, 1999, p. 32, Template:ISBN Template:OCLC</ref>
In 1007, after learning about Bolesław's efforts to gain allies among Saxon nobles and giving refuge to the deposed duke of Bohemia, Oldřich, King Henry denounced the Peace of Poznań, which caused Bolesław's attack on the Archbishopric of Magdeburg as well as the re-occupation of the marches of Lusatia, though he stopped short of retaking Meissen.<ref name=PSB251/> The German counter-offensive began three years later (previously, Henry was occupied with rebellion in Flanders), in 1010, but it was of no significant consequence.<ref name=PSB251/> In 1012, another ineffective campaign by archbishop Walthard of Magdeburg was launched, as he died during that campaign and, consequently, his forces returned home. Later that year, Bolesław once again invaded Lusatia. Bolesław's forces pillaged and burned the city of Lubusz (Lebus).<ref name="ReferenceC"/> In 1013, a peace accord was signed at Merseburg.<ref name=PSB251/> As part of the treaty, Bolesław paid homage to King Henry for the March of Lusatia (including the town of Bautzen) and Sorbian Meissen as fiefs.<ref name=PSB251/> A marriage of Bolesław's son Mieszko with Richeza of Lotharingia, daughter of the Count Palatine Ezzo of Lotharingia and granddaughter of Emperor Otto II, was also performed.<ref name=PSB251/> During the brief period of peace on the western frontier that followed, Bolesław took part in a short campaign in the east, towards the Kievan Rus' territories.<ref name=PSB251/>
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In 1014, Bolesław sent his son Mieszko to Bohemia in order to form an alliance with Duke Oldrich against Henry, by then crowned emperor.<ref name=PSB251/> Oldrich imprisoned Mieszko and turned him over to Henry, who, however, released him in a gesture of good will after being pressured by Saxon nobles.<ref name=PSB251/> Bolesław nonetheless refused to aid the emperor militarily in his Italian expedition.<ref name=PSB251/> This led to imperial intervention in Poland and so in 1015 a war erupted once again.<ref name=PSB251/> The war started out well for the emperor, as he was able to defeat the Polish forces at the Battle of Ciani.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Once the imperial forces crossed the river Oder, Bolesław sent a detachment of Moravian knights in a diversionary attack against the Eastern March of the empire. Soon after, the imperial army, having suffered a defeat near the Bóbr marshes, retreated from Poland without any permanent gains.<ref name=PSB251/> After this event, Bolesław's forces took the initiative. Margrave Gero II of Meissen was defeated and killed during a clash with the Polish forces in late 1015.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1015 and 1017, Bolesław I attacked the Eastern March and was defeated twice by Henry the Strong and his forces.<ref name="thietmar-19-61">Thietmar 2001, VIII, pp. 19, 61.</ref><ref name="thietmar-9">Thietmar 2001, VIII, p. 9.</ref>
Later that year, Bolesław's son Mieszko was sent to plunder Meissen. His attempt at conquering the city, however, failed.<ref name="ReferenceC"/> In 1017, Bolesław defeated Duke Henry V of Bavaria. In that same year, supported by his Slavic allies, Emperor Henry once again invaded Poland, albeit once again to very little effect.<ref name=PSB251/> He did besiege the cities of Głogów and Niemcza, but was unable to conquer them.<ref name=PSB251/> The imperial forces once again were forced to retreat, suffering significant losses.<ref name=PSB251/> Taking advantage of the involvement of Czech troops, Bolesław ordered his son to invade Bohemia, where Mieszko met very little resistance.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 30 January 1018, the Peace of Bautzen was signed. The Polish ruler was able to keep the contested marches of Lusatia and Sorbian Meissen not as fiefs, but as a part of Polish territory,<ref name=PSB251/> and also received military aid in his expedition against Rus'.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Also, Bolesław (then a widower) strengthened his dynastic bonds with the German nobility through his marriage with Oda, daughter of Margrave Eckard I of Meissen. The wedding took place four days later, on 3 February in the castle of Cziczani (also Sciciani, at the site of either modern Groß-Seitschen<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or Zützen).<ref>Elke Mehnert, Sandra Kersten, Manfred Frank Schenke, Spiegelungen: Entwürfe zu Identität und Alterität ; Festschrift für Elke Mehnert, Frank & Timme GmbH, 2005, p. 481, Template:ISBN</ref>
War in Kiev (1018)
