Poland in the Early Middle Ages
History of Poland |
---|
The most important phenomenon that took place within the lands of Poland in the Early Middle Ages, as well as other parts of
From there the new population dispersed north and west over the course of the 6th century. The Slavs lived from cultivation of crops and were generally farmers, but also engaged in
By the 9th century, the West Slavs had settled the Baltic coast in Pomerania, which subsequently developed into a commercial and military power.[7] Along the coastline, remnants of Scandinavian settlements and emporia were to be found. The most important of them was probably the trade settlement and seaport of Truso,[8] located in Prussia. Prussia itself was relatively unaffected by Slavic migration and remained inhabited by Baltic Old Prussians. During the same time, the tribe of the Vistulans (Wiślanie), based in Kraków and the surrounding region, controlled a large area in the south, which they developed and fortified with many strongholds.
During the 10th century, the Lechitic
Origin of the Slavic peoples
Slavic beginnings of Poland
The origins of the
Zarubintsy culture
The
Kyiv culture
Originating from the Post-Zarubintsy cultures and often considered the oldest Slavic culture, the
Written sources
The eastern cradle of the Slavs is also directly confirmed by a written source. The anonymous author known as the Cosmographer of Ravenna (c. 700) names Scythia, a geographic region encompassing vast areas of eastern Europe,[12] as the place "where the generations of the Sclaveni had their beginnings".[20] Scythia, "stretching far and spreading wide" in the eastern and southern directions, had at the west end, as seen at the time of Jordanes' writing (first half to mid-6th century) or earlier, "the Germans and the river Vistula".[21] Jordanes places the Slavs in Scythia as well.[21]
Alternative point of view
According to an alternative theory, popular in the earlier 20th century and still represented today, the medieval cultures in the area of modern Poland are not a result of massive immigration, but emerged from a cultural transition of
A 2011 article on the early Western Slavs states that the transitional period (of relative depopulation) is difficult to evaluate archeologically. Some believe that the Late Antique "Germanic" populations (in Poland late Przeworsk culture and others) abandoned East Central Europe and were replaced by the Slavs coming from the east, others see the "Germanic" groups as staying and becoming, or already being, Slavs. Current archeology, says the author, "is unable to give a satisfying answer and probably both aspects played a role". In terms of their origin, territorial and linguistic, "Germanic" groups should not be played off against "Slavs", as our current understanding of the terms may have limited relevance to the complex realities of the Late Antiquity and Early Middle Ages. Local languages in the region cannot be identified by archeological studies, and genetic evaluation of cremation burial remains has not been possible.[22]
Slavic differentiation and expansion; Prague culture
Kolochin culture, Penkovka culture and Prague–Korchak culture
The final process of the differentiation of the cultures recognized as early Slavic, the Kolochin culture] (over the territory of the Kyiv culture), the
The Prague culture developed over the western part of the Slavic expansion within the basins of the middle
Early settlements, economy and burials in Poland
In Poland, the earliest archeological sites considered Slavic include a limited number of 6th-century settlements and a few isolated burial sites. The material obtained there consists mostly of simple, manually formed ceramics, typical of the entire early Slavic area. It is on the basis of the different varieties of these basic clay pots and infrequent decorations that the three cultures are distinguished.[24] The largest of the earliest Slavic (Prague culture) settlement sites in Poland that have been subjected to systematic research is located in Bachórz, Rzeszów County, and dates to the second half of 5th through 7th centuries. It consisted of 12 nearly square, partially dug-out houses, each covering the area of 6.2 to 19.8 (14.0 on the average) square meters. A stone furnace was usually placed in a corner, which is typical for Slavic homesteads of that period, but clay ovens and centrally located hearths are also found.[12] 45 newer dwellings of a different type from the 7th/8th to 9th/10th centuries have also been discovered in the vicinity.[25][26]
