Mieszko I.

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Funerary monument with the bronze sculptures of Mieszko and Bolesław I , created by Christian Daniel Rauch , in the Golden Chapel of the Cathedral in Poznan

Mieszko I. [ 'mʲɛʃkɔ ] ( Latin Misko , Mysko , Mesco , Miseco ; * around 945 ? † May 25, 992 ) from the ruling family of the Piasts was a Slavic prince who, in western sources, was the first ruler in the area of ​​today's Poland can be identified by name. He was Duke of Poland from around 960 .

Life

The territorial development of Poland from 960 to 992 during the rule of Mieszko
The “Polish tribes” that were united during the reign of Duke Mieszko, including the Polanie , Wiślanie , Ślężanie , Mazowszanie , Pomorzanie and Lędzianie (Polish map).

origin

The year of his birth is not known. Whether his father was the legendary Siemomysł is historically uncertain.

Mieszko is first mentioned for the year 962 or 963 as rex Misaca (King Misaca) in the Saxon history of Widukind von Corvey from around 967 in connection with two heavy military defeats against a Slavic army under the leadership of the Saxon Count Wichmann II , the nephew of Saxon Duke Hermann Billung , mentioned. Mieszko's dominion was in later Greater Poland , in the area around Gnesen , Posen , Kruszwica , Giecz and the Goplosee .

Baptism and Christianization

After the heavy defeat of the year 963 Mieszko sought the approach to the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I and formed an alliance with the Bohemian dynasty of Premysl , whose endorsement he with Dobrawa the daughter of the Bohemian Duke Boleslav I married. The prerequisite for both was the acceptance of Christianity by Mieszko and his court. In addition, the change of denomination promised a gain in reputation domestically and had proven itself in Bohemia as a means of rapid integration of the subject pagan tribes. Thietmar von Merseburg , on the other hand, reports that Mieszko's baptism was only the result of later efforts by his wife Dobrawa. The place and year of baptism are unclear. An entry in the Annales Jordani from the 11th century refers to the year 966, while the Poznan annals from the 14th century indicate the year 960. Gnesen, Cologne, Regensburg, the island of Ostrów Lednicki or Rome are named as possible locations . The island of Ostrów Lednicki was probably the center of the baptisms of the population.

His new friendly relationship with the Roman-German Emperor earned Mieszko an attack on the part of Count Wichmann, who had fallen out with the Emperor and was at war with his old enemy, Duke Hermann of Saxony . From a city besieged by the latter, Wichmann fled to the still pagan Vuloini , probably the Pomeranian Wollins, and incited them to attack Mieszko. Mieszko, who had been warned in good time, undertook a campaign against Wichmann around 967 with Bohemian help, who was caught and found death.

In 968 the first Polish diocese was probably founded in Poznan .

Later years

While Emperor Otto I made a trip to Italy in the last years of his life, a personal feud broke out between Margrave Hodo I and Mieszko for unknown reasons . As Thietmar von Merseburg later reported, Margrave Hodo used to behave haughty towards Mieszko, who was not allowed to appear in front of him in his fur and was not allowed to sit down when Margrave Hodo was standing, treatment that was bound to generate hatred. With Count Siegfried, the father of Bishop Thietmar von Merseburg, Hodo went against Mieszko on June 24th, 972 in the fatal battle of Zehden , near today's town of Cedynia on the lower Oder. Mieszko pretended to flee and thus lured the enemy into an ambush, where comrades-in-arms waited and inflicted a heavy defeat on the margrave's troops, which only a few survived.

Emperor Otto I called on the opponents from afar to cease their hostilities and to unite. After the emperor returned to the northern part of the empire across the Alps in 973, Mieszko and other Slavic princes took part in the Quedlinburg Court Day at Easter 973 . He was once referred to in a historical source as "amicus imperatoris" ("friend, confidant of the emperor").

After the death of his wife Dubrawka 977 married Mieszko still the same, no later than the following year, the Saxon Oda of Haldensleben , daughter of Dietrich , Margrave of the Nordmark after he, presumably with the consent of the father, from the monastery Kalbe on the Milde had let kidnap. This marriage meant a realignment of Mieszko's policy: no longer the alliance with Bohemia, but a rapprochement with the Roman-German Empire determined the last years of his rule. Centuries of competition between Bohemia and Poland began in this epoch. In the following years Mieszko fought against the Elbe Slavic Lutizen and Pomoran Wolliner , who still worshiped Slavic paganism .

After Otto I's death, Mieszko, like his brother-in-law Boleslav II, repeatedly intervened in imperial politics. He belonged to the opposition to Otto II, who was only twenty years old, and allied himself with his opponent, Heinrich the Quarrel of Bavaria , without this attitude having harmed him; a campaign possibly directed against him in the year 979 remained, in contrast to other representations, without result.

When the "quarrel" was elected king in Quedlinburg in 984, Mieszko paid homage to him together with Boleslav II of Bohemia and the Abodritic prince Mistiwoj as their "king and lord". In the following year, however, Mieszko returned to the legitimate imperial authority of Otto III. back and led a campaign together with the Saxons against the pagan Slavs. A new loyalty relationship was established at the Quedlinburg Court Day in 986, to which Mieszko brought a camel to the emperor as an exotic gift . Judging by the text of the sources, it was only a feudal relationship, but not yet with the consequence of the disfranchisement in the case of infidelity. Mieszko now appeared as a loyal partner in the fight against the pagan Lutizen, sent the emperor auxiliary troops and came to the court days.

