Poland during the period of feudal fragmentation. Poland's entry into the period of feudal fragmentation

§ 1. Feudal fragmentation in Rus' in the XIV–XV centuries. - a brake on the development of agriculture. Feudal fragmentation was a big brake on the development of agriculture. They are found in the chronicles (and in the Novgorod and Pskov chronicles - quite

FEUDAL Fragmentation 1. The concept of feudal fragmentation. 2. - The beginning of fragmentation in Rus'. 3. - System of succession to the throne in Kievan Rus. 4. - Congresses of Russian princes. 5. - Causes of feudal fragmentation. 6. - Economic aspect. 7. - Feudalism and Russian

The period of feudal fragmentation of Poland is a period that lasted roughly from 1138 to 1320. The will left by Boleslav Wrymouth was a compromise that combined the unity of the state with the right of each of the princely sons to inherit lands. This did not ensure the unity of the country, but was a progressive fragmentation of the Polish state into smaller, independent, appanage principalities associated with an increase in the number of heirs in the Piast dynasty, each member of which had the right to a part of their father's inheritance.

Princeps - the eldest member of the Piast dynasty was considered the highest prince or lord of all Poland. After the death of Boleslav Wrymouth, he became Vladislav II (1138-46). In 1141-1146 he fought with his younger brothers, as a result of which he was defeated, was forced to flee the country and died in exile in 1159.

Bolesław IV Kędzierzavy (1146-1173).

After his expulsion, Bolesław IV Kędzierzavy (1146–1173) ascended the throne. During his reign, Poland was attacked by Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, to whom Vladislav II turned for help in gaining the throne. In 1157, Bolesław IV was captured near Krzyszkow, and in 1163-1173 he returned the Silesian regions to the sons of Władysław II, Bolesław the High and Mieszko Plentonogy. Boleslav supported the German crusade against the Polabian Slavs, and in 1166 he himself began a campaign against Prussia, during which his brother Henry of Sandomierz died.

Mieszko III the Old (1173-1177).

The next princeps was Mieszko III the Old (1173-1177). His attempts to restore royal authority caused a revolt of the magnates in 1177. The prince was forced to leave for Greater Poland, to his hereditary region, where his son Odon opposed him.

Casimir II the Just (1177–1194)

After the expulsion of the Old Sack from Krakow, Casimir II the Just (1177-1194) came to power. His appointment to the throne of the seigneurial district violated the rules of the seigneurate. In 1191, Casimir II defeated a revolt of the Krakow magnates, who opened Krakow to Mieszko III.

In 1194-1198, Leszek the White, son of Casimir II, ruled on the throne of Krakow. After his death in 1198, Mieszko the Old captured Krakow for the third time, but this time his actions were not successful. He made his fourth and final attempt to occupy the capital in 1202. With his death, the rule of the lordship fell. In Krakow, the son of Mieszko III, Władysław the Long, took over temporary rule, and later Leszek the White (1202–1227) returned to the throne. This prince sought support for the church, endowing it with privileges and thereby freeing it from dependence on the state. He himself went under the auspices of the Pope (1207). Leszek White continued his active policy against Rus'. Together with his brother Kondraty, the Mazovian prince, he defeated the Galician prince Roman in 1205 in the battle of Zavichost. The turning point regarding the situation on the north-eastern border of Piast Poland was the settlement in 1226 of the Masovian prince Kondraty of the Teutonic Order on the land of Chelm. In 1227 Leszek the White was killed in Gonsawa.

Kondraty - Prince of Mazovia

In 1228, the Mazovian prince Kondraty, brother of Leszek the White, occupied Krakow. At the same time, the Greater Poland prince Władysław Long, the son of Mieszko III, at a congress in Tseni established with the Lesser Poland magnates the conditions for his acceptance of the throne in Krakow.

After occupying Krakow, he ceded the city to the Silesian prince Henry I the Bearded, who in 1233-34 led campaigns to Greater Poland against Vladislav Odonitsov, the grandson of Mieszko III, and took possession of part of the area. Thus, Henry the Bearded achieved the basis for the unification of Poland. He was probably going to crown his son, who ruled in 1238-41, Henry the Pobozny, who ruled Silesia, Lesser Poland and most of Greater Poland. These plans were destroyed in 1241 by the Tatar attack on Poland. Trying to detain them near Legnica, Prince Henry of Pobozny died and his state was divided. The sons of Odonitz regained part of Greater Poland, Kondraty Mazowiecki took possession of Krakow (until 1243), and Silesia split into the Wroclaw, Legnica and Glog regions (1249).

1243-79 - this is the government of the Duke of Krakow and Sandomierz Boleslav V the Shy, son of Leszek the White. Bolesław V pushed Kondraty Mazowiecki out of the Krakow region in 1243 after the battle of Suchodolem. He limited his power to Lesser Poland.

During the reign of Bolesław the Shy (c. 1250), the Land of Lubuz, occupied by Brandenburg, was separated from Poland.