Poorly developed handicraft and limited resources for metal working are characteristic of the communities of all early Slavic cultures. There were no major iron production centers, but metal founding techniques were known; among the metal objects occasionally found are iron knives and hooks, as well as bronze decorative items (as can be found in 7th-century finds in Haćki, Bielsk Podlaski County, a site of one of the earliest fortified settlements). The inventories of the typical small open settlements also normally include various utensils made of stone, horn and clay (including weights used for weaving). The settlements were arranged as clusters of cabins along river or stream valleys, but above their flood levels, they were usually irregular and typically faced south. The wooden frame or pillar-supported square houses covered with a straw roof had each sides of 2.5 to 4.5 meters in length. Fertile lowlands were sought, but also forested areas with diversified plant and animal environment to provide additional sustenance. The settlements were self-sufficient; the early Slavs functioned without significant long-distance trade. Potter's wheels were used from the turn of the 7th century on. Some villages larger than a few homes have been discovered in the Kraków-Nowa Huta region from the 6th to 9th century, for example a complex of 11 settlements on the left bank of the Vistula in the direction of Igołomia. The original furnishings of Slavic huts are difficult to determine, because equipment was often made of perishable materials such as wood, leather or fabrics. Free- standing clay dome stoves for bread baking have been found on some locations. Another large 6th– to 9th-century settlement complex existed in the vicinity of Głogów in Silesia.[27][28][29]
The Slavic people cremated their dead, typical for the inhabitants of their region for centuries. The burials were usually single, the graves grouped in small cemeteries, with the ashes placed in simple urns more often than in ground indentations. The number of burial sites found is small in relation to the known settlement density. The food production economy was based on millet and wheat cultivation, hunting, fishing, gathering and cattle breeding (swine, sheep and goats bred to a lesser extent).[1]
Geographic expansion in Poland and Central Europe
The earliest Slavic settlers from the east reached southeastern Poland in the second half of the 5th century, specifically the
As of that time and in the following decades, Western Pomerania, plus some of
This particular pattern of expansion into the lands of Poland and then Germany [32] was a part of the great Slavic migration during the 5th-7th centuries from originating lands in the east to various countries of Central and Southeastern Europe.[33][34] Another 6th-century route, more southern, took the Prague culture of the Slavs through Slovakia, Moravia and Bohemia. The Slavs also reached the eastern Alps and populated the Elbe and the Danube basins, from where they moved south to occupy the Balkans as far as Peloponnese.[12]
Ancient and early Medieval written accounts of the Slavs
Besides the Baltic
Procopius in De Bello Gothico located the "countless Antes tribes" even further east, beyond the Dnieper.[38] Together with the Sclaveni, they spoke the same language, of an "unheard of barbarity".[38] According to Jordanes, the Heruli nation traveled in 512 across all of the Sclaveni peoples territories, and then west of there through a large expanse of unpopulated lands, as the Slavs were about to settle the western and northern parts of Poland in the decades to follow.[12] All of the above is in good accordance with the findings of today's archeology.[39][40]
Byzantine writers held the Slavs in low regard for the simple life they led and also for their supposedly limited combat abilities, but in fact they were already a threat to the Danubian boundaries of the Empire in the early 6th century, where they waged plundering expeditions.
The above-mentioned authors provide various details on the character, living conditions, social structure and economic activities of the early Slavic people, some of which are confirmed by the archeological discoveries in Poland, since the Slavic communities were quite similar all over their range.
