The Piast Dynasty

I suppose it starts with Piast the Wheelwright. According to Gesta principum Polonorum ("Deeds of the Princes of the Poles"), Piast and his wife, Rzepicha (the two are pictured here), are visited one day by two strangers who request to join them in a celebration of the 7th birthday of their son, Siemowit.

Piast agrees to this, and in return the strangers bless his cellar so that it is always full of food. This magical cellar so impressed Piast's neighbors that they made him a prince, ousting Prince Popiel.

For his part, Popiel deserved ousting. He was a 9th century ruler of two proto-Polish tribes, the West Polans and the Goplins. A cruel man who cared only for his own pleasure, with a wife equally corrupt and power-hungry, he had twelve uncles poisoned at a feast because he heard they were going to depose him. He refused to give the bodies a proper burial. The townspeople, learning this , rebelled, and Popiel and wife fled to a tower. Miraculously, a mass of mice and rats that were feeding on the corpses of his uncles went to the tower, gnawing through the walls and devouring the corrupt couple.

Piast is unique in Polish annals, and its precise origin is unknown. It could come from Polish piasta, meaning "hub"; the could be what led to him being called a wheelwright. It could also mean he was a "hub" of activity/goods to support his people. Another theory relates the name to Polish piastun, "custodian." The theory there is that he was a steward or custodian of sorts for the ruler, who wound up replacing him. Something similar happened with the Carolingian Mayors of the Palace replacing the weakening Merovingians in Frankish Gaul.

Whatever the case, the first ruler of an independent Poland was Mieszko I (c.930 - 992), and he was a proud member of the Piast Dynasty, the first official one in a line that lasted until Casimir the Great, who died without a heir.

So ... what was the deal about the 7th birthday? Was that a special occasion? In pre-Christian Slavic tradition, it was time for a haircut, but I'll explain that next time.

Casimir III the Great

The king of Poland from 1333 to 1370 was Casimir III, later called "the Great" (the only Polish monarch to be given that title). When he ascended to the throne after Władysław the Elbow High, he was only 23. Poland had been transformed by war into several separate territories, with a depleted economy, and Casimir was derisively referred to as merely "King of Krakow." He was something of an underdog, but he set out to make significant changes.

One of his first moves was to fortify several towns and start a program of castle building; during his reign he built 50 castles, leading to a famous Polish saying: Zastal Polske drewniana a zostawil murowana ("He found a Poland made of wood and left it made of stone.")

Besides rebuilding infrastructure, one year into his reign, he also reformed the culture: he reaffirmed privileges that had been granted to Polish Jews by King Boleslaw V 70 years earlier. He forbade forced baptism of Jewish children under penalty of death. It is said that 70% of Ashkenazi Jews are descended from the Jews of Poland thanks to the welcoming atmosphere created by Casimir. There is also a rumor (unconfirmed) that he had a Jewish mistress, Esterka (Esther).

He invited Dutch, Moravians, and Saxons to emigrate. With the blessing of Pope Urban V, he founded the University of Krakow, still the oldest university in Poland.

He was also willing to relinquish some power, in that previously all land belonged to the Piast dynasty (of which he was the last member), and now Polish lands were independent of the Crown. Casimir reformed the legal code, balancing the privileges and power in law of the three estates: nobility, commoners, and clergy. For this he was nicknamed "the Peasants' King."

Between diplomacy and waging war, he doubled the size of the Poland that he inherited. He married four times, and though he fathered children, none of them survived to be his heir. He named Louis I of Hungary as his heir. Louis was Casimir's nephew, and choosing him as heir made an alliance with Hungary that would be useful to Poland. Louis was of the House of Anjou, however, and therefore with his succession to the throne of Poland the legendary Piast Dynasty was no longer in the center of Polish nobility and politics. Marrying into the Piast Dynasty became a popular pastime in the future to increase your standing in Poland.

What was so special about the Piasts, why were they "legendary," and from where did they originate? Check back here tomorrow and I'll tell you.