In the years 1279-88, Krakow was owned by the Sieradz Duke Leszek Czarny, the son of the Kujawian Duke Casimir. He led numerous victorious military campaigns against his neighbors: in 1280 he won the battle of Przemysl-Galician Prince Lev Danilovich near Goślice, in 1282 he defeated the Yatswings, and a year later he defeated the Lithuanians in the battle of Roviny. In 1287-88, Leszek the Black also defended Krakow and Sandomierz from the Tatars. In domestic politics, the prince came into conflict with the Krakow bishop Paul (1280-81) and with the Krakow magnates, whom he defeated in 1285 at the Battle of Bogucice.

The Greater Poland prince Przemysl II (son of Przemysl I), who ruled from 1279 to 1296, entered into an agreement in Kampna with the Gdańsk Duke Msciwoj II in 1282, who appointed him as his heir. In 1290, Przemysl II managed to occupy Krakow as a successor to the Wroclaw prince Henry II Probus. Przemysl II extended his power to the entire Greater Poland, annexing the Krakow land and Eastern Pomerania. In the fight against the Czech Republic and Brandenburg, Krakow was soon lost again. After the death of the Gdańsk Duke Msciwoj II in 1295, Prince Przemysl II annexed Gdańsk Pomerania to Greater Poland. In the same year, Archbishop Jacob Swinka crowned him in the city of Gniezno. In 1296 Przemysl II was killed in Rogozna at the request of the Brandenburg margraves.

The two hundred year period of feudal fragmentation was a time of great change. The restriction of the king's powers led to the decline of the monarchy and the formation of independent social groups. Life in a country divided into appanage principalities taught enterprise and organization. But despite the economic and political isolation of individual regions, the consciousness of the unity of the Polish lands and the unity of the Polish people did not disappear among the masses. The period of feudal fragmentation was a time of political decline in Poland. Politically fragmented Poland could not resist either the aggression of the German feudal lords or the Tatar-Mongol invasion.

But by the middle of the 13th century. The political fragmentation of the Polish lands began to slow down the economic development of the country. The unification process was also accelerated by the danger posed by the Teutonic Order and the Duchy of Brandenburg. All segments of the population were interested in the unification of Poland: the knighthood, which suffered from the omnipotence of the magnates, the clergy, who were oppressed by the German clergy and feared losing their influence and income in the fight against them. The unity of the country met the interests of the townspeople and peasantry, who suffered most from the ruinous and bloody feudal strife. The unification was facilitated by the ethnic community of the Polish lands, the community of the ruling dynasty in all destinies except Pomerania, a single church organization, and the growth of national self-awareness.

The system of princely law laid the foundations for a strong central government, on which even the nobility and clergy were dependent. However, the ruler and his administrative apparatus could not achieve complete political, legal and judicial control over all subjects, since this was hampered by the large territory of the state and the presence of vast uninhabited spaces where shelter could always be found. Strong dependence on the prince was also burdensome for the nobility and clergy; however, during the period of formation of the state and as its organization stabilized, it weakened.

Changes in this area began during the reign of Casimir the Restorer and Boleslav the Bold. After the popular uprising, the princes had to soften state duties. As a result, the funds intended for the maintenance of the squad turned out to be completely insufficient.

New opportunities were provided by the ruler's allocation of land to his warriors. Initially, this process affected unoccupied lands (considered the prince’s property), on which the knight settled prisoners of war or so-called “guests” (Latin, hospites), that is, free settlers who did not have their own household. The income from this award covered the costs of military equipment. In addition, they provided economic independence and confidence that the owner’s high social position would be inherited by his children. The Polish church, seeking to weaken its dependence on secular power, also began to seek land grants, which greatly contributed to the acceptance of Western European principles of land ownership. If the prince transferred to his spiritual or secular dignitary lands populated by free community members who previously depended only on him, he retained their most important duties in his favor: the duty of building towns, providing food for the princely messengers and his retinue, transporting military cargo, etc. as well as your judicial rights. The double dependency of these people has seriously changed their situation and may even have worsened their living conditions. However, in general, in Poland in the 11th-12th centuries, the standard of living of the dependent population increased along with the growing incomes of the nobility, knighthood and clergy. This was due to population growth, the uprooting and cultivation of new lands, and also as a result of the expansion of agricultural production.

Part of the new lands, as in previous centuries, was cultivated by prisoners captured in the war. At the same time, the value of land and slave labor increased so significantly that from the end of the 11th century. The previously active export of slaves gradually began to cease. Their use on site has become much more profitable.

Another category of the rural population, especially starting from the 12th century, were the so-called “guests”. They owe their name to foreign settlers who voluntarily settled in Poland. But already in the 12th century, the “guests” were primarily the younger sons of Polish free community members, who did not receive a share sufficient to support the family during the division of their father’s inheritance, and went in search of a new place of residence. They could find it on the estates of the ruler, bishops, and nobility, where they settled “guests free according to custom,” obliging them to give in return a certain part of the harvest. The “guests” could leave the estate either after the harvest or after they found a new person to take their place. In the spread of this type of rural colonization decisive role played, on the one hand, by natural population growth and the abundance of undeveloped lands, on the other, by the strengthening of feudal land tenure.

In the 12th century, especially in its second half, unfree peasants also began to be settled as free “guests,” with the only difference being that they did not have the right to leave their farm. But instead of the previous duties arbitrarily imposed by the owner, they, as well as free “guests,” were given conditions defined in the contract. This system paid off for both sides. The unfree man, knowing the scope of his responsibilities, worked better, since the surplus harvest remained with him; The gentleman benefited from better quality work.

