Encyclopedia of world history (facts on file library of world history) 7 volume set ( PDFDrive ) 971

Poland Learned Women of the European Past New York: New York University Press, 1980 Lana Thompson Poland The history of the kingdom of Poland is traditionally dated from 966, when the 31-year-old Mieszko I, of the Piast dynasty of the Polans tribe, was baptized into Christianity The country derived its name from his tribe He was married to Dobrawa, the daughter of Bolesław (Boleslas) I of Bohemia, a strategic nuptial alliance that brought him a relationship with the Holy Roman Empire in his feuding with the Wieletes and Volinians Wichman, count of Saxony, who was also a noble of the empire, backed them Thus Mieszko’s marriage gave him a strong counterweight to his enemies Most likely his conversion to Christianity was a prerequisite to the marriage In a move designed to cement his diplomatic position, Mieszko I also swore allegiance to Emperor Otto I the Great This was essential to his plans for expansion of Piast lands In 955, 10 years before Mieszko I’s conversion, Otto had cemented his primacy throughout central and eastern Europe In 955 he decisively defeated the invading Magyar tribe at the Battle of the Lechfeld, near Aubsburg in Bohemia As David Eggenberger writes in An Encylopedia of Battles, “the Germans crushed the Magyars with heavy losses in a tenhour battle The decimated barbarians fell back across modern Austria.” They settled in what became Hungary, which still recalls its heritage on its postage stamps with the inscription Magyar Posta By his death in 992 Mieszko I had considerably expanded his realm, including not only what was then known as Little and Greater Poland, but also Pomerania and Silesia Throughout his reign, he assured himself of at least the quiet complicity of the Holy Roman Empire, by swearing allegiance, after Otto I, to the emperors Otto II and III As a loyal vassal he supplied troops to Otto III in his campaign against the Polabians, Slavic tribesmen who lived along the Elbe River Mieszko I was succeeded by his son Bolesław the Brave, his son by Dobrawa (He also had children by his second consort, Oda, three sons: Mieszko, Lambert, and Swietopełk.) Bolesław continued his father’s wars for Piast aggrandizement In 999 he seized Moravia and next conquered Slovakia When in 1002 Otto III died 329 prematurely at the age of 22, Boleslas took the ultimate gamble and attacked the Holy Roman Empire while it was in a succession crisis for the throne Emperor Henry II, duke of Bavaria, was ultimately crowned emperor in the place of his deceased cousin in June 1002 Bolesław’s aggression against the empire set off a series of struggles between him and Henry II, which would eventually lead to a compromise peace in 1018 Bolesław was compelled to return Bohemia to the empire, although the empire was recognizing Bolesław’s strength, and Henry did not contest Bolesław’s keeping Lusatia and Misnia He wisely pledged allegiance to the emperor But in 1025 a year after Henry II’s death, Bolesław crowned himself the first king of Poland and freed himself of any feudal obligation to serve the emperor His son Mieszko II, who had already gained experience by ruling the city of Kraków for his father, succeeded Bolesław Mieszko II, seven years after he became king of Poland, resumed his father’s assault on the empire The duchy of Kiev, under Yaroslav the Wise, not forgetting Bolesław’s intervention, made common cause with the Emperor Conrad II, so that Poland was invaded from both the east and west First forced to flee to Bohemia, Mieszko II eventually reconquered his kingdom and, after swearing allegiance to Conrad, was able to resume the kingship He was assassinated in 1034, most likely the victim of a plot by the Polish nobility Casimir (Kazimierz) I succeeded his father as king and, unlike his father and grandson, followed a policy of peace and reconciliation A peasant revolt followed the murder of his father and, taking advantage of the turmoil, the Czechs invaded in the south What was then known as Greater Poland was so devastated that the royal capital became Kraków in Little Poland, which apparently was considered loyal to Casimir and to his father before him Prior to the choice of Kraków, the kingdom had had no real center of administration The new Emperor Henry III, however, feared the growing anarchy in Poland and eastern Europe, concerned that the unrest could spread to Imperial lands Consequently he negotiated a peace among the belligerents, which confirmed Casimir as king of Poland in the first year of his reign, 1046 Confirmed by the emperor, Casimir served as king of Poland until 1058 Upon the death of Casimir, Poland entered a period of instability, a condition that would appear throughout much of the country’s history Casimir’s son Bolesław II ruled as duke from 1058 and was only crowned king in 1076 Three years later he was forced into exile His brother Ladislas (Władysław) I Herman succeeded him; however he soon resigned the kingship Bolesław III, the