The Marriages of Jogaila

After the death of his second wife, Anna of Cilli, Jogaila looked for another suitable match. Because he was Lithuanian, and ruling that country and Poland from marriage to his first wife, Jadwiga (pictured with him here), he needed to find a Polish wife. Polish nobles wanted him to marry a Polish wife not only to satisfy the Poles over which he continued to rule, but also because they would have liked their king to have a male heir. Jadwiga had born a daughter, Hedwig, who was five at the time of her mother's death. There were a few suitable suggestions for his third wife, but Jogaila ignored them all and married Elizabeth Granowska.

The Polish chronicler Jan Długosz (from whom we draw much of our knowledge of these times) says Granowska at the time was an ugly, middle-aged widow. Her husband had died suddenly; there was suspicion of poison. Granowska was a friend of Jogaila's sister, Alexandra*, who introduced the two. Jogaila (middle-aged himself and perhaps tired of child brides) became enamored of her and gave her gifts. They were married in March 1417, a year after Jadwiga's death. Sadly, she died less than a year later, in early 1419, having not produced an heir.

The quest for a queen consort and subsequent male heir began again. He found one in the niece of his cousin Vytatutas' wife. Sophia of Halshany (c.1405 - 21 September 1461) was very young, and Jogaila was at least in his 60s when they met in the winter of 1420-21. Polish nobles opposed this match because she was not Polish enough. Also, she was not Christian.

She was baptized Christian in February 1422 and married later that month, but not crowned queen consort until 1424. After the marriage she moved to Wawel Castle, where those who favored Princess Hedwig were hostile to her reason for being there: to provide a male (and less Polish) heir to the throne of Poland, bypassing the half-Polish Hedwig. Her husband was off traveling, leaving her with little support. In April 1423, Jogaila took her to Russia with him. At the end of October she had a son, Władysław III. In 1426 she gave birth to Casimir, who died at 18 months. A third son in 1427, also named Casimir, survived.

Jogaila now had two potential male heirs, but Princess Hedwig was still first in line, and favored by Polish nobles as a member of the much revered Piast dynasty. Sadly, she died in 1431 after a year-long illness. Of course there was suspicion that Sophia had something to do with it, trying to eliminate her in favor of Sophia's own children.

Be that as it may, Hedwig was gone, so when Jogaila died in August 1381, Władysław III succeeded him as King of Poland and Supreme Duke of Lithuania. He was succeeded by his brother Casimir. Sophia lived until 21 September 1461. She is still remembered for having the Bible translated into Polish (never finished, but what exists is beautiful). She was buried in Wawel Cathedral, where she had funded the construction of the Holy Trinity Chapel.

The Polish throne was then being held by less-Polish rulers, and the Piast dynasty was shut out. Regarding the Piasts: we should look at one of the prominent members who has been mentioned a few times recently. Next time let's take a look at Casimir III and what made him "Great."

*Alexandra had married Siemovit, his consolation for being turned down by Jadwiga.

Sigismund's Change of Heart

Although Sigismund, King of Hungary and brother-in-law to Jadwiga of Poland, had tried to annex parts of Poland and allied himself with the Teutonic Knights (who were engaging in a Crusade against Lithuania) against Poland, he had a change of heart. While the reason for the change of heart is unknown, it is possible that a major defeat against the Ottomans at the Battle of Nicopolis depleted his military sufficiently that he no longer was confident in a potential attempt to take territory from his neighbors.

The Battle of Nicopolis in 1396 was part of a European Crusade, and incredibly demoralizing for Europe, because the Ottomans defeated an army of Hungarian, Croatian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, Polish, French, Burgundian, German, English, Knights Hospitaller, Iberian, Italian, Bohemian, Serbian, and Byzantine troops. Sigismund was at their head, so it was particularly bad for him. The defeat and loss of several men angered Hungarian lords and led to instability in Hungary. It was at this point that Sigismund met with Jadwiga and Jogaila and offered to mediate between them (Poland and Lithuania) and the Teutonic Order, starting the process that would lead to cessation of the Teutonic Crusade against Lithuania.