The described processes of colonization of new lands led to a reduction in the most numerous until the 12th century. population groups - free princely peasants, at the expense of whom the dependent rural population was replenished. The former small villages of free community members turned out to be unprofitable when farming on a large feudal estate. Therefore, princes, bishops and nobles cared about denser settlement of the lands that belonged to them and the creation of large settlements there. The spread of technical innovations was of great importance for the development of the economy. Three-field farming was gradually introduced, and a heavy plow and harrow were increasingly used; they sowed more rye and wheat - at the expense of less fastidious, but also less valuable millet; - in the 12th century, still a few - water mills appeared; the number of cattle and pigs increased.

The reduction in the tax burden, which became possible with a general increase in production, led to the fact that more of the fruits of their labor remained in the hands of the rural population. People could go to local markets, the number of which increased markedly - in Poland in the 12th century. there were more than two hundred of them. The development of trade is evidenced by the increase from the second half of the 11th century. release of a silver coin. Craftsmen settled near the markets, as well as in the Podgródy area. The development of markets reduced the importance of state distribution and created new opportunities to meet economic needs without pressure and mediation from authorities. Thus, the genesis of the Polish city was associated with two directions in development settlements of this kind - some of them arose near castles (grods), some - near markets. Since the word that became the designation for the city in Polish (“miasto”) comes from the word “place,” markets may have played a large role in this process.

Early medieval centers of trade in the 12th century became points of lively exchange not only of goods, but also of ideas, as many small churches appeared here. If the majestic cathedral basilicas and temples of Benedictine monasteries testified to the power of church institutions, then small market churches consisting of only one nave played an important role in missionary work in the lower strata of society during this period.

The weakening of fiscal oppression and the increase in economic freedom of the rural population occurred simultaneously with the formation of relations of dependence, which had their source in the emergence of large land ownership. The establishment of these new relations meant an increase in the status of the unfree, but at the same time a deterioration in the social (but not economic) position of the former free community members.

The transformation of the system of princely law into a system close to Western European feudalism, within which the main role in social differences was played by the presence of large land ownership and the dependence of peasants, was a long process. Having begun in the second half of the 11th century, it ended only in the 14th century. Back at the beginning of the 12th century. the church received part of its income from the state treasury, and even most of the wealth of powerful landowners, if the size of their land property did not exceed a dozen or so villages, was movable property. However, already in the 12th century, changes had gone so far that the clergy and secular nobility, who had sources of income independent of the state treasury, were able to weaken their political dependence on the prince. Representatives of the nobility who wanted to undermine the ruler’s position could support the younger members of the princely family who opposed him. Thus, decentralization and specific fragmentation had primarily internal reasons.

The weakening of princely power occurred gradually, as the economic and social processes already described developed. Against this background, the tendency towards the disintegration of the state body into a number of principalities under the control of individual representatives of the dynasty intensified. Already under Boleslav the Bold, his younger brothers Vladislav and Mieszko had their own inheritances. After the transfer of power to Władysław Herman, the state remained united only until his two sons, Zbigniew and Bolesław Krivousty, reached adulthood. After the internecine war, the prince determined inheritances for each son, retaining supreme power. In turn, Boleslav Wrymouth, after the blindness and death of his brother he defeated, ruled as the only representative of the Piast dynasty then living. In the next generation of this family, the family, and therefore the political situation, was to change completely: Boleslav Kryvousty was married twice and had many sons.

Awareness of the inevitability of an internal conflict arising in this situation, the desire to protect the state and one’s own children from severe shocks and internecine struggle and, finally, the memory of tragic fate Zbigniew - all this prompted Boleslav Wrymouth to try to resolve the issue of inheritance. He did this in what is called a will. This document was probably prepared in advance, announced at a meeting, accepted by church dignitaries and nobility, and sent to the Pope for approval. Unfortunately, the text of the document itself has not been preserved; only its descriptions in the chronicle of Vincent Caddubec and in papal documents are known, as well as the actual state of affairs determined by the will. It is generally accepted that the prince created one indivisible “senior” inheritance, which each time had to pass to the eldest representative of the clan, and besides him, four inherited inheritances, which the princes could pass on to their descendants. Władysław received Silesia and Lubusz land, Bolesław Kudryawy - Mazovia and part of Kuyavia, Mieszko the Old - the western part of Greater Poland with Poznań, and Henryk - Sandomierz land and Wislica. The senior inheritance included Lesser Poland with Krakow, Sieradz Land, part of Greater Poland with the archiepiscopal city of Gniezno, Gdansk Pomerania; the ruler of this appanage received the rights of overlord in relation to Western Pomerania. The land of Łęczyca was transferred to the lifelong disposal of the future widow of Bolesław Wrymouth, Princess Salome, and, perhaps, was considered as provision for the son expected by the princess, who turned out to be Casimir the Just.

The eldest of the princes (lat. senior), thanks to the unification in his hands of hereditary lands and the senior inheritance, had an undeniable advantage over his brothers. He was assigned the right to represent the country in foreign policy, wage wars, and conclude treaties; within the country he had the right of investiture of the clergy and judicial precedence over his brothers.

