Gąsawa massacre

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The Gąsawa Congress, by Matejko. Participants in discussion, before the massacre.
High Duke of Poland, was caught in his bath but fled on horseback. The attackers caught up with him a few kilometers out of Gąsawa
.
Monument at site of Leszek's death

The Gąsawa massacre (

High Duke of Poland, Leszek the White, was assassinated, and Duke Henry the Bearded of Silesia was gravely wounded.[1][2]

Motive

Responsibility for the attack is generally ascribed by historians to

House of Sobiesław held as regents of the Polish rulers, independent of Piast overlordship. The murder of Leszek the White, Świętopełk's suzerain, thus served his interests. However, several historians have pointed to Duke Władysław Odonic,[1] who had forged an alliance with Świętopełk shortly before the attack, as the main instigator.[4] Odonic's actual target would have been his uncle, Duke Władysław Spindleshanks, with whom Odonic had been involved in a long-running conflict over control of Greater Poland (Wielkopolska). Under this hypothesis, Odonic provided information necessary for a successful attack to Świętopełk's men, who actually did the deed.[citation needed
]

Other historians have disputed this thesis, pointing out that Spindleshanks was not harmed in the attack, that Odonic did not profit from the death of Leszek (with whom he had had generally amicable relations), and that there is no record that contemporaries or the families of the slain held Odonic responsible. Rather, in this view, the blame was ascribed retroactively to Odonic several decades later, during fighting between Dukes of Silesia who were descendants of Henry, and those of Greater Poland, who were related to Odonic. A particularly puzzling fact is the absence of condemnation by ecclesiastical authorities (some of whom were present at the meeting), who at that time took an active role in Polish political affairs and tended to react strongly to regicides.[5]

Outcomes

Whatever the exact circumstances of, or the responsibility for, the event, it is generally accepted that the crime contributed to the deepening of the

Mściwój II of Pomerania and Przemysł II (perhaps ironically, a grandson of Odonic).[1]

The death of

Władysław the Elbow-high at the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries.[1][6]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 9788374694797
    .
  2. ISBN 978-83-7059-708-5
    .
  3. ^ Bartos, Sebastian (2008). Negotiations of Power in a Medieval Society: Ecclesiastical Authority and Secular Rulership in Little Poland, 1177–1320. p. 66.
  4. ^
    ISBN 9789004185517
    .
  5. ^ Labuda, Gerard (1995). "Śmierć Leszka Białego (1227)". Roczniki Historyczne. 61: 7–33. Gerard Labuda describing the views of Józef Uminski.
  6. ^ Sałański, Marcin (November 24, 2012). "Zjazd w Gąsawie czyli rozpad piastowskiej jedności?". HistMag.org. Retrieved March 11, 2013.

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