Invasions of the Avars in Europe and their presence in Poland
In the 6th century, the Turkic-speaking nomadic Avars moved into the middle Danube area. Twice (in 562 and 566–567), the Avars undertook military expeditions against the Franks, and their routes went through the Polish lands. The Avar envoys bribed Slavic chiefs from the lands they did not control, including Pomerania, to secure their participation in Avar raids, but other than that, the exact nature of their relations with the Slavs in Poland is not known. The Avars had some presence or contacts in Poland also in the 7th and 8th centuries, when they left artifacts in the Kraków-Nowa Huta region and elsewhere, including a bronze belt decoration found in the Krakus Mound. This last item, from the turn of the 8th century, is used to date the mound itself.[43][44][45][d]
Tribal differentiation
8th-century settlements
With the major population shifts of the Slavic migrations completed, the 8th century brought a measure of stability to the Slavic people settled in Poland. About one million people actively utilized no more than 20–25% of the land; the rest was mainly forest. Normal settlements, with the exception of a few fortifications and cult venues, were limited to lowland areas below 350 meters above the sea level. Most villages built without artificial defensive structures were located within valley areas of natural bodies of water. The Slavs were very familiar with the water environment and used it as natural defense.[46]
The living and economic activity structures were either distributed randomly or arranged in rows or around a central empty lot. The larger settlements could have had over a dozen homesteads and be occupied by 50 to 80 residents, but more typically there were just several homes with no more than 30 inhabitants. From the 7th century on, the previously common semi-subterranean dwellings were being replaced by buildings wholly above the surface, but still consisted of just one room. Pits were dug for storage and other uses. As the Germanic people before them, the Slavs left vacant regions between developed areas for separation from strangers and to avoid conflicts, especially along the limits of their tribal territories.[46]
Gord construction
The
A monumental and technically complex border protection area gord of over 3 hectares in size was built around 770–780 in
This larger scale building activity, from the mid-8th century on, was a manifestation of the emergence of tribal organisms, a new civilizational quality that represented rather efficient proto-political organizations and social structures on a new level. They were based on these fortifications, defensive objects, of which the mid-8th century and later Vistulan gords in Lesser Poland are a good example. The threat coming from the Avar state in Pannonia could have had provided the original motivation for the construction projects.[50]
Society organized into larger tribal units
From the 8th century on, the Slavs in Poland increasingly organized themselves in larger structures known as "great tribes," either through voluntary or forced association. The population was primarily involved in agricultural pursuits. Fields were cultivated as well as gardens within settlements. Plowing was done using oxen and wooden plows reinforced with iron. Forest burning was used to increase the arable area, but also to provide fertilizer, as the ashes lasted in that capacity for several seasons. Rotation of crops was practiced as well as the winter/spring crop system. After several seasons of exploitation, the land was being left idle to regain fertility. Wheat, millet and rye were most important crops; other cultivated plant species included oat, barley, pea, broad bean, lentil, flax and hemp, as well as apple, pear, plum, peach and cherry trees in fruit orchards. Beginning in the 8th century, swine gradually became economically more important than cattle; sheep, goats, horses, dogs, cats, chickens, geese and ducks were also kept. The agricultural practices of the Slavs are known from archeological research, which documents progressive increases over time in arable area and resulting deforestation,
Gathering, hunting and fishing were still essential as sources of food and materials such as hide or fur. The forest was also exploited as a source of building materials such as wood. In addition, wild forest bees were kept there, and the forest could be used as a place of refuge.[53] Until the 9th century, the population was separated from the main centers of civilization and self-sufficient with primitive, local community and household-based manufacturing. Specialized craftsmen existed only in the fields of iron extraction from ore and processing, and pottery; the few luxury items used were imports. From the 7th century on, modestly decorated ceramics were made with the potter's wheel. 7th– to 9th-century collections of objects have been found in Bonikowo and Bruszczewo, Kościan County (iron spurs, knives, clay containers with some ornamentation) and in the Kraków-Nowa Huta region (weapons and utensils in Pleszów and Mogiła), among other places. Slavic warriors were traditionally armed with spears, bows and wooden shields. Axes were used later, and still swords of the types popular throughout 7th– to 9th-century Europe were also used. Independent of distant powers, the Slavic tribes in Poland lived a relatively undisturbed life, but at the cost of some backwardness in civilization.[46]