Although Jadwiga and Jogaila had seemed to be a good match, working together now for over a decade, they had not yet produced an heir. Contemporary chroniclers claim this was a source of friction for her husband. She finally became pregnant in late 1398. The current Grand Duke of Lithuania, Jogaila's cousin Vytautas, sent a silver cradle for the child, who was predicted by astrologers to be a son. On 22 June, 1399, a daughter was born and given the name Elizabeth Bonifacia. Elizabeth was the name of Jadwiga's mother, and the second name was for Pope Boniface IX, who agreed to be godfather.

Sadly, Elizabeth Bonifacia died a few weeks later, followed four days afterward by Jadwiga. Mother and daughter were buried at Wawel Cathedral on 24 August, 1399.

What followed for Jogaila? Jadwiga had a hand in that. On her deathbed, she advised him to marry again, this time a granddaughter of Casimir III "the Great." And so Jogaila took a second wife on the advice of his first, the teenaged Anna of Cilli. I'll tell you her story tomorrow

Enemies of Poland

The unifying of Poland and Lithuania after the marriage of Jadwiga of Poland and Jogaila, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, did not resolve all problems. Jadwiga's older sister, Mary, was passed over for rule of Poland when she was married to Sigismund, now King of Hungary.

Sigismund no doubt felt he had some rights to Poland through his bride, and in 1392 began talking to the Teutonic Knights about allying to partition Poland and incorporate part of it into Hungary. Hungary was being assailed on its southern border by Ottomans, however, which slowed the process of marching on Poland.

Sigismund did invade Moldavia (the purple region below the red of Poland in the illustration), and forced its ruler, Prince Stephen I, to swear allegiance to Hungary instead of Poland. Immediately after Sigismund's forces left Moldavia, however, Stephen went to Jogaila and Jadwiga, telling them he wanted to join them against Hungary and the Ottomans and the Teutonic Order.

Mary and Jadwiga's mother, Elizabeth, had been a sharp negotiator on behalf of her daughters. When Mary died on 17 May 1395, by agreement her heir was Jadwiga: Mary had no children (and neither did Jadwiga, for that matter, an issue that for years bothered her husband). A vassal of Hungary, Vlad I of Wallachia, acknowledged Jadwiga as the legitimate successor, for which he was driven out of Wallachia by a close supporter of Sigismund. Poland prepared to march on Hungary, but they were prevented by the archbishop of Hungary.

Konrad von Jungingen, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, convinced the Holy Roman Empire that bringing Hungary as well as Poland and Lithuania under Jogaila's influence would be a bad idea for Christendom (Jogaila's recent conversion to Christianity obviously did not engender confidence in the Church of his future actions). Sigismund was away fighting the Ottomans, and his court would not agree to any major changes in government in his absence. Negotiations by them with Poland to create peace led to Jadwiga being named "heir to Hungary" but without any real claim.

In 1396, Jadwiga and Jogaila invited Konrad von Jungingen to Poland to talk. Konrad was still claiming his efforts were a Christian Crusade, so Poland made sure that many aldermen were replaced with Christians. Things were not going well, however, until a surprising twist when a former enemy turned up and offered to smooth things over with the Teutonic Knights. That story, and the next stage in Jadwiga and Jogaila's union—finally having children—will wrap up in tomorrow's post.

Henry the Pious

Henry II the Pious was born in Poland to Henry the Bearded and Hedwig of Andechs. Henry the Bearded had worked hard to unite several different areas, becoming Duke of Poland as well as Duke of Silesia. Through marriage to Hedwig, he was connected to Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, and France. One curiosity about Henry: he was born with six toes on his left foot.

Henry II was one of three brothers and potential heirs. His older brother, Bolesław, died in 1206, and their father decided to leave all his inheritance to young Henry. There was another son, however, the younger Konrad the Curly. Konrad and young Henry quarreled over the choice, which was ultimately resolved when Konrad fell from his horse and died while hunting (no proof of foul play, although contemporary chroniclers would have considered themselves remiss if they hadn't hinted at it). Konrad was buried at an abbey in Trebnitz where a sister, Gertrude, was abbess.