[edit]Template:Main Bolesław organised his first expedition east, to support his son-in-law Sviatopolk I of Kiev, in 1013, but the decisive engagements were to take place in 1018 after the Peace of Bautzen was already signed.<ref name=PSB252>Tymieniecki Kazimierz, Bolesław Chrobry. In: Konopczyński Władysław (ed): Polski słownik biograficzny. T. II: Beyzym Jan – Brownsford Marja. Kraków: Nakładem Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności, 1936. Template:ISBN. p. 252</ref> At the request of Sviatopolk I, in what became known as the Kiev Expedition of 1018, the Polish duke sent an expedition to Kievan Rus' with an army of 2,000–5,000 Polish warriors, in addition to Thietmar's reported 1,000 Pechenegs, 300 German knights, and 500 Hungarian mercenaries.<ref>R.Jaworski,Wyprawa Kijowska Chrobrego, 2006</ref> After collecting his forces during June, Bolesław led his troops to the border in July and on 23 July at the banks of the Bug River, near Wołyń, he defeated the forces of Yaroslav the Wise, Prince of Kiev, in what became known as the Battle of the River Bug. All primary sources agree that the Polish prince was victorious in battle.<ref>Cross, Samuel Hazzard; Sherbowitz-Wetzor, Olgerd, eds. The Russian Primary Chronicle: Laurentian Text, 1953</ref><ref>Anonymous Gaul,Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum</ref> Yaroslav retreated north to Novgorod, opening the road to Kiev.<ref name=PSB252/> The city, which suffered from fires caused by the Pecheneg siege, surrendered upon seeing the main Polish force on 14 August.<ref name="Wyprawa10">Wyprawa Kijowska Chrobrego Chwała Oręża Polskiego Nr 2. Rzeczpospolita and Mówią Wieki. Primary author Rafał Jaworski. 5 August 2006. p. 10</ref> The entering army, led by Bolesław, was ceremonially welcomed by the local archbishop and the family of Vladimir I of Kiev.<ref name="Wyprawa11"/> According to popular legend Bolesław notched his sword (Szczerbiec) hitting the Golden Gate of Kiev.<ref name="Wyprawa11">Wyprawa Kijowska Chrobrego Chwała Oręża Polskiego Nr 2. Rzeczpospolita and Mówią Wieki. Primary author Rafał Jaworski. 5 August 2006. p. 11</ref> Although Sviatopolk lost the throne soon afterwards and lost his life the following year,<ref name="Wyprawa11"/> during this campaign Poland re-annexed the Red Strongholds, later called Red Ruthenia, lost by Bolesław's father in 981.<ref name=PSB252/>
Last years (1019–1025)
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Historians dispute the exact date of Bolesław's coronation.Template:Sfn The year 1025 is most widely accepted by scholars, though the year 1000 is also likely.Template:Sfn According to an epitaph, the crowning took place when Otto bestowed upon Bolesław royal regalia at the Congress of Gniezno.Template:Sfn However, independent German sources confirmed that after Henry II's death in 1024, Bolesław took advantage of the interregnum in Germany and crowned himself king in 1025.Template:Sfn It is generally assumed that the coronation took place on Easter SundayTemplate:Sfn 27 March 1025. However Tadeusz Wojciechowski believes that the coronation took place prior to that, on 24 December 1024.<ref>Tadeusz Wojciechowski: Szkice historyczne jedynastego wieku, ed. III. 1951, p. 153.</ref> The basis for this assertion is that the coronations of kings were usually held during religious festivities.Template:Sfn The exact place of the coronation is also highly debated, with the cathedrals of Gniezno or Poznań being the most probable locations.Template:Sfn Poland was thereafter raised to the rank of a kingdom before its neighbour, Bohemia.Template:Sfn
Wipo of Burgundy in his chronicle describes the event:
It is widely believed that Bolesław had to receive permission for his coronation from the newly-elected Pope John XIX.Template:Sfn John was known to be corrupt, and it is likely that consent was or may have been obtained through bribes.Template:Sfn However, Rome also hoped for a potential alliance to defend itself from Byzantine Emperor Basil II, who launched a military expedition to recover the island of Sicily and could subsequently threaten the Papal States from the south.Template:Sfn Stanisław Zakrzewski put forward the theory that the coronation had the tacit consent of Conrad II and that the pope only confirmed that fact.Template:Sfn That is corroborated by Conrad's confirmation of the royal title to Mieszko II, his agreement with the counts of Tusculum and the papal interactions with Conrad and Bolesław.<ref>Wipo: Gesta Chuonradi II imperatoris, p. 34.</ref>
Death and burial
