Editing Dagome iudex

{{Short description|Early historical document relating to Poland}}
[[Image:DagomeVatican-1Copy.jpg|thumb]][[Image:DagomeCambraiCopy.jpg|thumb]]
[[File:Polska 960 - 992.png|thumb|right|[[Poland]] under Mieszko's rule (ca. 960–992)]]
'''''Dagome iudex''''' is one of the earliest historical documents relating to [[Poland]].<ref>{{cite book|author=George J. Lerski|title=Historical Dictionary of Poland, 966-1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=luRry4Y5NIYC&pg=PA99|date=1996|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-0-313-03456-5|page=99}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Przemyslaw Wiszewski|title=Domus Bolezlai: Values and social identity in dynastic traditions of medieval Poland (c.966-1138)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=afJ5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA3|date=2010|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-18136-6|pages=3–11}}</ref> Although Poland is not mentioned by name, it refers to ''Dagome'' and ''Ote'' ([[Mieszko I of Poland|Mieszko I]] and his wife, [[Oda von Haldensleben]]) and their sons in 991, placing their land (called "[[Civitas Schinesghe]]") under the protection of the [[Holy See|Apostolic See]]. The document's name derives from its opening words.

==History==
{{unreferenced section|date=November 2012}}The ''Dagome iudex'' survives in the form of a summary, completed {{circa|1080}}. It was found in a register compiled by a [[Roman Curia|curial]] [[Catholic Cardinal|cardinal]] during the [[Pope|papacy]] of [[Pope Gregory VII|Gregory VII]].

Most historians believe that the word ''"Dagome"'' is a melding of two names: the Christian ''"Dago"'', for "[[Dagobert]]" (Mieszko's hypothetical baptismal name), and the ''"Me,"'' for pagan "Mieszko." The [[Latin]] word {{Lang|la|iudex}} ("judge") could refer to "prince." Another interpretation is that ''"Dagome iudex"'' is a corruption of ''"Ego Mesco dux"'' ("I, Prince Mieszko"). In the Vatican copy, the e of Dagome might have an ''s adscriptum'' (similar to [[cedilla]]), although the Vatican copyist read ''iudex'' literally, relating it to [[Sardinia]] and [[Giudicati|its four "judges"]].

Place names are misspelled by the writer who made the summary. He was apparently unaware that the document related to territory later called Poland.

The boundaries of the "[[Gniezno]]" state are described as those that extended to the "Long Sea" (the [[Baltic Sea|Baltic]]), [[Prussia]], [[Rus' people|Rus']], [[Kraków]], [[Moravia]] and the [[Oder River]]. [[Lesser Poland]] is included by the mention of its capital, [[Kraków]] ("craccoa"). Between ''alemura'', probably [[Olomouc]] and [[Upper Lusatia]] region of the [[Milceni]] (''terra mileze''){{Ref label|a|a|none}} a straightened border could include [[Silesia]].

The text seems to use ''civitas schinesghe'' as a synonym of [[Greater Poland]]. Otherwise, the boundary description would be more logical if ''schenisghe'' meant the city of [[Szczecin]]. Of the other regions and places in Mieszko's territory, it mentioned only [[Kraków]] and [[Lusatia]], both without ''fines'' (border). The regions outside Mieszko's rule, ''pruzze'' ([[Prussia]]) and ''russe'' ([[Ruthenia]]) were mentioned with the word ''fines''.

The ''Dagome iudex'' is of critical importance to [[History of Poland|Polish history]], since it provided a general description of the future Polish state in that period. It, however, left many questions unanswered. First, it did not explain ''why'' [[Mieszko I of Poland|Mieszko I]] placed his state under the Pope's protection. Also, it is unclear why the document did not mention Mieszko's eldest son, [[Bolesław I the Brave]]. Instead, his sons by his second wife (except the third), Oda, were mentioned instead. Finally, Mieszko I is not referred to as "''Dagome''" in any other document.

Historians suppose that Bolesław's absence from the document might be explained by an old custom whereby children received their inheritance as soon as they reached the [[age of majority]]. Thus, [[Bolesław I the Brave|Bolesław the Brave]] might have received [[Kraków]] as his part of his father's legacy before the ''Dagome iudex'' was written.