Henry II became Duke of Poland and Duke of Silesia, but holding together the various territories and their local rulers that his father had united was difficult. For instance, an Upper Silesian Duty of Opole-Racibórz was ruled in succession by two minors for whom Henry acted as regent, Mieszko II the Fat and Bolesław V the Chaste, but once they achieved their majority and he had to resign the regency, he had less influence there.

There was an ongoing dispute with the Church that he had inherited from his father. The Archbishop of Gniezno opposed the Bearded's possession of the Duchy of Opole that had been attacked and conquered by the Bearded's uncle. Henry was traditionally allied with the House of Hohenstaufen, but they were in conflict with Pope Gregory IX. Henry decided it was more advantageous to align himself with the pope and abandon the Hohenstaufen connection. This meant the archbishop's hostility to Henry was called off by the pope.

All his efforts to rule were brought to nought by the invasion of the Mongols, ordered by Batu Khan. A Mongol army of 10,000 met Henry's forces at Legnica on 9 April 1241. Henry felt he could not afford to wait for reinforcements, so marched with an army that was no match for the fierce Mongol cavalry. His body was so hacked up that certain identification was required by taking off the boots and noting the number of toes. An illustration of his decapitated head on a pole can be seen in this post.

Members of the Hohenstaufen dynasty have been mentioned in this blog before, but its origin and importance in European history deserves a little more attention, which it will get tomorrow.

The Gittern

The 14th century French poet Eustache Deschamps said “at royal courts everyone wants to play the trumpet, gittern, and rebebe.” You know what a trumpet is. The rebebe was a bowed instrument. The gittern has been called:

"one of the most important plucked fingerboard instruments of the late medieval period. Loved by all levels of society, it was played by royal appointment, in religious service, in taverns, for singing, for dancing, and in duets with the lute." [link]

The naming of medieval musical instruments was very confusing, with different names for the same instrument and multiple instruments being called by the same name. It didn't help that the same instrument could be of varied construction.

The gittern could have anywhere from two to five gut strings, played with a plectrum made from a quill. It was shaped like a smaller lute with a pear-shaped body. The body and the neck were a single piece of wood, unlike many other stringed instruments.

The popularity of the gittern may have led to its scarcity now. When something is extremely common, it is not always valued properly. In consequence, despite its popularity, we have very few extant gitterns today. You can see one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, there's one in the Wartburg Castle Museum in Eisenach, Germany. These were the only two known, until one was recognized in a medieval outhouse in Poland.

The image above is of a modern recreation from a maker of musical instruments. If you would like to hear a gittern being played, click here.

But who was Eustache Deschamps, who made such a bold statement about the gittern? I'll gladly talk about him tomorrow.

A King in Hiding

Władysław III of Poland was born on 31 October 1424. He was named King of Poland when he was 10 years old and King of Hungary at the age of 16.

Very young kings are usually surrounded by advisors who often want to enjoy and consolidate their own power, rather than offer unselfish loyalty to king and country. Cardinal Olešnicki ran the country more than Władysław did, insulating the young king from reality and the ability to make sound judgments.

Therefore, when Władysław was 18 and had become King of Hungary after a two-year war (the widow of the previous king wanted to keep the throne for her infant son and not see it go to a Polish monarch), he decided to keep his army together and attempt a greater prize.

The Christian Władysław decided it would be a glorious undertaking to attack the pagan Turks in a crusade, breaking a ten-year truce with the powerful Ottoman Empire. Plans were made, and promises were gathered from Venice and papal forces for help. Unfortunately for Władysław, the mercenary Venetians also had an arrangement with the Turks, and used their fleet to ferry 60,000 Turks from Asia to where Władysław's army (of only 20,000) was camped. The end result was the Battle of Varna on 10 November 1444. The Polish army was defeated soundly and Władysław was beheaded.

...or was he?