In contrast, his relations with his brother-in-law Boleslav II of Bohemia deteriorated. Mieszko had succeeded in marrying his son Bolesław I , the brave, to a daughter of Rikdag , Margrave of Meissen . Boleslav II of Bohemia, however, saw Meissen as his sphere of influence and obtained permission from Heinrich the Quarrel to occupy Meissen Castle. This thwarted Mieszko's plans. Bolesław I. dissolved his marriage with the Meißnerin and married a Hungarian princess in order to encircle Bohemia through this alliance. However, the Hungarians were hardly active militarily against Bohemia, so that in 987 Bolesław I dissolved this marriage again and married Emnilda , the daughter of the Sorbian prince Dobromir . In the empire, too, the situation now changed, since the regent Theophanu was able to assert herself against Heinrich the quarrel. Mieszko recognized this earlier than Boleslav II of Bohemia. The Polish prince took the king's mother's side in good time and supported her, among other things, in the campaigns against the Lutizen that began in 985. The empire therefore supported the Polish side in the open border disputes between Poland and Bohemia that began in 990.

Presumably, shortly before his death, Mieszko had his succession plan documented. No original document is known, only summaries ( regest ) written 90 years later , which are referred to as " Dagome Iudex ". According to these Latin text fragments, a “Dagome” and his wife “Ote” (Oda) as well as two sons transferred their kingdom to the Holy See . One of the Italian copyists also noted that he did not know their ethnicity and that they could be Sardinians . It also includes an enumeration of the boundaries of the territory. To this day there is speculation about the meaning of the transfer of ownership to the Holy See. Such gifts, in which the donor received the land back as a fiefdom from the church, were not unusual, albeit on a smaller scale. One explanation is the intended protection of the principality against conquest by other empires. It is also possible that Mieszko wanted to exclude his son from his first marriage, Bolesław I, from the succession with the donation, because he is not named in the document. However, Bolesław I made himself the sole successor by expelling his half-brothers with their mother Oda.

family

Mieszko probably ruled together with his brother Cidebur . His sister was called Athleit (Adelheid). She married the Hungarian Grand Duke Géza from the Arpad family .

Around 965 he married Dubrawka of Bohemia , the daughter of the Bohemian Duke Boleslav I. From his marriage to Dubrawka he had at least two children:

There may be three sons from his marriage to Oda von Haldensleben :

See also

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ pronunciation: M je-schko.
  2. ↑ Gallus Anonymus asserted this in the legendary part of the Gesta principum Polonorum . It is unclear whether Siemomysl existed as a historical person or not.
  3. ↑ Widukind III, 67.
  4. ↑ There are no contemporary sources from which the existence of one or more tribes of the Polanen could be inferred. see. Eduard Mühle: The Piasts. Poland in the Middle Ages. CH Beck, Munich 2011, p. 14 f.
  5. ↑ Eduard Mühle : The Piasts. Poland in the Middle Ages (= Beck series. CH Beck Wissen. Bd. 2709). Beck, Munich 2011, ISBN 978-3-406-61137-7 , p. 18.
  6. ↑ Jean-Paul Demoule: Archaeological Cultures and Modern Nations - considers baptism an opportunistic act - In: Peter F. Biehl, Alexander Gramsch, Arkadiusz Marciniak (ed.): Archaeologies Europe. History, methods and theories. Tübingen Archaeological Pocket Books Vol. 3 (2002). Waxmann Münster ISBN 3-8309-1067-3 pp. 133-146
  7. ↑ A baptistery there indicates a central place for baptisms.
  8. ^ A b c Richard Roepell : History of Poland , Part One . Hamburg 1840, pp. 96-97.
  9. ↑ Annales Posnanienses
  10. ^ Richard Roepell : History of Poland , Part One . Hamburg 1840, p. 98 ff.
  11. ^ Johannes Hoops: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde , Volume 23, p. 262.
  12. ^ Herbert Ludat : An Elbe and Oder around the year 1000. Sketches on the politics of the Ottonian empire and the Slavic powers in Central Europe. Cologne 1971, ISBN 3-412-07271-0 , p. 24: In 978 at the latest, Mieszko made the covenant with Oda - very probably after previous military clashes, perhaps as a result of the rebellion of Heinrich the Quarrel - [...] Note 149: The covenant , which Thietmar (IV, 57) praises as a guarantee for peace and the salvation of the fatherland despite his reservations, was probably closed immediately after the death of Dobrawa, probably in 977. As early as 977 Mieszko no longer took part in the struggle of Boleslav II against Otto II; and the children of this marriage with Oda, Mieszko and Lambert, must have been at least 12 years old in 990.
  13. ↑ cf. http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/poland-1569
  14. ↑ a b c d e f Gotthold Rhode : Small history of Poland . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1965, p. 12 ff.
  15. ^ Walter Schlesinger : Central German contributions to the German constitutional history of the Middle Ages. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1961, ISBN 978-3-525361344 , p. 375: The transfer of Poland, including the newly acquired areas of Krakowia and Silesia, to the Holy See then appears as a counter-move by Miezko against the looming possibility of a German intervention in favor of Bohemia, and it it can be explained that Pomerania, whose property was also unsecured, was included.
predecessor Office successor
Siemomyslaw Duke of Poland
approx. 960–992 		Boleslaw I.
personal data
SURNAME Mieszko I.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish duke
DATE OF BIRTH around 935
DATE OF DEATH around 992