Piast Monarchy

The paper is an attempt to decipher the name of the brother of Mieszko I and place name where  battle with german duke Hodon took place in 972, mentioned in Thietmar of Merseburg’s chronicle. They are only known from a single MLat. inscription as Cidebur, and from its Latinized form as Cidini . In an author’s view they should be delatinized as Siecebor and Sitno (Sitna). Based on a substition and transcription analysis, the author formulates a hypothesis concerning the location and progress of the battle.

The paper presents a new hypothesis according to which Tugumir (Pol. Tęgomir), a Christian duke of the Stodorans (Havelians) beginning from 940, was a godfather of Mieszko-Dagome, the first Christian duke of Poland. It is suggested that Mieszko the First as a neophyte adopted Tugumir’s name as his official Christian name and therefore he used it in the document called Dagome iudex, who was sent to Rome ca. 990. The necrologium of the women’s cloister in Möllenbeck informs us that “duke Thugumir died” (Ob. Thugumir dux) on 25th May. It probably refers to Mieszko the First, who – according to Thietmar’s chronicle – died 25th May of 992, and not to Tugumir, the duke of Stodorians. It is finally suggested that the death-note of Mieszko-Thugumir-Dagome in this necrologium was introduced by the mediation of Oda, Mieszko’s second wife, who was expelled from Poland by Boleslaus the Brave. She spent her last years in a female cloister in Germany, most probably in Möllenbeck.

In the article the author examines the question of the legitimisation of military activities of the Piasts by Polish bishops in the period preceding the intensification of the autonomisation of the Polish episcopate vis-à-vis the monarch. The question emerges from the recent research into the links between the Church of the Piast era and warfare, which demonstrate that warrelated military activity of prelates was shaped until the 1200s by the rules of public service in line with the model of a state (monarchical) Church. At the same time scholars conducting that research argue that the military duties of the clergy should no longer be viewed as stemming only from being rooted in the political system of the day and the rules of feudal service. The present article provides additional arguments in favour of such a view, with the author also suggesting that the religious dimension of bishops’ wartime service — highlighted in the sources — should not be treated as dictated only by the Church’s pastoral mission or inspired by the crusading ideology. Instead, the author proposes that the bishops’ warfare-related religious activities, especially their efforts to present the monarchs’ military endeavours as having a religious nature, be regarded as an integral part of public service. Such a perspective makes it possible to define the activities of Polish bishops as a phenomenon drawing on models of Carolingian origin and requiring the clergy to place the wars waged by monarchs in a unique context of religious ideas and to build an ideological integrity of the body politic in the face of military actions.

Presumably between 1310 and 1313, scribes produced a manuscript for Bolesław II of Mazovia, which contained a prayer for the ruler. The intercession was formulated as "una cum papa, et episcopo, et duce," which suggested that ducal power and ecclesiastical authority, while not explicitly equal, shared a similar importance. In a world dominated by rituals, this had quite an important meaning, especially in light of the fact that the chant was performed during the most solemn liturgy of the year, the Easter Vigil, which is meant to represent the deeds of Redemption. The text itself suggested that those who participated in the solemnities were a part of the history of salvation. The invocation of the political and ecclesiastical elite marked the path from Adam to the heavenly Jerusalem, where bishop John, duke Bolesław and his sons Siemowit and Wańko should be present. The insertion of their names in gold was meant to grant them eternal presence with God. However, the name of the duke was written in gold majuscule script with the use of red ink, suggesting that the prayer was meant to reinforce political majesty of Bolesław II even after the restoration of the Polish kingdom by other rulers. The prayer was also a part of the phenomenon of sacrality of ducal power in Mazovia which had a longer tradition. This phenomenon was modeled on the approaches used by Piast dynasty after the loss of their royal title in the second half of the eleventh century. The sacrality of ducal power in Mazovia, however, is not very different from that of other contemporary European duchies. Mazovia may have been located on the edge of the Christian world, but the course of its history in the Middle Ages – marked by crusades against Baltic pagans, preparations for campaigns against the Mongols, attempts at the unification of the kingdom of Ruthenia with Rome, and diplomatic relations with both the papacy and the most important rulers of Central Europe – demonstrates that it should not be marginalised in scholarship, especially in regard to the phenomenon of sacralised political power.

In the article the author examines the question of the legitimisation of military activities of the Piasts by Polish bishops in the period preceding the intensification of the autonomisation of the Polish episcopate vis-à-vis the monarch. The question emerges from the recent research into the links between the Church of the Piast era and warfare, which demonstrate that warrelated military activity of prelates was shaped until the 1200s by the rules of public service in line with the model of a state (monarchical) Church. At the same time scholars conducting that research argue that the military duties of the clergy should no longer be viewed as stemming only from being rooted in the political system of the day and the rules of feudal service. The present article provides additional arguments in favour of such a view, with the author also suggesting that the religious dimension of bishops’ wartime service — highlighted in the sources — should not be treated as dictated only by the Church’s pastoral mission or inspired by the crusading ideology. Instead, the author proposes that the bishops’ warfare-related religious activities, especially their efforts to present the monarchs’ military endeavours as having a religious nature, be regarded as an integral part of public service. Such a perspective makes it possible to define the activities of Polish bishops as a phenomenon drawing on models of Carolingian origin and requiring the clergy to place the wars waged by monarchs in a unique context of religious ideas and to build an ideological integrity of the body politic in the face of military actions.

The turmoil of the 1030s in the Polish territory has so far attracted attention of historians. A detailed analysis of the information available in the written sources has strengthened a position in the result of which (in line with the reference to the events in question) the pagan backlash was to stem primarily from religious reasons. This interpretations suggests and provokes reception of Mieszko II's domain as a completely Christian organisation. Consequently, at least officially it suggests that the pagan communities had been pushed to the margins of the society. Scholars have no doubts that these communities existed because they are regarded to have affected the events of the 1030s. Was it really the case? An analysis of archaeological sources, previously not used in the discussion of the pagan backlash, does not answer the questions so unambiguously. There is a strong indication that the followers of the old values did not have to flee from persecutions or the missionary ideology. It also looks like they did not have to fear financial exploitation for the benefit of the established church structures which could have easily operated parallel to venues referring to the traditional religious symbols. If we assume that it was the case, were the events of the 1030s in fact a pagan backlash? This question was at the basis of the considerations presented in this text.