Rumors that his head was taken to the Ottoman court are not substantiated. His own forces never found his body. A strange Portuguese legend accounts this. Supposedly, Władysław, ashamed of starting a disastrous war on false pretenses, snuck away from the losing battle and wandered as an ordinary pilgrim to the Holy Land, looking for forgiveness. He became a Knight of Saint Catherine of Mount Sinai. He later traveled to Madeira (an island west of Portugal) to live a quiet life, becoming known as Henry the German. Hearing the rumor that Władysław was alive and hiding in Madeira, a group of Polish monks traveled to investigate. They were satisfied that he was Władysław, but he would not be persuaded to return to Poland and ascend the throne.

Statute of Kalisz

Artwork depicting the Statute of Kalisz

Bolesław V the Pious (1224 - 1279) was (at different and overlapping times)  Duke of Greater Poland, Duke of Kalisz, Duke of Gniezno, and duke or regent or leader of other regions, all starting in 1239 when his father died.

Not sure how he got the nickname "Pious" (Pobożny in Polish), but in 1264 he did something truly pious: he enacted the Statute of Kalisz. Kalisz, one of the oldest cities in Poland, was then on the border with Germany. It had a Jewish population, probably driven there from the Rhineland by the Crusades (which were not always about freeing the Holy Land).

In 1264, Bolesław enacted the Statute that gave rights to the Jews of Kalisz and western Poland.

One of the rights it granted was the Jews' ability to have complete legal jurisdiction over matters that were solely involving Jews, and it set up a special court to deal with Jewish-Christian disputes. Among other statutes:

• Jeering at a synagogue required paying a fine.
• Throwing stones at a synagogue was punishable by a payment of two pounds of pepper to the local court.
• Christians were not allowed to accuse Jews of blood libel.*
• Jews were not to be harassed when traveling, or be forced to pay additional road tolls.
• Christian neighbors who failed to help a Jew who calls for help in the night would be fined 30 szelags.

The Statute (with 46 chapters of new rights) was so accommodating in the legal status given to Jews that it helped create a "nation within a nation." King Casimir III would extend it to all of Poland 70 years later.

*The kidnapping and murder of children to use their blood in rituals—this was a common accusation for centuries.

Władysław the Elbow-high

Władysław the Elbow-high was honored
with a 500-Złotych gold coin in 2013

You may remember the story of the Carolingian king Pepin the Short; not a great nickname to have if you want to gain the respect of your people. Well, what if you were so short that you were called "Elbow-high?" That was the unfortunate nickname of a king of Poland.

Władysław I* (c.1260-2 March 1333) was so short that his nickname was "elbow" as in "elbow height." He was named King of Poland long after the death of his father, Casimir I. It was a position he was going to have to work for. Poland had long before been divided into different provinces. Władysław inherited one from his father, gained two more as his brothers died, and then set out to gain control of all the provinces and reunite Poland.

He had opposition. Although the province of Greater Poland had originally supported him, they switched their loyalty to Wenceslas II of Bohemia, who was crowned King of Poland in 1300. Władysław went to the pope to press his claim, but Boniface VIII was no help. He continued his campaign of invading and uniting provinces, taking over Lesser Poland and Pomerania; in 1314 he re-conquered Greater Poland and held it, despite an attack from John of Luxemburg, the King of Bohemia.

In 1318 he tried once again to gain support for becoming King of Poland. This time, Pope John XXII (who also wielded political power in this case) gave his support. Keeping Poland was not easy. He managed, however, to subdue the perennially bothersome Teutonic Knights, and he married one son to a Lithuanian, helping to stop Lithuanian raids into Poland. His reign was an important stage in reuniting Poland under one ruler.

*He was First or Fourth, depending on which historian you ask and whether they stick with a single dynasty or blend all historical rulers with the same first name together.

Dealing with Pagans

The Council of Constance (illustrated here) in 1414 has been mentioned before—or, at least, its outcomes. It was at this, the 16th ecumenical council recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, that Jan Hus and John Wycliffe were both condemned as heretics. There was more to the Council than that, however.

It also dealt with the Three Popes Controversy, forcing the ouster of antipopes John XXIII, Gregory XII, and Benedict XIII; they elected Pope Martin V.