A qualitative change took place in the 9th century, when the Polish lands were crossed again by long-distance trade routes. Pomerania become a part of the Baltic trade zone, while Lesser Poland participated in trade centered in the Danubian countries. In the Upper Vistula basin, Oriental silver jewelry and Arab coins, often cut into pieces, "grzywna" iron coin equivalents (of the type used in Great Moravia) and even linen cloths served as currency.[46]
The basic social unit was the nuclear family, consisting of parents and their children, which had to fit in a dwelling area of several to 25 square meters. The "big family," a patriarchal, multi-generational group of related families with the meaning of a kin or clan, was of declining importance during this period. A larger group was needed in the past (5th–7th centuries) for forest clearing and burning undertakings, when farming communities had to shift from location to location; in the 8th-century phase of agriculture, a family was sufficient to take care of their arable land.[54] A concept of agricultural land ownership was gradually developing, at this point a family, not individual prerogative. Several or more clan territories were grouped into a neighborhood association, or "opole", which established a rudimentary self-government. Such a community was the owner of forested land, pastures, bodies of water and within it took place the first organization around common projects and the related development of political power. A big and resourceful opole could become, by extending its possessions, a proto-state entity vaguely referred to as a tribe.[55] The tribe was the top level of this structure. It would contain several opoles and control a region of up to about 1500 square kilometers, where internal relationships were arbitrated and external defense organized.[46]
A general assembly of all tribesmen took care of the most pressing of issues. Thietmar of Merseburg wrote in the early 11th century of the Veleti, a tribe of Polabian Slavs, with a report that their assembly kept deliberating till everybody agreed, but this "war democracy" was gradually being replaced by a government system in which the tribal elders and rulers had the upper hand. This development facilitated the coalescing of tribes into "great tribes," some of which under favorable conditions would later become tribal states. The communal and tribal democracy, with self-imposed contributions by the community members, survived in small entities and local territorial subunits the longest. On a larger scale, it was being replaced by the rule of able leaders and then dominant families, ultimately leading inevitably to hereditary transition of supreme power, mandatory taxation, service etc.[56] When social and economic evolution reached this level, the concentration of power was facilitated and made possible to sustain by parallel development of a professional military force (called at this stage "drużyna") at the ruler's or chief's disposal.[46][57]
Burials and religion
Burial customs, at least in southern Poland, included raising kurgans. The urn with the ashes was placed on the mound or on a post thrust into the ground. In that position, few such urns survived, which may be the reason why Slavic burial sites in Poland are rare. All dead, regardless of social status, were cremated and afforded a burial, according to
According to Procopius, the Slavs believed in one god, the creator of lightning and master of the entire universe, to whom all sacrificial animals (and sometimes people) were offered. The highest god was called Svarog throughout the Slavic area, but other gods were also worshiped in different regions at different times, often with local names.[59] Natural objects such as rivers, groves or mountains were also celebrated, as well as nymphs, demons, ancestral and other spirits, who were all venerated and appeased by offering rituals, which also involved augury. Such beliefs and practices were later developed and individualized by the many Slavic tribes.[60][61]
The Slavs erected sanctuaries, created statues and other sculptures, including the four-faced
Early Slavic states and other 9th-century developments
Samo's realm
The first Slavic state-like entity, the realm of King Samo, originally a Frankish trader, flourished close to Poland in Bohemia and Moravia, parts of Pannonia and more southern regions between the Oder and Elbe rivers during the period 623–658.[64] Samo became a Slavic leader by helping the Slavs defend themselves successfully against Avar assailants. What Samo led was probably a loose alliance of tribes, and it fell apart after his death. Slavic Carantania, centered on Krnski Grad (now Karnburg in Austria), was more of a real state, developed possibly from one part of the disintegrating Samo's kingdom, but lasted under a native dynasty throughout the 8th century and became Christianized.[65]
Great Moravia and the establishment of a written Slavic language
Larger scale state-generating processes developed in Slavic areas in the 9th century.
In 831,
The Czech state
The fall of Great Moravia made room for the expansion of the
9th-century Polish lands
In the 9th century the Polish lands were still on the peripheries of medieval Europe as regards its major powers and events, but a measure of progress did take place in levels of civilization, as evidenced by the number of gords built, kurgans raised and movable equipment used. The tribal elites must have been influenced by the relative closeness of the Carolingian Empire; objects crafted there have occasionally been found.[48][67] Poland was populated by many tribes of various sizes. The names of some of them, mostly from the western part of the country, are known from written sources, especially a Latin document written in the mid-9th century by the anonymous Bavarian Geographer. During this period, smaller tribal structures were disintegrating while larger ones were being established in their place.[68]