The will of Boleslav Wrymouth, executed after the death of the prince in 1138, did not remain in force for long. Already in 1141, clashes between Lord Vladislav and his younger half-brothers began; in 1144 they resumed. The lord enlisted the support of Rus', and it seemed that he would prevail. His commander, Piotr Włostowicz, a prominent member of the Silesian nobility, tried to mediate, but was captured by Władysław's men, accused of treason, blinded and deprived of his tongue. This rash step of the ruler aroused well-founded fears of the nobility and their resistance to such ruthless methods of rule. Archbishop Jakub of Gniezno excommunicated the prince from the church for shedding Christian blood. The lord was defeated and forced to flee to Germany in 1146, subsequently receiving the nickname Exile. The German king Conrad III, who undertook a campaign in his defense in 1146, did not even cross the Odra. He went back, satisfied that the younger members of the dynasty (lat. juniores) promised to obey him and gave young Casimir as a hostage. Vladislav the Exile did not return to Poland. His further attempts to obtain help from the emperor and the pope remained unsuccessful for a long time. Only in 1157 did Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa set out on a campaign against Poland and reached Poznan. Here, near Krzyszkow, Boleslav Kudryavy took the feal oath to the emperor, paid a large tribute and promised to appear in court in Magdeburg, where the issue of the return of the lord was to be resolved. After this, the imperial troops left Poland, but the prince, who took the vassal oath, never appeared in Magdeburg. Only the death of Władysław the Exile (1159) allowed his sons - Bolesław the High and Mieszko the Plentonogy - to take possession of Silesia, which was the hereditary possession of their father.

Boleslav Curly became the lord of the dynasty, which represented a return to the principles of the will of Boleslav Curly. After his death in 1173, power passed to Mieszko the Old, but four years later he was overthrown by the Krakow nobility, who called the youngest of the brothers, Casimir, to the throne. (The fourth brother, Henryk of Sandomierz, died in 1166 during the Crusade against the pagan Prussians.) Casimir received the nickname the Just because he was a benefactor of the church, to which he granted significant privileges at the assembly in Łęczyce in 1180.

Sudden death Casimir the Just in 1194 caused a fierce struggle for the Krakow throne, the possession of which was considered equivalent to the right to primacy (principate) among the princes. Several times it was occupied by a representative of the older generation of princes, Mieszko the Old, who stubbornly fought for supreme power. After his death (1202), the son of Casimir the Just, Leszek the White, seized power. However, during the princely congress in Gonzave he was killed (1227). The Silesian Prince Henryk the Bearded and the Masovian Prince Konrad also declared their rights to the Krakow throne. The superiority was achieved by the Silesian Piasts, who, under Henryk the Bearded and Henryk the Pious, united Silesia, the Krakow land and part of Greater Poland. However, the Mongol invasion of 1241 dealt a severe blow to their unification policy.

In the second half of the 13th century. marks the culmination of specific fragmentation. The principle of seniority of one of the princes was abolished, as a result of which all principalities became equal from a legal point of view. Silesia, Mazovia and Kuyavia were divided into a number of small principalities. At the same time, Greater Poland, where the Poznan, Gniezno and Kalisz duchies arose, was most often under the rule of one ruler. The capital Krakow and the large Krakow appanage (often united with the Sandomierz land) retained their attractiveness, although the local princes were no longer considered the supreme rulers for the other Piasts. In Krakow, after reaching adulthood, the son of Leszek the White, Bolesław the Shy, ruled (until 1279), and then the Sieradz Duke Leszek the Black, who came from the Mazovian line (until 1288), and the Wrocław Duke Henryk IV Probus (until 1290). This was already the very end of the period of specific fragmentation, during which more than twenty principalities were formed.

The growth in numbers, as well as the organization and economic potential of the secular nobility and clergy, completely changed in the 13th century. the alignment of political forces, which became very unfavorable for the members of the dynasty. This has found its expression in legal practice. The right to inherit the throne was recognized by the prince's sons, and in their absence - by the persons indicated by the previous prince. If there were no successors, the consent of the highest clergy and secular nobility of the given land became necessary. It was taken for granted that only representatives of the Piast family could be elected to the throne. This principle was abandoned only in Gdansk Pomerania, where the authorities in the 20s of the 13th century. passed to one of the local noble families, which, however, did not lead to a severance of ties between Pomerania and Poland.

Among the political institutions that ensured the influence of the highest nobility and knighthood on the princes, interdepartmental and specific assemblies (veche), in which rulers also took part, were of great importance. Emerging ideas about the right to resist princes who violated the formally guaranteed interests of the nobility also played a significant role. The weakening of princely power was fraught with serious internal dangers, among which the most sensitive were internecine wars, the willfulness of the nobility and anarchy in individual principalities. When the contradictions became especially acute at the end of the 13th century, the struggle to restore state unity began.

The disappearance of the squad, the settlement of knighthood on its own lands and its interest in issues of economy and domestic policy, economic growth and the ability to meet the needs of the ruling layer without military spoils - all this led in the second half of the 12th-13th centuries. to the gradual weakening of the warlike spirit so characteristic of the state of the first Piasts.