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According to Cosmas of Prague, Bolesław I died shortly after his coronation on 17 June 1025.Template:Sfn Already in advanced age for the time, the true cause of death is unknown and remains a matter of speculation.Template:Sfn Chronicler Jan Długosz (and followed by modern historians and archaeologists) writes that Bolesław was laid to rest at the Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul in Poznań.Template:Sfn In the 14th century, Casimir III the Great reportedly ordered the construction of a new, presumably Gothic, sarcophagus to which he transferred Bolesław's remains.Template:Sfn
The medieval sarcophagus was partially damaged on 30 September 1772 during a fire, and completely destroyed in 1790 due to the collapse of the southern tower.Template:Sfn Bolesław's remains were subsequently excavated from the rubble and moved to the cathedral's chapter house.Template:Sfn Three bone fragments were donated to Tadeusz Czacki in 1801, at his request.Template:Sfn Czacki, a notable Polish historian, pedagogue, and numismatist, placed one of the bone fragments in his ancestral mausoleum in Poryck (now Pavlivka) in the Volhynia region; the other two were given to Princess Izabela Flemming Czartoryska, who placed them in her recently founded Czartoryski Museum in Puławy.
After many historical twists, the burial place of Bolesław I ultimately remained at Poznań Cathedral, in the Golden Chapel.<ref>Michał Rożek, Adam Bujak: Nekropolie królów i książąt polskich, Warsaw 1988, pp. 12–14.</ref> The content of his epitaph is known to historians. It is Bolesław's epitaph, which, in part, came from the original tombstone, that is one of the first sources (dated to the period immediately after Bolesław's death, probably during the reign of Mieszko II)<ref>Przemysław Wiszewski: Domus Bolezlai. W poszukiwaniu tradycji dynastycznej Piastów (do około 1138 roku), Wrocław 2008, p. 62.</ref> that gave the King his widely known nickname of "Brave" (Polish: Chrobry). Later, Gallus Anonymus, in Chapter 6 of his Template:Lang, named the Polish ruler as Bolezlavus qui dicebatur Gloriosus seu Chrabri.
Family
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The contemporaneous Thietmar of Merseburg recorded Bolesław's marriages, also mentioning his children.Template:Sfn Bolesław's first wife was a daughter of Rikdag, Margrave of Meissen.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Historian Manteuffel says that the marriage was arranged in the early 980s by Mieszko I who wanted to strengthen his links with the Saxon lords and to enable his son to succeed Rikdag in Meissen.Template:Sfn Bolesław "later sent her away",<ref name="Chronicon_ch4.58_p193"/> according to Thietmar's Chronicon.Template:Sfn Historian Marek Kazimierz Barański writes that Bolesław repudiated his first wife after her father's death in 985 which left the marriage without any political value.Template:Sfn
Bolesław "took a Hungarian woman"<ref name="Chronicon_ch4.58_p193"/> as his second wife.Template:Sfn Most historians identify her as a daughter of the Hungarian ruler Géza, but this theory has not been universally accepted.Template:Sfn She gave birth to a son, Bezprym, but Bolesław repudiated her.Template:Sfn
Bolesław's third wife, Emnilda, was "a daughter of the venerable lord, Dobromir".<ref name="Chronicon_ch4.58_p193"/>Template:Sfn Her father was a West Slavic or Lechitic prince, either a local ruler from present-day Brandenburg who was closely related to the imperial Liudolfing dynasty,Template:Sfn or the last independent prince of the Vistulans, before their incorporation into Poland.Template:Sfn Wiszewski dates the marriage of Bolesław and Emnilda to 988.Template:Sfn Emnilda exerted a beneficial influence on Bolesław, reforming "her husband's unstable character",<ref name="Chronicon_ch4.58_p193"/> according to Thietmar of Merseburg's report.Template:Sfn Bolesław's and Emnilda's oldest (unnamed) daughter "was an abbess"<ref name="Chronicon_ch4.58_p193"/> of an unidentified abbey.Template:Sfn Their second daughter Regelinda, who was born in 989, was given in marriage to Herman I, Margrave of Meissen in 1002 or 1003.Template:Sfn Mieszko II Lambert who was born in 990Template:Sfn was Bolesław's favorite son and successor.Template:Sfn The name of Bolesław's and Emnilda's third daughter, who was born in 995, is unknown; she married Sviatopolk I of Kiev between 1005 and 1012.Template:Sfn Bolesław's youngest son, Otto, was born in 1000.Template:Sfn
Bolesław's fourth marriage, from 1018 until his death, was to Oda (Template:Circa 995–1025), daughter of Margrave Eckard I of Meissen. They had a daughter, Matilda (Template:Circa 1018–1036), betrothed (or married) on 18 May 1035 to Otto of Schweinfurt.
