Editing Bolesław III Wrymouth (section)

==Congress of Merseburg==

===Political Background===
In 1125 [[Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor]] and [[King of Germany]], died. His successor, [[Lothair II, Holy Roman Emperor|Lothair of Supplinburg]], was embroiled in disputes over his inheritance, and became involved in papal politics. In 1130 there was a double election to the Apostolic See. Lothair supported [[Pope Innocent II]], hoping in this way to secure his own coronation.<ref name="Czapliński, p. 138">W. Czapliński, A. Galos, W. Korta: ''Historia Niemiec'', p. 138.</ref> Contrary to expectations, Lothair's Imperial coronation didn't end his disputes against the contenders for the German throne.<ref>W. Czapliński, A. Galos, W. Korta: ''Historia Niemiec'', p. 137.</ref>

In 1130 Bolesław controlled the areas situated on the left bank of the Oder river on the island of Rügen. Germany had designs on these lands, but its internal political situation and its involvement in a civil war in Hungary, made an armed conflict impractical. The death of King [[Stephen II of Hungary]] in 1131 had led to war between two claimants to the throne: [[Béla II of Hungary|Béla the Blind]] (son of [[Álmos, Duke of Croatia]]) and [[Boris Kalamanos|Boris]] (the alleged son of [[Coloman, King of Hungary|King Coloman]]). Boris sought the help of the Polish ruler, who hoped for a closer alliance with Hungary and cooperation with the Kievan princes (Boris was a son of a daughter of [[Vladimir II Monomakh]]). However, Bolesław overestimated his strength against Béla, who had the support of almost all his country. The Polish army faced the combined forces of Hungary, Bohemia, Austria and Germany in the Battle of the [[Sajó]] River (22 July 1132), where the coalition achieved complete victory over the Polish duke, who was forced to retreat.<ref name="Czapliński, p. 138"/>

The success in Hungary was used by the Bohemian ruler [[Soběslav I, Duke of Bohemia|Soběslav I]], an Imperial vassal, who during 1132–34, repeatedly invaded Silesia.<ref name="Szczur, p. 125"/> The question of Silesia's property was left to Lothair III. Around the same time, the bull ''Sacrosancta Romana'' of 1133 gave the Archbishopric of Magdeburg sovereign rights over the Pomeranian dioceses instituted by Bolesław.

===Preparations for the Congress===
In February 1134 Soběslav I of Bohemia and dignitaries of King Béla II of Hungary, together with [[Peter, Bishop of Transylvania (fl. 1134)|Peter, Bishop of Transylvania]], went to [[Altenburg]], where they presented their allegations against the Polish ruler. They again, as they had two years before, requested the intervention of the Holy Roman Empire. Lothair III agreed to arbitrate the various dynastic disputes.<ref>L. Fabiańczyk: ''Apostoł Pomorza'', p. 68.</ref>

At the same time Béla II and Prince [[Volodymyrko Volodarovych|Volodymyrko of Peremyshl]] undertook a military expedition against Poland. The combined forces occupied [[Lesser Poland]], reaching to [[Wiślica]]. Shortly after, Bolesław received a summons to the Imperial court at [[Magdeburg]] on 26 June 1135. He sent deputies in his stead in order to play for time. The emperor sent another delegation and requested his personal appearance on 15 August 1135, this time in [[Merseburg]].<ref>L. Fabiańczyk: ''Apostoł Pomorza'', p. 69.</ref> Bolesław realized that without an agreement with Lothair III he couldn't maintain control over the newly conquered lands on the west side of the Oder and the island of Rügen.<ref name="Czapliński, p. 138"/>

Even before the Congress of Merseburg took place, Bolesław persuaded one of ruling dukes of Western Pomerania, [[Ratibor I, Duke of Pomerania|Ratibor I]], to make an expedition against Denmark, a clear provocation to Emperor Lothair III, as the King of Denmark was a German vassal. A Pomeranian fleet of 650 boats (with 44 knights and 2 horses) attacked the rich Norwegian port city of Kungahälla (now [[Kungälv]] in [[Sweden]]).<ref name="Fabiańczyk, p. 70">L. Fabiańczyk: ''Apostoł Pomorza'', p. 70.</ref>

