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- Mieszko I (c. 935 - May 25, 992), aka Miesko or Miecsyslaw, the first historical ruler of united Poland. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of the legendary Siemomysl, grandchild of Lestek and father to Boleslaw Chrobry, the first crowned prince of Poland, and Swietoslawa (aka Sygryda, Sigrid or Gunhild) a Nordic queen.
He succeeded as Duke "of the Polans" circa 963; he expanded his territories into Galicia and Pomerania. In 965 Mieszko married Dobrawa (aka Dobrava, Dubrawka), daughter of Boleslav I, Duke of Bohemia. In 977 Dobrawa died, and in 980 Mieszko married Oda von Haldensleben, daughter of Dietrich of Haldensleben, Count of the North March (965-985), after abducting her from the monastery of Kalbe.
The early career of Mieszko was dominated by fighting with the tribes of Wieletes and Volinians south of the Baltic Sea, and their ally, the Saxon count Wichman. His reign began around 962 in territory later called Greater Poland, Kuyavia and possibly in eastern Pomerania. In the 960s he probably at least partially conquered western Pomerania, and in the 990s he conquered Silesia and Lesser Poland.
Mieszko was baptised in 966, probably under the influence of his Christian first wife or perhaps in order to avoid confrontation with the Holy Roman Empire to the west. He built a church dedicated to Saint George at Gniezno and in 968 he founded the first cathedral in Poznan, placed under the archdiocese of Magdeburg and dedicated to Saint Peter. Those events are also known as the baptism of Poland.
Much of his military activity was along the Baltic coast, in territory later called Pomerania. He defeated Odo I, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark, at Cedynia in 972, and reached the mouth of the Oder in 976. The decisive battle, fought in 979, ensured Mieszko's position as ruler of the area (or forced him to make an allegiance with Emperor Otto II). He celebrated his temporary conquest by dedicating a fortress at Gdansk in 999.
In 981 Mieszko lost the land known only as Grody Czerwienskie to Vladimir I, prince of Kiev (but this territory could belong to another Polish tribe: Ledzianie, which wasn't under Mieszko's control before circa 987). In 986, upon the death of Emperor Otto II (d. 983), after a short time of being opposed to the idea, he pledged allegiance to the Emperor Otto III, and helped Otto with wars against the Polabian Slavs.
According to the 1085 papal note, he and his wife Ote, shortly before his death, gifted the state to the Pope and in turn received it as a fief of the Pope in a document usually called the Dagome Iudex (this is one of many theories, which try to explain motives of making this document). This document indexes the lands of (Mieszko), referred to as "Dagome" in the document, and his wife "Ote" (former nun Oda von Haldensleben) and her sons by him. The other son Boleslaw I is not mentioned, perhaps as assurance that Oda and her sons retain the territory (by papal protection). As it turned out, upon his father's death Boleslaw did expel Oda and her sons in order to claim all territory for himself.
At the time of the reign of Mieszko there was no single place serving as the capital, instead he built several castles around his country. Of the most important were: Poznan, Gniezno and Ostr?w Lednicki. The latter was a ring-fort some 460 feet in diameter, containing his residence, a fine stone palace, the country's first monumental architecture.
He probably had one sister of unknown name, and two brothers: one of them, name unknown, was killed in battle around 964; the second, chronicled as Cidebur (Polish: Czcibor), helped Mieszko to defeat margrave Hodo, successor of Dietrich von Haldensleben in the Battle of Cedynia in 972.
From his first marriage he had a son, his successor Boleslaus, and two daughters, Sygryda (Swietoslawa) and one whose name is unknown. Sygryda was the wife (as queen Sigrid the Haughty) of Eric the Victorious, king of Sweden and then (as queen Gunhild) of king Svend Tvesk?g (aka Sweyn Forkbeard) of Denmark, and mother of king Knud (Canute) of Denmark and England. "Swietoslawa" is generally accepted by historians as the best approximation of this first daughter's Slavic name. The second daughter was most likely married to a Pomeranian Slavic Prince. From his second marriage he had three sons: Mieszko, Lambert, and Swietopelk.
Some historians suggest that Mieszko I had pledged allegiance to emperor Otto I the Great, to emperor Otto II and again to emperor Otto III. However, there is much dispute over this point from the Polish side - mainly whether his allegiance represented the whole of Poland, or only part (the disputed fragment is "usque in Vurta fluvium" from Thietmari chronicon).
The Piast dynasty was the first ruling dynasty in Poland, traditionally named after the wheelwright whose son, Ziemowit, inherited the estates of the Prince of Gniezno in the late 9th century. The dynastic territories were consolidated under Miesko I; his son Boleslaw I was the first king of Poland, and established the Polish frontiers in the east and west. The last Piast, Casimir III the Great, died in 1370.
This database researched and compiled by Norman Lee Madsen, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 21 July 2015.
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935 - 992 (~ 57 år)
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