Predslava, a daughter of Vladimir the Great and Rogneda, whom, along with her sister Mstislava, he had taken from Kiev in 1018, was his concubine.
Marriages and Issue:
Oda/Hunilda?, daughter of Rikdag
Unknown Hungarian woman (sometimes identified as Judith of Hungary):
- Bezprym (c. 986–1032) – became Duke of Poland
Emnilda, daughter of Dobromir:
- Unknown abbess of an unidentified abbey
- Regelinda (c. 989 – 21 March aft. 1014), married Herman I, Margrave of Meissen becoming Margravine of Meissen
- Mieszko II Lambert (c. 990 – 10/11 May 1034), became king and subsequent to his dethronement, regained power as duke of Poland
- Unknown daughter, married Grand Prince Sviatopolk I of Kiev and became Grand Princess of Kiev
- Otto Bolesławowic (c. 1000–1033)
- Matilda (c. 1018–1036), betrothed to Otto of Schweinfurt but the marriage was rejected.
Gallery
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Portrait of Boleslaus I the Brave by Marcello Baciarelli, c. 1770
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Boleslaus I of Poland, a drawing by Jan Matejko, c. 1890
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Boleslaus I the Brave by Aleksander Lesser
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Boleslaus on a postage stamp, 1938
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See also
[edit]- Bolesław Chrobry Tournament – speedway event named after the King
- Castle Chrobry in Szprotawa
- Crown of Bolesław I the Brave
- History of Poland (966–1385)
- Siege of Lubusz
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]Sources
[edit]Primary sources
[edit]- "Life of the Five Brethren by Bruno of Querfurt (Translated by Marina Miladinov)" (2013). In Saints of the Christianization Age of Central Europe (Tenth-Eleventh Centuries) (Edited by Gábor Klaniczay, translated by Cristian Gaşpar and Marina Miladinov, with an introductory essay by Ian Wood) [Central European Medieval Texts, Volume 6.]. Central European University Press. pp. 183–314. Template:ISBN.
- "Life of Saint Adalbert Bishop of Prague and Martyr (Translated by Cristian Gaşpar)" (2013). In Saints of the Christianization Age of Central Europe (Tenth-Eleventh Centuries) (Edited by Gábor Klaniczay, translated by Cristian Gaşpar and Marina Miladinov, with an introductory essay by Ian Wood) [Central European Medieval Texts, Volume 6.]. Central European University Press. pp. 77–182. Template:ISBN.
- Ottonian Germany: The Chronicon of Thietmar of Merseburg (Translated and annotated by David A. Warner) (2001). Manchester University Press. Template:ISBN.
- "The Deeds of Conrad II (Wipo)" (2000). In Imperial Lives & Letters of the Eleventh Century (Translated by Theodor E. Mommsen and Karl F. Morrison, with a historical introduction and new suggested readings by Karl F. Morrison, edited by Robert L. Benson). Columbia University Press. pp. 52–100. Template:ISBN.
- The Deeds of the Princes of the Poles (Translated and annotated by Paul W. Knoll and Frank Schaer with a preface by Thomas N. Bisson) (2003). CEU Press. Template:ISBN.
Secondary sources
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External links
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