In this regard, the Polish principalities were no exception. Similar processes took place in Rus', the Czech Republic and Germany. This was quite beneficial for Poland, weakened by specific fragmentation, since it facilitated the defense of the territory and the defense of independence during a period of political and military weakness. In the 12th century. German kings and emperors intervened several times in the affairs of the Polish principalities. Their greatest success was Bolesław Kudryaw's taking the vassal oath in Krzyszkow - for himself and on behalf of the other Piasts. However, at the end of the XII-XIII centuries. the emperors, most notably Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, were much more interested in Italian affairs. In Germany itself, their power weakened significantly during the 13th century. Therefore, the rulers of small German states became opponents or political partners of the Polish princes. Highest value for Poland had its origin in the middle of the 12th century. Brandenburg brand, and in the first half of the 13th century. - states of the Teutonic Order. The margraves of Brandenburg expanded towards Pomerania and Greater Poland. They forced the princes of Western Pomerania to recognize their dependence on them, and in 1248-1250. took possession of the Lubusz land. IN next years in the lands located north of the Warta and Notets rivers, the so-called New Mark appeared, wedged between Greater Poland and Western Pomerania.

A serious threat to Polish lands also existed on the northeastern border. In the middle of the XII - beginning of the XIII century. it was subject to raids by pagan Prussians, who, being at the stage of creating early statehood, constantly carried out predatory campaigns in Gdansk Pomerania, Chelminsky Land and Mazovia. Repeated attempts by the Polish princes to defeat the Prussians and force them to accept Christianity ended in failure.

After the failure of his missionary and military enterprises, Prince Konrad of Mazowiecki in 1226 transferred the Chelmin land to the Teutonic Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose members were called “Krzyzaks” in Poland. The Teutonic Order began systematic efforts to conquer and convert the Prussian tribes to Christianity. Having significant financial resources and enjoying the constant support of Western knighthood, the order was able to apply the latest military technologies and fortification methods, and also managed to very effectively develop the conquered lands. By supporting the colonization of Prussian territories, the order's knights contributed to the development of the economy and, as a result, created a powerful state organism that met the requirements of the time. Until the beginning of the 14th century. they did not pose a threat to the Polish principalities, since they were busy fighting wars against the repeatedly rebelling Prussians. After occupying the Chelmno land and conquering part of the Prussian lands, the Teutonic Order founded four bishoprics here (1243), including in Chelmno4. In 1255 they were subordinated to the archbishopric of Riga. As a result, the Polish church not only lost the opportunity to conduct missionary work in Prussia, but also lost the original Polish territory, which was the Chelminsky land.

For the eastern policy of the Mazovian and Krakow princes, there was a certain significance in the 13th century. There was also a struggle with the Yatvingians and Lithuanians, whose predatory campaigns were not, however, as frequent as the Prussian campaigns. Moreover, despite these raids, the border of the Poles' settlement moved further and further to the east, towards the Yatvingian lands. After the victory of Prince Leszek the Black over the Yatvingians in 1282, their raids ceased, and further Polish expansion led to the gradual disappearance of this people.

Southern neighbors in the 13th century. Poland was not threatened. The Czech Republic at that time was experiencing a period of economic and political prosperity, and Czech expansion was directed towards Austria and Styria; Poland became the object of attention of the Czech kings only at the very end of the century. The rulers of Hungary, usually allies of Poland, fought with the Czech king for Austria and showed a special interest in lands in South-Eastern Europe. The clash of interests of the Polish princes and the rulers of Hungary appeared only in connection with attempts to seize Galician-Volyn Rus, but this did not cause a long conflict.

Rus', like Poland, at that time was experiencing a period of specific fragmentation. The policy of the Polish princes towards Rus' was connected not with the capital Kiev, but with the border Galician-Volyn principality, whose borders included lands lying in the San River basin, with the cities of Przemysl and Sanok. Leszek the White intervened in the issue of succession to the throne in Galich; in addition, he repelled the campaign of Prince Roman of Galicia against Poland near Zavikhvost (1205). Wars broke out repeatedly later: Daniil of Galicia tried to capture Lublin, and Boleslav the Shy attacked Russian lands (1244).

However, in the 40s of the 13th century. a truly serious threat has arisen in the east. These were the Mongols who, at the end of the 30s, after a bloody struggle, subjugated the Russian principalities. In 1241, their campaign took place against Hungary and Poland. Mongol troops under the command of Baydar invaded Lesser Poland, defeated the Lesser Poland knights in the battles of Tursk and Chmielnik, destroyed many villages and cities, including Sandomierz, Wislica and Krakow, and then moved to Silesia. The local prince, Henryk the Pious, met them on April 9, 1241 at the Battle of Legnica. Numerous Silesian knights gathered here, the troops of the Opole prince Mieszko, knights from Greater Poland and the remnants of Lesser Poland troops arrived. The troops of Henry the Pious were joined by knights of several spiritual orders: Teutonic, Johannite and Templar. This entire army numbered 7-8 thousand people and was not inferior in strength to the enemy. However, the Mongols were superior in tactical terms: unlike the randomly fighting knights, they brought troops into battle squads that were distinguished by great discipline. In addition, the Mongols used types of weapons unknown in Europe, including intoxicating gases. The troops of Henryk the Pious were defeated, and he himself fell on the battlefield. Despite this victory, the Mongols left Poland. However, subsequently they undertook new campaigns that had the nature of predatory raids: in 1259 (when Krakow was burned by them) and in 1287.