Characteristic of the turn of the 10th century in most Polish tribal settlement areas was a particular intensification of
The Vistulan state
A major development of the 9th century period concerns the somewhat enigmatic Wiślanie, or
Vistulan gords, built from the mid-8th century on, were typically very large, often over 10 hectares in size. About 30 big ones are known. The 9th-century gords in Lesser Poland and in Silesia were likely built as a defense against Great Moravian military expansion.[72] The largest one, in Stradów, Kazimierza Wielka County, had an area of 25 hectares and walls or embankments 18 meters high, but parts of this giant structure were probably built later. The gords were often located along the northern slope of the western Carpathian Mountains, on hills or hillsides. The buildings inside the walls were sparsely located or altogether absent, so for the most part, the role of the gords seems to have been something other than that of settlements or administrative centers.[73]
Large mounds up to 50 meters in diameter are found not only in Kraków, but also in Przemyśl and Sandomierz. among other places (about 20 total).[73] They were probably funeral locations of rulers or chiefs, with the actual burial site, on the top of the mound, long lost.[74] Besides the mounds, the degree of gord development and the grzywna treasure point to Kraków as the main center of Vistulan power (instead of Wiślica, as also suspected in the past).[69]
The most important written references to Vistulans come from The Life of
A further elaboration on this story is possibly found in a chronicle of Wincenty Kadłubek written some three centuries later. The chronicler, inadvertently or intentionally mixing different historic eras, talks of a past Polish war with the army of Alexander the Great. The countless enemy soldiers thrust their way into Poland, and the king himself, having previously subjugated the Pannonians, entered through Moravia as if it were a back door. He victoriously unfolded the wings of his forces and conquered the Kraków area lands and Silesia, in the process leveling Kraków's ancient city walls. The evidence of a dozen or more gords attacked and destroyed in southern Lesser Poland at the end of 9th century lends some archeological credence to this fanciful version of events.[73]
East of the Vistulans, eastern Lesser Poland was the territory of the
The Vistulans were probably also subjected to Magyar raids as an additional layer of embankments was often added to the gord fortifications in the early part of the 10th century. In the early or mid-10th century, the Vistulan entity, like Silesia, was incorporated by
The Baltic coast
In terms of economic and general civilizational achievement, the most advanced region that corresponds to the modern boundaries of Poland in the 9th century was
The Wolin settlement was established on the island of the same name in the late 8th century. Located at the mouth of the
Wolin was the major stronghold of the Volinian tribal territory, comprising the island and a broad stretch of the adjacent mainland, with its frontier guarded by a string of gords. The city's peak of prosperity occurred around and after year 900, when a new seaport was built (the municipal complex had now four of them) and the metropolitan area was secured by walls and embankments. The archeological findings there include a great variety of imported goods (even from the Far East) and locally manufactured products and raw materials; amber and precious metals figure prominently, as jewelry was one of the mainstay economic activities of the Wolinian elite.[7]
Truso in Prussia was another Baltic seaport and trade emporium known from the reworking of Orosius' universal history by Alfred the Great. King Alfred included a description of a voyage undertaken around 890 by Wulfstan from the Danish port of Hedeby to Truso, which is located near the mouth of the Vistula. Wulfstan gave a rather detailed description of the location of Truso, within the land of the Aesti, yet close to the Slavic areas west of the Vistula. Truso's actual site was discovered in 1982 at Janów Pomorski, near Elbląg.[8]
Established as a seaport by the
This connection to the Baltic trade zone led to an establishment of inner-Slavic long-distance trade routes. Lesser Poland participated in exchange centered in the Danubian countries. Oriental silver jewelry and Arab coins, often cut into pieces, "grzywna" iron coin equivalents (of the type used in Great Moravia) in the Upper Vistula basin and even linen cloths served as currency.[46]
Magyar intrusion
The
Geographically, the Magyar invasions interfered with the previously highly influential contacts between Central Europe and centers of Byzantine Christianity. It may have been the decisive factor that steered Poland toward the Western (Latin) branch of Christianity by the time of its adoption in 966.[81]
10th-century developments in Greater Poland; Mieszko's state
Tribal Greater Poland
The 10th century brought a notable development in the form of settlement stability on Polish lands. Short-lived prehistoric settlements gradually gave way to villages on fixed sites. The number of villages grew with time, but their sites rarely shifted. The population distribution patterns established from that century on are evident on today's landscape.[82]
Sources from the 9th and 10th centuries make no mention of the
Mieszko's state and its origins
What was later to be called the Gniezno state, also known as
