The Birth of a Stereotype: Polish Rulers and their Country in German Writings c. 1000 A.D.

365 Pages·2011·4.78 MB·English

by  Andrzej Pleszczyński

The Birth of a Stereotype
East Central and Eastern
Europe in the Middle Ages,
450–1450
General Editor
Florin Curta
VOLUME 15
The Birth of a Stereotype
Polish Rulers and their Country
in German Writings c. 1000 A.D.
By
Andrzej Pleszczyński
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2011
Front cover illustration: Drawing of Polish coin and a piece of German ivory panel c. 1000 AD.
Back cover illustration: Drawing of Polish coin c. 1000 AD.
Drawing made by Anna Grzesiak for Andrzej Pleszczyński.
Translation: Robert Bubczyk
The translation of the book was funded by The Foundation for the Polish Science
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Pleszczynski, Andrzej.
The birth of a stereotype : Polish rulers and their country in German writings, c. 1000 A.D. /
by Andrzej Pleszczynski.
p. cm. — (East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450–1450,
ISSN 1872–8103 ; v. 15)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-90-04-18554-8 (hbk. : acid-free paper)
1. Poland—History—Piast period, 960-1386—Historiography. 2. Piast dynasty—Public
opinion—History—To 1500. 3. Poland—Kings and rulers—Public opinion—History—To
1500. 4. Kings and rulers, Medieval—Public opinion—History—To 1500. 5. Slavs—Public
opinion—History—To 1500. 6. Stereotypes (Social psychology)—Germany—History—To 1500.
7. Historiography—Germany—History—To 1500. 8. Poland—Foreign public opinion, German.
9. Germany—Relations—Poland. 10. Poland—Relations—Germany. I. Title. II. Series.
DK4213.P55 2011
943.8’022—dc22
2011009496
ISSN 1872-8103
ISBN 978 90 04 18554 8
Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ....................................................................................... ix
List of Abbreviations .................................................................................... xi
Introduction ................................................................................................... 1
Chapter One Appearance of the Piast State within Eyeshot
of the Elites in the Liudolfings’ Empire ............................................... 9
1.1. Mieszko as ‘King of the North’—rex barbarorum ..................... 10
1.1.1. Widukind on the Events of 963 ......................................... 11
1.1.2. The So-called Account by Ibrahim ibn Yaqub of the
Country of Mieszko ............................................................. 14
1.1.3. Archetype of the ‘Savage Slav’—a Dweller of the
North ...................................................................................... 24
1.1.4. Sclavus—captivus, servus ..................................................... 36
1.2. Amicus imperatoris .......................................................................... 41
1.2.1. Account of a Skirmish of Mieszko I with the Veleti
and Wichman in 967 ........................................................... 41
1.2.2. Meaning of the Term ‘Amicitia’ in the Chronicle
by Widukind ......................................................................... 51
1.2.3. Mieszko I and the Empire in the Views of Widukind
of Corvey and Thietmar of Merseburg ............................. 64
1.3. Titles of Power of Duke Mieszko I ............................................... 71
1.3.1. Quidam dux Wandalorum, Misico nomine ........................ 72
1.3.2. Misicho comes et Sclavus ..................................................... 83
1.3.3. Misicho marchio .................................................................... 90
1.3.4. Significance of Mieszko I’s Titles of Power ..................... 98

Chapter Two Integration of the Piasts’ Territorial Power into the
Empire of the Liudolfings—Opinions of the German Elites on
the Poland of Boleslav Chrobry ............................................................. 109
2.1. The Polish Ruler and His Country in German Sources
c. 1000 ................................................................................................ 109
2.1.1. Vulpes callida—Power Struggle in Poland after
Mieszko I’s Death ................................................................. 110
vi contents
2.1.2. Amicus familiaris—Relationships between Boleslav
Chrobry and Margrave Ekkehard I ................................... 120
2.1.3. Dominus [Sclaviniae]—German Sources on the Events
of 1000 .................................................................................... 126
2.1.4. Origin of the Names: The Poles and Poland ................... 139
2.2. Opinions by Brun of Querfurt and Thietmar of Merseburg
on the Polish Ruler .......................................................................... 148
2.2.1. Dei servorum mater—the Guardian of Church and a
Helper of Christianization .................................................. 149
2.2.2. Dux infaustus—an Evil Ruler and a False Christian ...... 162
2.3. Congress of Merseburg, July 1002 ................................................ 182
2.3.1. The Context and Course of the Congress, Boleslav
Chrobry’s Participation ....................................................... 184
2.3.2. The Attack on Boleslav Chrobry in the Structure of
Thietmar’s Narration ........................................................... 191
2.3.3. Reasons for Breaking the Alliance between Henry II
and Boleslav Chrobry and the Alleged Instigators of
the Attack on the Piast Retinue ......................................... 197
2.3.4. Henry II and the Saxon Elites: Boleslav Chrobry’s
Place in the Political Structure of the Region ................. 216

Chapter Three Polarisation of Attitudes towards the Polish
State and the Prevalence of Views Unfavourable to the Piast
Monarchy ................................................................................................... 223
3.1. Mieszko II—Thietmar’s Miles Regis .............................................. 224
3.1.1. Family Background of Mieszko II’s Mother .................... 224
3.1.2. Congress of Merseburg 1013 .............................................. 232
3.1.3. Mieszko II—the “Civilised” Duke ..................................... 248
3.2. Rex invictissimus—Mieszko II in Mathilda’s Codex .................. 254
3.2.1. Archangel Michael—Field Commander of the Army
of God and Satan’s Adversary ............................................ 256
3.2.2. St. Sebastian—an Ascetic and a Soldier of Christ .......... 263
3.2.3. Dedicational Miniature ....................................................... 274
3.3. Misako [. . .] ipsum sousque, immo diaboli satellites—
Mieszko II, Servant of the Devil .................................................... 285
3.3.1. The 1025 Piast Coronations as Viewed by German
Observers ............................................................................... 286
3.3.2. The Piast Coronations of 1025 in the Historical
Context ................................................................................... 295
contents vii
3.3.3. The King’s Status and how it Changed throughout
the Early Middle Ages ......................................................... 302
3.3.4. Salian Monarchs and the Royal Institution in
Poland ..................................................................................... 309
Conclusion ................................................................................................... 323
Bibliography ................................................................................................... 331
Index ............................................................................................................... 347

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book would not have been written without the support of a number of
people. The most important for the present shape it acquired were conversa-
tions and discussions with Jacek Banaszkiewicz and my colleagues from the
Department of Mediaeval History in the Institute of History at Maria Curie-
Skłodowska University. I am very grateful for this invaluable help.
I am also greatly indebted to the institutions which sponsored my research
in scientific libraries, both in Poland and in German academic centres. First
of all, thanks to the Foundation for Polish Science (Fundacja na rzecz Nauki
Polskiej), which founded a scholarship for me, I could conduct my scien-
tific investigation in Tübingen. The Max-Planck-Institut für Geschichte and
the Polish Historical Mission financed my stay in Göttingen. I would like
to express my thanks to consecutive directors of my home institution—the
Institute of History at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin for their
contribution to financing my study during scientific expeditions.
I would like also to thank Przemysław Wiszewski, who encouraged me,
and Piotr Górecki, who recommended my book to be included in Brill’s
series East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. In addition, I
am grateful to Richard Geoffrey Eales of Kent University at Canterbury in
the UK for his precious comments and suggestions regarding the English
translation of this book.
And last by no means least I want to thank my family—my wife Małgorzata
and my children Michał, Irmina and Katarzyna. I thank them for many
things but first of all for tolerating my whim to practice humanities.