In addition to relations with neighboring states, relations with the papacy played an important role in the foreign policy of the appanage princes. From the time Mieszko I bestowed his state on the Holy See, Poland recognized the supreme power and patronage of the Pope, which was expressed in an annual payment called the “St. Peter" (“sventopetsch”), as well as in the right of popes to approve the most important state documents. In the 13th century, under Innocent III and his successors, the papacy began to flourish. Since this coincided with the weakening of the empire, ties with Rome acquired even greater importance for the Polish princes. In an effort to strengthen them, many princes issued new letters transferring under the patronage of the pope. In 1207, Leszek the White did this, later - the Greater Poland prince Wladyslaw Odonitz, the Gdańsk prince Svyatopolk (Świętopolk) and the Silesian prince Henryk the Pious. Other princes also published similar documents many times. Of considerable importance were the frequent visits to Poland by papal legates, who influenced the course and decisions of episcopal synods, as well as, due to papal supremacy, the resolution of political disputes between princes. In the long term, papal patronage and the denarius of St. Peter became an important factor in maintaining political unity and a valuable argument in the struggle for the belonging of some lands to the Polish state, reunited at the turn of the 13th-14th centuries. The patronage of Rome also played a major role in maintaining ties between Polish culture and the culture of all Western Christianity.

The foreign policy of the Polish princes during the period of appanage fragmentation was aimed at maintaining the existing state of affairs. If they sought to expand their principalities, this took the form of an internal struggle with other rulers from the Piast dynasty. The fundamental change in foreign policy goals, the limitation or complete abandonment of external expansion can only partly be explained by the insufficient potential of individual Polish principalities. The main significance was the change in the direction and nature of expansion, which in the second half of the XII-XIII centuries. acquired the features of internal economic colonization. Both the rulers, the ruling class, and the masses of subjects were so involved in it that Poland was not even affected by the Crusades, in which only a few princes took part. Most Piasts preferred to remain in their homeland, finding here a vast field for economic and organizational activities. The need to participate in the crusading movement was fully satisfied by campaigns against the Prussians and Yatvingians.

In the 12th century. the concentration of large land property in the hands of the secular and ecclesiastical nobility began. In turn, the 13th century became the time of the spread of land ownership among the knighthood and middle clergy, as well as the endowment of these properties with immune rights. These kinds of privileges essentially represented the ruler’s renunciation of fiscal or judicial rights, previously associated with princely power, in favor of the owner of the land. There were both economic and judicial immunities. In the 12th century. they met rarely and complained mainly to church institutions, and, as a rule, in relation to a small number of villages or people living there. In the 13th century, a significant part of the feudal lords, including those from the ranks of the middle knighthood, managed to achieve immunity rights. As a result, on the basis of their landownership and immunity rights, it was they who exercised state judicial-administrative and fiscal power over the population dependent on them at the lowest level.

The consequence of the fact that free princely peasants fell into feudal dependence on landowners was the convergence of the social status of this group with the status of people of unfree origin who depended on the master and worked on his estate. Thus, from groups of the rural population that had different origins, a more homogeneous layer of dependent peasants was formed.

Both princes and other landowners were interested in internal colonization and cultivation of new lands. However, despite the significant natural increase and resettlement of free “guests,” the need for labor was not satisfied. Therefore, landowners willingly accepted colonists from abroad: Germans, Flemings and Walloons, who, due to the relative overpopulation in Western Europe, went east, including to the Polish principalities. Polish rulers settled them on favorable terms in cities and villages.

The new newcomers brought their own legal customs, which took shape during the colonization of the territories of Middle and East Germany. Therefore, this law in Poland was called German. The first mentions of foreign colonists appear in the last decades of the 12th century. in the territory of Silesia. In the first decades of the 13th century. Colonization based on German law occurs in Greater and Lesser Poland. About a century later it also spread to Mazovia.

In the village, the grant of locational (from Latin locare - to place, settle) privileges for colonists was a consequence of an agreement between the prince or other landowner and the organizer of the new settlement, who was called a “locator”. The latter took upon himself the obligation to bring colonists, who arrived with families, property and appropriate financial resources. The person who issued the document received the amount stipulated by the contract, and in return exempted newly arrived residents from payments for the period of arrangement, which, depending on the conditions, lasted from several to one and a half decades. The local privilege stipulated the sums of money that were to be paid to the master after the expiration of the period of tax exemption. Thus, the main form of feudal rent became cash rent (“chinsh”), while food rent and labor were retained only as additional duties. The size of the monetary dues was determined by the size of the peasant farm, which usually occupied one lan of land (the “Chelminsky lan” used most often was about 17 hectares). This is how large independent farms were created. Along with them, however, small and practically landless farms arose, designed to provide the landowner and rich neighbors with hired income. labor force necessary during periods of intensive agricultural work.

Based on the locational privilege, the locator received a farm the size of several lans, and often additional rights to build a mill, tavern, fish, etc. From the moment the village was founded, he became its headman - “soltys”, i.e. the representative of the lord, authorized to preside over the peasant court (“judicial bench”, in Polish - “lava”), receive in their favor a third of the court fines and collect the quitrent due to the lord. In addition, Soltys were required to perform military service. Their position was hereditary, and the bench became the main element of rural self-government. The colonists received personal freedom, as well as the right to leave the farm after they had fulfilled all duties and found a replacement.

