Editing Mieszko I (section)

===War against Margrave Odo I of Ostmark===
In 972 Poland was attacked by [[Odo I, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark]]. According to the chronicles of Thietmar, Odo acted unilaterally, without the Emperor's consent: "Meanwhile,<ref>At that time, Emperor Otto I was in Italy.</ref> the noble Margrave Hodo, having collected his army attacked Mieszko, who has been faithfully paying tribute to the Emperor (for the lands) up the Warta river."<ref>''Thietmari chronicon'', vol. II p. 29</ref>

{{See also|Battle of Cedynia}}

There are different hypotheses concerning the reasons for this invasion. Possibly Margrave Odo wanted to stop the growing power of the Polish state. Very likely Odo wanted to protect the Wolinian state, which he considered his zone of influence, from the Polish take-over.<ref>G. Labuda, ''Mieszko I'', p. 122.</ref> Possibly the Wolinians themselves called the Margrave and asked his help.<ref>J.P. Sobolewski, ''Niemcy, Polska a Pomorze Zachodnie w latach 971–972'', "Kwartalnik Historyczny", Vol. 95, 1988, No. 1. The same argument was also given by S. Szczur, ''Historia Polski średniowiecze'', p. 51.</ref> In any event, Odo's forces moved in and on 24 June 972 twice engaged Mieszko's army at the village of ''Cidini'', commonly identified with [[Cedynia]]. At first, the Margrave defeated Mieszko's forces; subsequently the Duke's brother [[Czcibor]] defeated the Germans in the decisive stage, inflicting great losses among their troops. It may be that Mieszko intentionally staged the retreat, which was followed by a surprise attack on the flank of the German pursuing troops.<ref>According to the reconstruction of the battle by W. Filipiowak.</ref> After this battle, Mieszko and Odo were called to the Imperial Diet in [[Quedlinburg]] in 973 to explain and justify their conduct. The exact judgment of the Emperor is unknown, but it is certain that the sentence was not carried out because he died a few weeks after the Diet. It is commonly assumed that the sentence was unfavorable to the Polish ruler. The ''[[Annales Altahenses|Annals of Altaich]]'' indicates that Mieszko was not present in Quedlinburg during the gathering; instead, he had to send his son Bolesław as a hostage.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weiland |first1=Ludwig |title=Die grösseren Jahrbücher von Altaich |date=1871 |publisher=Franz Duncker |page=5 |location=Berlin |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=_uhSAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA5 |language=de}}</ref>

Mieszko's conflict with Odo I was a surprising event because, according to Thietmar, Mieszko respected the Margrave highly. Thietmar wrote that "Mieszko would never wear his outdoor garment in a house where Odo was present, or remain seated after Odo had gotten up."

It is believed that in practical terms the victory at Cedynia sealed [[West Pomeranian Voivodeship|Western Pomerania]]'s fate as Mieszko's dependency.