The name of Poles (Polanians, Polyans, Polans) appears in writing for the first time around year 1000, just like the country's name Poland (Latinized as Polonia). "Polanie" was possibly the name given by later historians to the inhabitants of Greater Poland (a presumed tribe not mentioned in earlier sources). 10th-century inhabitants of Greater Poland would originate from tribes not known by name that were instrumental in bringing about the establishment of the Polish state; one such tribe had to constitute the immediate power base of Mieszko's predecessors, if not Mieszko himself.[84]
The account of Gallus Anonymus vs. archeology
In the early 12th century, the chronicler
The results of archeological studies of 9th- and 10th-century gords in Greater Poland are at odds with the timing of this story. There was no Gniezno settlement in the 9th century; there was a pagan cult site there beginning only at the turn of the 10th century. The Gniezno gord was built around year 940, possibly because the location, of great spiritual importance to the tribal community, would rally the local population around its building and defense.[87]
The early Piast state and its expansion
Under the old tribal system, the tribal assembly elected a chief in case of an external threat to lead the defense effort, and it was a temporarily granted authority. The Piast clan was able to replace this practice in the Gniezno area with a hereditary ruler, in line with trends in other locations at the time. This allowed the Piast clan to create a state that they could over generations.[88]
The development of the Piast state can be traced to some degree by following the disappearance of the old tribal
Parallel with the gord building activity of ca. 920-50, the Piasts undertook military expansion by crossing the
The expanding Piast state developed a professional military force. According to Ibrahim ibn Yaqub, Mieszko collected taxes in the form of weights used for trading and spent those taxes as monthly pay for his warriors. He had three thousand heavily armored mounted soldiers alone, whose quality according to Ibrahim was very impressive. Mieszko provided for all their equipment and needs, even military pay for their children regardless of their gender, from the moment they were born. This force was supported by a much greater number of foot fighters.[93] Numerous armaments were found in the Piast gords, many of them of foreign, e.g. Frankish or Scandinavian origin. Mercenaries from these regions, as well as German and Norman knights, constituted a significant element of Mieszko's elite fighting guard.[94]
Revenue generating measures and conquests
To sustain this military machine and meet other state expenses, large amounts of revenue were necessary. Greater Poland had some natural resources used for trade, such as fur, hide, honey and wax, but those surely did not provide enough income. According to Ibrahim ibn Yaqub,
Mieszko thus strove to subdue
The Piast state reached the mouth of the
Mieszko's relationship with Emperor Otto I
Series of military reverses and detrimental relationships, which involved the Czech
Mieszko's acceptance of Christianity
In response to immediate practical concerns, the
The so-called
The scope of the Christianization mission in its early phase was quite limited geographically, and the few relics that have survived come from Gniezno Land. Stone churches and
The early expansion of the Piasts, Great Moravian and Norman contributions
Newer research points out some other intriguing possibilities regarding the early origins of the Polish state in Greater Poland. There are indications that the processes that led to the establishment of the Piast state began during the period ca. 890-910. During these years, a tremendous civilizational advancement took place in central Greater Poland, as the unearthed products of all kinds that have been discovered are better made and more elaborate. The timing coincides with the breakdown of the
The early expansion of the Gniezno Land tribe very likely began under Mieszko's grandfather Lestek, the probable real founder of the Piast state.
Early capitals, large scale gord construction
There is some disagreement as to the early seat of the ruling clan. Modern archeology has shown that the gord in
The enormous effort of the estimated population of 100 to 150 thousand residents of the Gniezno region who were involved in building or modernizing Gniezno and several other main Piast gords was made in response to a perceived deadly threat, not just to help them pursue regional conquests. After 935, when the Gniezno people were probably already led by Mieszko's father
Alliance with Germany and conquest of Pomerania
Fighting the
Completion of Poland's territorial expansion under Mieszko
Around 980, in the west,
The construction of powerful Piast gords in western
Silver treasures, common in the Scandinavian countries, are found also in Slavic areas including Poland, especially northern Poland. Silver objects, coins and decorations, often cut into pieces, are believed to have served as currency units, brought in by Jewish and Arab traders, but locally more as accumulations of wealth and symbols of prestige. The process of hiding or depositing them, besides protecting them from danger, is believed by the researchers to represent a cult ritual.[111]
A treasure located in Góra Strękowa,
See also
- Prehistory and protohistory of Poland
- Stone-Age Poland
- Bronze- and Iron-Age Poland
- Poland in Antiquity
- History of Poland during the Piast dynasty
Notes
a.^ "Though their names are now dispersed amid various clans and places, yet they are chiefly called Sclaveni and Antes" (Antes denoting the eastern early Slavic branch). Transl. by Charles Christopher Mierow, Princeton University Press 1908, from the University of Calgary web site.