==Text of the ''Dagome iudex''==

* In Latin:

: {{Lang|la|Item in alio tomo sub Iohanne XV papa Dagome iudex et Ote senatrix et filii eorum: Misicam et Lambertus - nescio cuius gentis homines, puto autem Sardos fuisse, quoniam ipsi a IIII iudicibus reguntur - leguntur beato Petro contulisse unam civitatem in integro, que vocatur Schinesghe, cum omnibus suis pertinentiis infra hos affines, sicuti incipit a primo latere longum mare, fine Bruzze usque in locum, qui dicitur Russe et fines Russe extendente usque in Craccoa et ab ipsa Craccoa usque ad flumen Oddere recte in locum, qui dicitur Alemure, et ab ipsa Alemura usque in terram Milze recte intra Oddere et exinde ducente iuxta flumen Oddera usque in predictam civitatem Schinesghe.}}

* In English translation:

: "Also in another volume from the times of [[Pope John XV]], Dagome,{{Ref label|b|b|none}} lord,{{Ref label|c|c|none}} and [[Oda von Haldensleben|Ote]], lady,{{Ref label|d|d|none}} and their sons [[Mieszko Mieszkowic|Misico]] and [[Lambert Mieszkowic|Lambert]]{{Ref label|e|e|none}} (I do not know of which nation those people are, but I think they are [[Sardinian people|Sardinians]], for those are ruled by four judges{{Ref label|f|f|none}}) were supposed to give to Saint Peter one state in whole which is called Schinesghe,{{Ref label|g|g|none}} with all its lands in borders which run along the long sea,{{Ref label|h|h|none}} along Prussia to the place called Rus, thence to [[Kraków]] and from said Kraków to the River [[Oder]], straight to a place called Alemure,{{Ref label|i|i|none}} and from said Alemure to the land of [[Milczanie]], and from the borders of that people to the Oder and from that, going along the River Oder, ending at the earlier mentioned city of Schinesghe."

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==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140201211100/http://polishkingdom.co.uk/dagome.html Alternative translation]

==Notes==
{{refbegin}}
Notes based on interpretations by the Polish historian [[Gerard Labuda]]:

''a.''{{Note label|a|a|none}} When Lusatia came in sight of medieval writers, the {{ill|Lusici (tribe)|de|Lusitzi|lt=Lusici}} lived only in [[Lower Lusatia]], the [[Milceni]] in [[Upper Lusatia]]. Later on, the term ''Lusatia'' (Lausitz, Lužice) was spread to the south. Therefore, nowaday's term [[Lusatian Mountains]] does not totally fit with the history of settlement.

''b.''{{Note label|b|b|none}} "Dagome" is commonly identified as [[Mieszko I of Poland|Mieszko I]]. However, the question remains open whether this was a misspelling or his Christian name. If the latter, it might correspond to the names "[[Dago (name)|Dago]]", "[[Dagon]]" or "[[Dagobert]]".

''c.''{{Note label|c|c|none}} In classical Latin, the term ''iudex'' was used to refer to "a person who is ordered to do some work on behalf of others" and was identical in meaning to the Byzantine ''[[archont]]''. However, in medieval Latin ''iudex'' could also mean a sovereign ruler. Princes of [[Slavs|Slavic]] tribes were sometimes referred to as ''iudices''.  Nevertheless,  some historians claim that this was a misspelling of the Latin ''[[dux]]'' ("duke" or "prince").

''d.''{{Note label|d|d|none}} Literally, "lady-senator".  Cf. "[[senate]]".

''e.''{{Note label|e|e|none}} It is unclear why [[Bolesław I the Brave]], Mieszko's eldest son and his successor, is not mentioned while the children from Mieszko's marriage to Ote are.

''f.''{{Note label|f|f|none}} Scribe's note, only in the Vatican copy; the four is written non-classical as iiii.

''g.''{{Note label|g|g|none}} The origin of the name ''Schinesghe'' is unclear. Some historians argue that it is a corruption of "[[Gniezno]]", then Poland's capital. Others identify it with the town of [[Szczecin]].

''h.''{{Note label|h|h|none}} "Long sea":  Some historians identify it with the [[Baltic Sea]], others with the province of [[Pomerania]] (the Baltic coast), a part of Poland ca. 990.

''i.''{{Note label|i|i|none}} ''Alemure'' might be the city of [[Olomouc]], in [[Moravia]]. However, this is uncertain.
{{refend}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:10th-century documents]]
[[Category:10th century in Poland]]
[[Category:991]]
[[Category:10th-century writers in Latin]]