In addition to the grant of self-government, the creation of a village court of first instance and the determination of the amount of monetary rent and other payments, the reorganization of the village space associated with colonization on the basis of German law was of great importance. The new villages were large and densely built. All fields were divided into three parts, which each year were alternately sown with winter crops, spring crops, or left fallow. From that time on, in villages based on the principles of German law, the use of the correct three-field system became mandatory, and the configuration of the fields was modified, which made it easier to plow the land with a heavy plow and increased productivity.

The rights received by the colonists were very beneficial both in material terms and in view of the freedom of self-government they received. It could not have been otherwise, since they tried to attract colonists to Poland. This was evidence of a far-sighted policy, thanks to which the number of villages increased, the population grew, and agricultural production increased, and, consequently, the amount of quitrent payments received by those who issued local charters increased. The precise determination of the size of the chinshas was of great importance for the entire economy. Thanks to this, the peasants gained confidence that after settlement with the master, the remaining part of the production would remain at their disposal. The definition of rent in monetary terms initially assumed the existence of contacts between the village and the city. By selling their products, peasants received funds both to pay chinsha and to purchase local handicrafts: iron agricultural tools, linen and cloth fabrics, as well as salt, which was sometimes brought from very distant places. In turn, food supplies, increased due to the growth of agricultural production and the interest of peasants in selling surpluses, contributed to the development of cities.

In the second half of the 13th century, due to natural population growth, the number of local peasants looking for new lands also increased. They were also settled on the basis of German law, understanding the attractiveness of its principles and the mutual benefits that it brought to peasants and feudal lords. The next stage in expanding the scope of German law was its extension to pre-existing villages. This led to their restructuring and the abolition of previous types of taxes and duties. This is how the service organization disappeared, which became unnecessary in conditions when the development of the city, urban crafts and local trade made it possible to purchase handicrafts of a higher quality. In many old villages that lived under Polish law, they adopted certain legal innovations - such as the right to leave the village and cash rent.

The organization of the first cities based on German law began in already existing settlements. Their translation into German law represented an important reform; at the same time, however, many features of continuity were preserved. There were still very few cities founded from scratch.

The first cities with German law appeared in Silesia. One of them was Środa Śląska. Its structure, which was based on the law of the German city of Magdeburg, subsequently became exemplary for other Polish cities. Therefore, Magdeburg law in Poland was also called “srodsky”. Another version of Magdeburg law, called Chelmno law (after it was translated into Chelmno in 1233), was in effect in the north of the Polish lands and in the state of the Teutonic Order.

The founding of cities or their transfer to a new law continued in the following centuries, with the only difference being that in the 14th century. the number of settlements founded in the new location increased. The organizers of the new settlements were locators, who received for this the hereditary position of “voita” and were generously endowed with land, the rights to build a mill, receive part of the chinsha and court fines, as well as maintain shops (including butchers’ shops). The location of the cities was based on their removal from the jurisdiction of princely officials and the transfer of the functions of the latter to the voit, who was supposed to be guided by the principles of Magdeburg law. The main right of the colonists was personal freedom, and the main element of self-government was the city council and city court, the members of which were elected from among the citizens. Cities were freed from taxes for several years, after which chinshi were collected from them and distributed among city blocks, shops and craft workshops.

The transformation of space in cities under German law consisted of replacing the previous chaotic development with a regular one - with a clearly designated central square (market) and a network of streets adjacent to it. A large plot of land was left at the corner of the square where the church was built. The rest of the space between the streets was divided into separate sections. Those of them that were located near the market were of greater value and were subject to more significant taxes compared to the plots that lay along the streets distant from the center, near the city walls. Ownership of the plot was hereditary.

At the time of location there were no guarantees that it would be successful. As a safety net that provided the population with food, and also made it possible to return invested material resources, the voits and urban communities were granted land and rights to exploit rivers, build mills, fishing.

Changes in the legal situation also occurred in miners' settlements. If in early Middle Ages slaves worked in the mines, then in the 13th century. miners were granted rights close to urban rights, taking into account the specifics of their work. Mining law regulated the organization of work in the gold and silver mines of Silesia and the mining of silver, tin and salt in Lesser Poland.

The settlers who settled in cities and villages were mostly Germans. As a result of their mass migration, Silesia became an area where two ethnic groups coexisted. In other destinies, the number of German colonists was an order of magnitude smaller. They were concentrated mainly in cities, especially large ones, where they constituted a rich and influential, but small layer of the urban patriciate, while the Polish population there represented a less prosperous or simply poor majority. Multiethnic character of urban communities of the 13th century. was also associated with the emergence of Jewish communities. Polish princes, interested in developing trade and wanting to receive cash loans, granted Jews privileges, according to which they had self-government and their own legal proceedings. Collectors of customs duties and managers of princely mints were often recruited from this group of the population.