b.^ Early Slavic peoples in Poland had their origins outside of Poland and arrived in Poland through migrations according to the allochthonic theory; according to the autochthonic theory the opposite is true, the Slavic or pre-Slavic peoples were present in Poland already in Antiquity or earlier
c.^ At about the time of the collapse of the Hun empire the Kyiv culture ends its existence and the Kolochin, Penkovka and Prague-Korchak cultures are already well-established, so the Slavic expansion and differentiation had to take place in part within the Hun dominated areas
d.^ This article reflects the contemporary point of view of the Polish and East European archeologies. Many of the concepts presented were originally formulated by Kazimierz Godłowski of the Jagiellonian University. The idea of eastern origin of the Slavs was raised before him by J. Rozwadowski, K. Moszyński, H. Ułaszyn, H. Łowmiański (J. Wyrozumski – Historia Polski do roku 1505, p. 47, 63).
e.^ The Trzcinica site is being restored and developed as The Carpathian Troy Open-Air Archaeological Museum
f.^ The area is being developed as an outdoor replica of the settlement
g.
h.^ There is a minority opinion according to which Poland (or just southern Poland) was initially Christianized in the Slavic rite by followers of Cyril and Methodius and for a while the two branches coexisted in competition with each other. The arguments and speculations pointing in that direction were collected by Janusz Roszko in Pogański książę silny wielce (A pagan duke of great might), Iskry, Warszawa 1970
References
Inline
- ^ ISBN 83-85719-34-2, p. 337
- ^ a b Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 327–330 and specifically 346
- ^ For genetic evidence see Krzysztof Rębała et al. Y-STR variation among Slavs: evidence for the Slavic homeland in the middle Dnieper basin, in Journal of Human Genetics (Springer Japan), May 2007
- Getica
- ^ a b Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, pp. 325–352
- ^ ISBN 83-7023-954-4, p. 122-167
- ^ a b c U źródeł Polski, pp. 142–143, Władysław Filipowiak
- ^ a b Truso by Marek Jagodziński of the Archeological-Historical Museum in Elbląg, from Pradzieje.pl web site
- ^ a b U źródeł Polski, pp. 162–163, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 334
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 232, 351
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Slavs and the Early Slav Culture by Michał Parczewski, Novelguide web site
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 125–126, Michał Parczewski
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 191, 212, 228–230, 232, 281
- ^ a b c At the Source of the Slavic World, Michał Parczewski
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 243
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 277, 303
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski p. 334
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 281, 302, 303, 334, 351
- ^ a b U źródeł Polski, pp. 126, Michał Parczewski
- ^ Getica, Transl. by Charles Christopher Mierow, Princeton University Press 1908, from the University of Calgaryweb site
- .
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 327, 334, 351
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 333, 334
- ^ The web site of the Institute of Archeology, Jagiellonian University – Bachórz
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 124, Michał Parczewski
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 334–337
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 123–126, Michał Parczewski
- ^ Słowianie nad Bzurą by Marek Dulinicz and Felix Biermann, Archeologia Żywa, issue 1 (16) 2001
- ISBN 0-19-822799-X
- ISBN 83-08-02855-1.
