The "Polish acceleration" a thousand years ago
Fig. 9. Possible scenario of territorial evolution from Civitas Schinesghe into the Polish State during 10th century (completed by the Author, drought by M. Auch) |
The process of state formation is still poorly understood in all its details, with many questions still unanswered. However, Poland around year 1000 is in sharp contrast with the image of the country in the mid-tenth century. By 950, Poland was still in the making, with a number of strongholds built anew, mainly in Great Poland. At the time of the Act of Gniezno (1000), Poland was a very different country. Instead of a single region, Gnezdum civitas, it now comprised all regions included in the present-day state, with the exception of the Prussian territory in the northeast. It had a number of developing urban centers, a new administrative structure, new churches, and an independent ecclesiastical organization in the form of the five bishoprics in Poznań, Gniezno, Cracow, Kołobrzeg, and Wrocław (Fig. 9). It was also a very different society, one in which more foreigners (clergy, warriors, merchants, and craftsmen) played an important role. In just two or three Piast generations, between 950 and 1000, Poland had moved from the periphery to the main scene of European developments. Poland had taken a major step on the road to Europe.
How Poland came into being: a possible scenario
The developments taking place in Poland in the early tenth century can be reconstructed on the basis of archaeological excavations carried out in different regions of the country. Their outcome was a sudden, sometimes catastrophic, collapse of most, although not all, tribal strongholds that were replaced by new centers arising at the behest of the Piast rulers.
The tribal entities had little chance to survive the political changes taking place at that time in the neighboring regions of Europe, particularly the rise of the Holy Roman Empire and of other Christian states. Their military weakness was the lack of a professional army or retinue of warriors. Such entities were often at odds, if not war, with each other, and perpetual rivalry invited military intervention from militarily powerful neighbors, such as the Franks, who usually took advantage of such conflicts. Tribal leaders relied almost exclusively on the old religious system and could not break with tradition without the risk of losing face and power. More important, tribal entities lacked an efficient economic system similar to the so-called "stronghold organization" of the early Piast period.
It is possible that the foundations of the medieval urban life in Poland were already laid within the first generation of Piast rulers. The building of such a great number of strongholds was not without consequences, particularly in terms of changes in the landscape, such as massive deforestation. Recent studies have shown that a large-scale building campaign was responsible in the 960s for the cutting of a great number of trees, mostly oaks, for the construction of stronghold ramparts and amenities. The impact of this campaign can only be measured if we take into consideration the fact that in the late 900s, many regions of Poland experienced the first crisis in wood supply. At that time, enlargement and repair of already existing strongholds were done not with hundred-year old oaks, but with young trees of various species that were no more than thirty years old. The available data indicate that in Great Poland, this crisis reached its apex between 960 and 1039.[23]
What, then, were the developments leading to the formation of the medieval state of Poland? On the basis of recent studies, we propose the following scenario:
1. By the late ninth or early tenth century, the first attempts were made to re-structure some of the old tribal confederacies, in response to the aggressive policies promoted by neighboring states. This may explain the erection of an important number of strongholds and the establishment of regional, inter-tribal centers of pagan cult. The political entity of the Vistulans was incorporated into Bohemia (after being part of Moravia as well), which coincided in time with the rise to political prominence of the Polanians of Great Poland.
2. Stage I (ca. 920‑ca. 965). Inter‑tribal confrontations in Great Poland pushed the Piasts to the fore of the political scene, as leaders of a powerful Polanian state. Mieszko I accepted baptism in 966 and began the process of radical transformation of the Polanian state. Probably around 950th he incorporated Mazovia - what could be confirmed by destruction of the most tribal strongholds in the region.
3. Stage II (970th ). Mieszko reached Little Poland as far as Przemyśl. The tribal territory of the Lendizi in southeastern Poland was also conquered and annexed. New provincial centers emerged: Sandomierz, in Little Poland, Przemyśl, Lublin, and the system of the Czerwień strongholds on the eastern frontier[24]. During the same decade Mieszko attacked Pomerania. He seems to have encountered difficulties in western Pomerania, but succeeded in incorporating the eastern region near the mouth of the Vistula river, where Gdańsk was founded, followed by Kruszwica in Kuyavia that may have been viewed as a basis for the future conversion of Pomerania.
4. Stage III (980th). The center of military activity shifed to the western Pomerania and to Silesia. Wolin, Kolberg and Stettin - the main tribal centers on the Baltic coast are conquered and rebuilt by the Piast rulers. Following the war with Boleslav II of Bohemia, Silesia was brought under Polish control and the main Silesian towns were founded in Opole and Wrocław.
5. Stage IV (ca 989). Cracow and its hinterland were taken from the Bohemians. Contrary to other main centers of Little Poland discussed above, there are no archaeological evidence of the military action which could relate to the incorporation of Cracow to the Piast state. It is very probable that this action on the western Little Poland territory was relatively peaceful. According to the archaeological data, Cracow as well other tribal centers in the area were growing without interruption almost since 9th century.
Conclusion
This scenario (Fig. 10) is one of many possible reconstructions of tenth-century developments in Poland on the basis of the archaeological evidence. The scenario not only sheds a new light on the process of state formation, but also brings to the fore the personality of the first ruler of Poland, traditionally obscured by the towering figure of his son, Boleslav the Brave (Chrobry). A careful examination of Mieszko's reign shows however the European dimension of his political and organizational capabilities.
During the period of political consolidation in Eastern Francia under the successive rulers of the Ottonian dynasty, the policies promoted by the Polanian prince proved to be successful. The rise of the state centered in Gniezno and the conversion to Christianity in 966 brought the political acceptance of Christian Europe and legitimacy for the newly united state. This was possible primarily because no conflict separated Mieszko's state from Ottonian interests. The Ottonians were torn between long‑term political interests in Italy and the internal problems of the Empire. Under such circumstances, the Polanian ruler felt encouraged and protected, as he could rely on the support of the Empire. In his conflict with Boleslav II of Bohemia over Silesia, Mieszko received military support from Empress Theophano. He in turn provided military support for Otto III's efforts to convert the pagans.
The peculiar association between Church and state created a neutral curtain between Poland and the Roman-Catholic West, on one hand, and the Byzantine cultural influence zone in Kievan Rus', on the other. Despite temporary political and dynastic alliances, Poland and Rus' formed two distinct worlds, separated by different cultural and religious options. The Holy Roman Empire, on the other hand, was a political organism based on the idea of universal empire encompassing all territories under Roman obedience, regardless of linguistic affiliation. Mieszko came to play an important role in such plans. Through his policies of conquest and annexation, he created Poland, but also laid the foundations for a united Europe, an idea continued by Boleslav the Brave and Otto III and epitomized in by the Act of Gniezno of A.D. 1000.
NOTES
[23] Marek Krąpiec, "Dendrochronological dating of early medieval fortified settlements in Poland," in Frühmittelalterlicher Burgenbau in Mittel- und Osteuropa. Tagung, Nitra, vom 7. bis 10. Oktober 1996, ed. by Joachim Henning and Alexander T. Ruttkay (Bonn, 1998), pp. 257-67.
[24] Andrzej Buko, From Great Poland to the Little Poland: the ruling Piast dynasty and the processes of creating the regions in:., Centre-Region-Periphery, vol. 1., ed. by G. Helmig, B. Scholkmann, M. Untermann (Hertingen 2002), pp. 468-473.
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 "Possible scenario of territorial evolution from Civitas Schinesghe into the Polish State during 10th century")
