Piast Kings
Mieszko the First
First Christian monarch, ca. 960 - 992
He was not a king, but for Poland, he was and is more than a king. He was a great ruler of the Piast Dynasty and a prince of the Polans – the Slavic people who settled the Northern European plain between the Oder and Vistula Rivers. Most importantly, he was the Polish prince who, through his baptism in 966 A.D., brought Christianity to Poland.
A year before his baptism Mieszko I married a Czech Christian princess – Dobrawa. Did she encourage her husband to become a Christian ruler and bring Christianity to Poland? Perhaps. And did he then realize that because of his decision there has been a country called Poland for over one thousand years? He is not here to answer our questions, but there are things we can be sure of.
Bolesław Chrobry
Bolesław I Chrobry, 992 - 1025
‘Chrobry’ ( pronounced ‘hrobry’) in those days at the end of the 10th and beginning of the 11th centuries, simply meant ‘brave’. And brave indeed he was. He was born in 967 as the first son of Mieszko I, although as a child he was only able to enjoy courtly life in the home of his parents till the age of 7. This was when he was sent to the court of the German king, Otto II, as a guarantee that his father, Mieszko I, would keep his word and respect the peace agreement that the king of Germany had negotiated. From the first he needed to show that he could be brave and independent. He did not speak German and he was just a child, but he had to find his way in a foreign land and foreign surroundings. How did he cope? We do not have his notes and letters. But we know from the writings of people who lived in those times that people grew to like this energetic boy and they were unhappy when he had to leave.
Mieszko II Lambert
1025 – 1031
For nearly two hundred years, ever since the death of Bolesław Chrobry, Poland had been weakened and divided into parts due to fights between the descendants of the Polish crown – the princes and brothers of the Piast dynasty.
The first King to be crowned after Chrobry was his son, Mieszko II. Mieszko was not as successful a ruler as his father, as he had to fight off his brother Bezprym, and due to the struggles the country was left weakened. This was when the Czech king attacked the lands and destroyed much of Gniezno – the capital city of Polish kings. But Mieszko II was known for something else. He was the first king to read and write, for it was only then that it became apparent that education was just as important to a king as leadership and warrior skills.
Casimir the Restorer
Kazimierz Odnowiciel, 1034 – 1058, Duke
Mieszko II’s son, Kazimierz, concentrated his efforts on rebuilding the country and thus his name ‘Odnowiciel’ which means ‘Restorer’. He is also responsible for moving the capital of the country from Gniezno to Kraków. Kraków remained a very important capital city of the kingdom for the next 500 years!
Bolesław II the Bold
Bolesław II Śmiały/Szczodry, 1058 – 1079
Despite his young age, during his reign he strengthened the position of Poland in Europe and retained friendly relations with Kyivan Rus and Hungary. Having in 1079 sentenced to death Bishop Stansisław, he was deprived of his crown and chased out of the country.
Bolesław III Wrymouth
Bolesław III Krzywousty, 1102-1138, Duke
Bolesław Krzywousty ( we do not know whether the name ‘Krzywousty’ – Wrymouth or Crooked Mouth, referred to his disfigured lips or to the fact that he was a liar) reigned in the years 1102 – 1138. It was not the years of his reign, when he fought fiercely with his brother Zbigniew and finally sentenced him to death, that made him so memorable. He was the king who had the idea of dividing the kingdom into districts after his death and giving each of his sons one of the five districts. History would later show that this division led to further fragmentation of the country, to infighting between the wealthy lords and to the loss of the position that Poland had gained earlier in Europe.
On the positive side, Bolesław Krzywousty invited the first chronicler to Poland. He was probably a Frenchman, and was, therefore, called Gall. We do not know his real name, so history had named him Gall Anonim. He wrote a chronicle of not only his current times, but also of the earlier history of Poland.
Przemysł II
1290 – 1291; 1295 – 1296
When Przemysł II became the ruler of Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) and having been made heir to Duke Henry IV Probus, he took over the Polish throne in Kraków. But he did not stay there for long. He was chased away from Kraków by Władysław the Elbow-high. He was clever enough to take the Polish crown with him, which had not been in use for quite a long time. He was crowned the King of Poland in Gniezno in 1295. Unfortunately, some of the Margrave of Brandenburg’s men killed him while attempting to kidnap him in 1296.
Władysław Łokietek
1306 – 1333
What made him special? How did this duke of the rather insignificant Kujawy district become the King of Poland and the first king to be crowned in Kraków? Historians claim that he must have been stubborn and ready to take risks. From today’s perspective we would say that he had a dream paired with a passionate determination to make his dreams come true.
Casimir III the Great
Kazimierz III Wielki, 1333 – 1370
History becomes even more fascinating when you can actually SEE it. The great Polish king Kazimierz III Wielki (Kazimierz the Great) can be well remembered not only for contributing to the greatness of the Polish kingdom by doubling its size, contributing to the regulated growth of towns and villages or founding the Kraków Academy in 1364, but also for building a whole group of fortified castles to defend its borders from enemies. It is the ruins of these castles, standing proudly on top of rocky hills among leafy green valleys that excite the imagination and bring back times of Kazimierz III Wielki with such powerful symbols of his reign. Away from the bustle of modern towns and criss-crossing motorways, the castles are situated along the magical route of the Eagle’s Nests Way. A visit to this part of Poland will stun you with images of very different by-gone centuries.