One of the largest debates at the Council took place over the subject of how to deal with pagans. A few years earlier, the Teutonic Knights had fought against Poland and Lithuania; an uneasy and oft-broken peace existed between the players in that conflict, turning into another war in 1414. The Council of Constance was chosen as the place to decide the matter between the groups. The debate blossomed into a larger issue than where the borders should be: did the Teutonic Knights have a right to start the war in 1411? They had done so as a Crusade against the pagan inhabitants of those regions, intending to force them to convert to Christianity.

A doctor of canon law named Paulus Vladimir delivered an essay called Tractatus de potestate papa et imperatoris respect infidelium [Treatise on the power of the pope and emperor respecting infidels], in which he argued that a forced conversion was a violation of the right of free will granted by God. Free will was necessary for a true conversion. He claimed the Teutonic Knights could only wage a war if the enemy had done something to violate natural rights of Christians.

The opposing view said that the pope had every right to condemn pagans simply for being non-Christians. The loudest proponent of this view, John of Falkenburg, was condemned and imprisoned for his views, and for calling the Polish king a "mad dog."

The Council could not come to a conclusion, however. They established a diocese in Poland so that Christianity could be introduced more peacefully. The Polish-Teutonic wars resumed, on and off, for another century.

Hedwig (Not the Owl)

The name "Hedwig" is now familiar to millions as the name of Harry Potter's owl, but it has a long history that predates its use by Rowling. Hedwig is from Old High German Haduwig (hadu=battle + wig=fight), and would have been pronounced het-vich. Hedy (as in Lamarr) is a diminutive form of the name. The best-known Hedwig in history (that is, prior to 1997) was a 12th century saint.

Family of St. Hedwig*

Hedwig (1174-1243) was born at the castle of Andechs, and became duchess of Silesia. She is alternately known as St. Hedwig of Silesia or St. Hedwig of Andechs. According to what records we have, she was educated at a monastery at Kitzingen, and married off at the age of 12 to Henry I "The Bearded" of Silesia (1165-1238). Although Henry was Polish, his mother was German and he had been educated in Germany; with his marriage, his ties to Germany and its ruling class became stronger. He preferred the German culture over the Polish, and under him "Silesia became German in language and customs."[note]

Hedwig's reputation was built on her piety and fortitude in supporting established monasteries and founding new ones. These monasteries helped spread the German culture of which Henry was fond. As well as establishing monasteries of Augustinian Canons and Cistercians, Hedwig also brought Dominicans (at Bunzlau and Breslau) and Franciscans (at Goldberg and Krossen) to Silesia.

Hediwg did not just spend her husband's money in doing good works. She tended leper women at Neumarkt. Her behavior inspired Henry to establish (at his own expense) the first religious foundation for women in Silesia: a convent of Cistercian nuns at Trebnitz in 1203. The second abbess was said to have been the Blessed Gertrude (c.1200-1268), the sixth child of Hedwig and Henry.

Hedwig had seven children that we know of—only one of which, Gertrude, outlived her—after which she convinced her husband that they should take vows of chastity. Henry even took on the tonsure of a monk and let his beard grow out (hence his nickname). Hedwig began to spend much of her later life in prayer at the Abbey at Trebnitz. On Henry's death in 1238, she settled into Trebnitz permanently, wearing the gray of a Cistercian (although she never took monastic vows), and died there 5 years later.

The piety and care she showed in life impressed more than her husband. In 1227, Henry was captured by Conrad of Masovia after a military engagement over the possession of Cracow; Conrad hauled him off to captivity. Hedwig immediately traveled to Conrad's location, where her appearance and eloquent pleas for her husband made such an impression that Henry was released.

Upon her death, she was buried in the church attached to Trebnitz.  Clement IV took time out from asking Roger Bacon to write books to make her a saint on 26 March 1267.

*From left to right: (front, kneeling) daughter Sophia, son Conrad the Curly; (back, standing) daughter Gertrude, eldest daughter Agnes, son and heir Henry II the Pious, son Boleslaw; (back, sitting) St. Hedwig, Henry I the Bearded.