===Provisions of the Congress===
The Congress took place on 15 August 1135. During the ceremony, Emperor Lothair III recognized the rights of the Polish ruler over Pomerania. In return, Bolesław agreed to pay homage for the Pomeranian lands and the [[Principality of Rügen]],<ref>The hypothesis about the Polish ruler paying homage to Germany was undermines by K. Maleczyński, who pointed that in this way Bolesław retained the sovereignty over his Pomeranian lands. The ''Annals of Magdeburg'', which reported this information, added a note with the year 1113 (Congress in Merseburg), who is considers reliable. It shall give the fact that any other German or Bohemian sources doesn't mention this event. K. Maleczyński: ''Bolesław III Krzywousty'', pp. 239–246. On the other hand S. Szczur, referring to the ''Annals'', indicates that the Polish prince acknowledged the sovereignty of the Emperor not only for Western Pomerania and Rügen, but also for Poland. S. Szczur: ''Historia Polski - średniowiecze'', p. 126.</ref> with the payment of 6,000 pieces of fine silver from these lands to the Holy Roman Empire; however, he remained fully independent ruler of his main realm, Poland. With Bolesław's death in 1138, Polish authority over Pomerania ended,<ref>[[Kyra T. Inachin]]: ''Die Geschichte Pommerns, Hinstorff Rostock'', 2008, p. 17, {{ISBN|978-3-356-01044-2}}: "Mit dem Tod Kaiser Lothars 1137 endete der sächsische Druck auf Wartislaw I., und mit dem Ableben Boleslaw III. auch die polnische Oberhoheit."</ref> triggering competition of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and [[Denmark]] for the area.<ref name="Inachim17"/> The conflict with Hungary also ended, with Bolesław recognizing Béla II's rule. The agreement was sealed with the betrothal of Bolesław's daughter [[Judith of Poland|Judith]] with Béla II's [[Géza II of Hungary|Géza]] (this marriage never took place). In the case of the Bohemian-Polish dispute the Imperial mediation failed. Bolesław argued he must be treated as a sovereign ruler, which wasn't the case of Soběslav I, an imperial vassal. Lothair III, unable to come to an agreement with the Polish ruler, proposed to discuss the matter in subsequent negotiations.

The Congress ended with church ceremonies, during which Bolesław carried the imperial sword. This was an honor granted only to sovereign rulers.<ref name="Fabiańczyk, p. 70"/> An indirect goal of Polish diplomacy was the successful invalidation of the Papal Bull of 1133 and the recognition of metropolitan rights of the [[Archbishopric of Gniezno]] at the [[Council of Pisa (1135)|Synod of Pisa]] in 1135. On 7 July 1136, Pope Innocent II issued the protectionist Bull<ref>The authenticity of the only known copy of this Bull is disputed. According to K. Maleczyński this was a forgery made after 1139. He believes that the 7 July 1136 issued document for the Archbishopric of Gniezno indeed was only a privilege, as evidenced by not only by the names of the Cardinals signed there, but also by the fact that the Bull bears the stamp who originally belonged to Pope Innocent II. This document, however, later widened at the law firm of Gniezno new church property as collateral against greed lay people, hence the current text can even deviate significantly from the original 1136 text. K. Maleczyński: ''Bolesław III Krzywousty'', pp. 309–310, 311. Compare [with]: K. Maleczyński: ''W kwestii autentyczności bulli gnieźnieńskiej z r. 1136.'', reprint, [in:] K. Maleczyński: ''Studia nad dokumentem polskim'', pp. 170–188. The authenticity of the Bull, in turn, was defended by H. Łowmiański: ''Początki Polski: polityczne i społeczne procesy kształtowania się narodu do początku wieku XIV'', vol. VI, cap. 1, pp. 337–343; There is also a summary of the sources of the years 1937–1975.</ref> ''[[Bull of Gniezno|Ex commisso nobis a Deo]]''<ref>Ph. Jaffé: Regesta pontificum Romanorum ab condita Ecclesia ad annum post Christum natum MCXCVIII.. Cz. I. s. 872, nr 7785. Tekst bulli Ex commisso nobis a Deo opublikowany został, [w:] Codex diplomaticus majoris Polonia, T. 1, nr 7 (łac.). [dostęp 16 grudnia 2009].</ref> under which the unquestioned sovereignty of the Archbishopric of Gniezno over the Polish dioceses was confirmed.<ref>L. Fabiańczyk: ''Apostoł Pomorza'', p. 71.</ref><ref>At the same time fell a plan to appoint two other Pomeranian dioceses. R. Grodecki, S. Zachorowski, J. Dąbrowski: ''Dzieje Polski średniowiecznej'', vol. I, p. 152.</ref>