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 327, 337–338
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, pp. 337–338
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 126–127, Michał Parczewski
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 259, 350
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 102, Tadeusz Makiewicz
- De origine actibusque Getarum, the Latin Library at Ad Fontes Academyweb page
- ^ a b U źródeł Polski, p. 122, Michał Parczewski
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 250, 329, 330, 333, 350, 352
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 122, 123, 126, Michał Parczewski
- ^ a b U źródeł Polski, pp. 122–127, Michał Parczewski
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 124, 126, Michał Parczewski
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 141, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, pp. 338–339
- ^ a b U źródeł Polski, pp. 128–129, Michał Parczewski
- ^ a b c d e f g h i U źródeł Polski, pp. 130–133, Michał Parczewski
- ^ Kaczanowski, Kozłowski, p. 339
- ^ a b Kalendarium dziejów Polski (Chronology of Polish History), ed. Andrzej Chwalba, p. 22, Jacek Poleski
- ^ Muzeum Podkarpackie (Sub-Carpathian Museum) in Krosno web site, Jan Gancarski
- ISBN 83-85719-38-5, p. 47
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 148, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ Nauka w Polsce (Science in Poland), internet service of the Polish Press Agency, Sept. 6, 2010 article by Szymon Zdziebłowski
- ^ Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, p. 49
- ISBN 83-01-03732-6, p. 73
- ^ Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, p. 50, concerning land ownership and evolution of "opole"
- ^ Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, pp. 50–52
- ^ Jerzy Wyrozumski – Historia Polski do roku 1505, p. 66
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 125, 133, Michał Parczewski
- ^ Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, p. 56
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 125, Michał Parczewski
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 134, Stanisław Rosik
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 134–135, Stanisław Rosik
- ^ Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, pp. 54–59
- ^ Kalendarium dziejów Polski (Chronology of Polish History), ed. Andrzej Chwalba, p. 21, Jacek Poleski
- ^ a b c d e f U źródeł Polski, pp. 136–141, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ISBN 0-06-097468-0
- ^ Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, pp. 52–54
- ^ a b c Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, p. 48
- ^ a b c Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, pp. 66–67
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 140–141, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, p. 52
- ^ Kalendarium dziejów Polski (Chronology of Polish History), ed. Andrzej Chwalba, p. 24, Jacek Poleski
- ^ a b c Janusz Roszko – Pogański książę silny wielce, Iskry, Warszawa 1970
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 133, Michał Parczewski
- ^ Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, p. 66
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 147, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ Kalendarium dziejów Polski (Chronology of Polish History), ed. Andrzej Chwalba, pp. 25–26, Jacek Poleski
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 136–140, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ Truso – zaginiony port by Andrzej Markert from "Sprawy nauki" web site
- ^ Truso – emporium Wikingów an interview with Marek Jagodziński by Arkadiusz Szaraniec from "Travel Polska" web site
- ISBN 1-56656-655-X
- ^ Archaeological Investigations by Tadeusz Poklewski-Koziełł, Archeologia Żywa (Living Archeology), special English issue 2005
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 141, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ a b c U źródeł Polski, p. 146, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ a b U źródeł Polski, p. 144, Marek Derwich
- ^ Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, pp. 69–70
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 146–147, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 147–148, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 147–149, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Polski mogło nie być (There could have been no Poland) – an interview with the historian Tomasz Jasiński by Piotr Bojarski, Gazeta Wyborcza July 7, 2007
- ^ My nie z Gniezna, ale z Giecza by Piotr Bojarski, Gazeta Wyborcza July 2, 2007
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 148–149, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 193–194, Zofia Kurnatowska, Marek Derwich
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 149–150, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ a b U źródeł Polski, p. 150, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 150–151, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ a b Mieczem i sakiewką from Polityka.pl by Agnieszka Krzemińska, quoting Mateusz Bogucki
- ^ a b c d e U źródeł Polski, p. 151, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 154, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ J.A. Sobiesiak – Bolesław II Przemyślida (Boleslaus II the Pious), p. 89, Avalon 2006
- ^ Jerzy Strzelczyk – Bolesław Chrobry (Bolesław I the Brave), p. 15, Poznań 2003
- ^ U źródeł Polski, pp. 154–155, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 156, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ Wyrozumski, Dzieje Polski piastowskiej, p. 75
- ^ a b U źródeł Polski, pp. 157, 161–162, Zofia Kurnatowska
- OCLC 43087092:pagan reaction of 1005
- ISBN 3-88680-272-8: pagan uprising that also ended the Polish suzerainty in 1005
- ISBN 3-412-04577-2, 1005/13
- ^ To nie Mieszko (It's not Mieszko) by Przemysław Urbańczyk, Gazeta Wyborcza, www.gazeta.pl portal, 2010-12-28
- ^ U źródeł Polski, p. 164, Zofia Kurnatowska
- ^ a b U źródeł Polski, pp. 152–153, Zofia Kurnatowska (silver treasures)
- ^ U źródeł Polski, Synchronization of archeological cultures, p. 212–215 by Adam Żurek and chronology tables pp. 218–221 by Wojciech Mrozowicz and Adam Żurek used throughout the article
General
- Various authors, ed. ISBN 83-7023-954-4
- ISBN 83-85719-34-2
- ISBN 83-85719-38-5
Further reading