Similar processes took place among the clergy. An increase in the number of monastic orders, the appearance in Poland in the 12th century. Cistercians, Johannites, Premonstratensians, and in the next century the mendicant orders closely associated with the cities - the Franciscans and Dominicans - significantly increased the number of foreigners in Poland. Their connections with monasteries in their homeland contributed to the preservation of their ethnic identity. Foreigners also appeared among the knighthood and at the courts of the Polish princes, but here (with the exception of Silesia) they most often underwent rapid Polonization.

The increase in the number of immigrants belonging to different linguistic and social groups was a consequence of the relative overpopulation of Western Europe, as well as the favorable legal and political conditions offered to these people by the Polish princes. This policy of the princes testified to their correct understanding of their own interests, which coincided with the interests of the entire society. The weakening of the tax burden, the limitation of the judicial functions of the central government through the granting of judicial rights, and the emergence of urban and rural self-government affected the life of the entire society. As a result of political, legal and economic restructuring, the activities of all social strata have noticeably revived.

Thus, the 13th century became a time of the creation of new institutions and the growth of material production. This process was not without turmoil and conflict, but overall economic success mitigated tensions.

The granting of privileges to various groups of subjects and individuals, which determined their attitude to the princely power, rights, responsibilities and organizational forms of their activities, led to the gradual formation of estates, i.e. large social groups that had special legal status. The formation of each of the classes took place in its own way and in different time. Earlier than others - due to the rapid acceptance of foreign models and the need to adapt the Polish church organization to the principles common to the whole catholic church, - the clergy took shape. Church organization in the XII-XIII centuries. noticeably strengthened. Since the founding of the episcopal sees in Włocławek and Lubusz, the number of dioceses has not increased, since the Pomeranian diocese (of which Kamen became the center) found itself outside the borders of the Gniezno metropolitanate. At the same time, however, the internal organization of individual bishoprics was expanded - thanks to the emergence of a network of parishes and the division of dioceses into archdeaconates. The role of cathedral chapters increased. Canons performed numerous functions in the administration of the diocese and in the work of cathedral schools. The presence of papal legates in Poland accelerated, starting from the 12th century, the transfer of the results of the Gregorian reform to Polish soil.

The most important changes in church life included the approval of the principles of celibacy of priests (finally in the 13th century) and the election of bishops by cathedral chapters. The election of bishops was the most important innovation because it removed the right of investiture from the princes, although they could still influence the outcome of the elections. In the struggle for reform, the Polish church was led by Archbishop of Gniezno Henryk Ketlicz (1199-1219). In an effort to remove the church from the princely jurisdiction, he came into conflict with the Great Poland prince Władysław Thin-legged and was even expelled from Gniezno (1206). Then he went to Rome, where he found support from Pope Innocent III. The Krakow prince Leszek White, who competed with Władysław Tonkonogi, took advantage of this situation, announced his transition to the supreme authority of the pope and agreed to the first election of the Bishop of Krakow according to canon law (1207).

In addition to canonical elections, bishops were interested in complete judicial and property immunity. The privilege for the church was already given during the princely congress in Łęczyce in 1180, when Casimir the Just and other Polish princes renounced the right to receive property left after deceased bishops (ius spolii), and limited the taxation of dependent people of the church to the so-called “posture” " From that time on, the bishops sought to obtain not individual privileges for individual possessions or institutions, but for the entire Polish Church. They received them in 1210 at the princely congress in Bożykowa from princes Leszek the White, Konrad of Mazowiecki and Władysław Odonitz, and then in Wołbozz (1215), where Casimir Opolski joined the patrons of the church. In Greater Poland in 1234, Wladyslaw Odonitz confirmed these concessions in favor of Archbishop Pelka. At the same time, in Silesia, the Wroclaw bishops had to wage a long struggle with the princes, which ended successfully only at the end of the 13th century. under Prince Henryk IV Probus (1273-1290).

In addition to the organization of dioceses and parishes, the increase in the number of monastic orders and their monasteries was of great importance for the Polish church. The oldest Benedictine monasteries in Tynets and Mogilna were added in the 11th - early 12th centuries. monasteries in Lubin, Płock, Setechowo (Sieciechow), Łyście and Wrocław. Some of them were founded in whole or in part by representatives of the Polish nobility. However, in the 12th century. The Benedictine Order was experiencing an internal crisis; much greater dynamism was manifested by the orders of the Cistercians, Canons Regular and Norbertans. Cistercian monasteries became especially numerous in Poland. Unlike the Benedictines, their monks were not subject to the authority of the local bishop, but to their order centers located outside Poland.

In the 13th century, monasteries of mendicant orders appeared in Polish cities. The first Dominican monastery was created in Krakow in 1222 through the efforts of Bishop Ivo Odrowonz, and a few years later the Polish province of the Dominican Order arose. The Franciscans appeared in Wroclaw and Krakow in 1236, three years later their Czech-Polish province was created. The rapid spread of mendicant orders, which at the end of the 13th century. had 78 monasteries in Poland, was associated with the development of cities. Mendicant monks also managed to get their monasteries removed from episcopal authority and submitted to the authorities of their orders outside Poland.

The growing importance of knighthood during the period of specific fragmentation was associated with the acquisition of economic independence by this group and the political changes that took place in the country. The division of Poland into separate principalities led to an increase in the number of positions, since the internal structure of the individual principalities copied government organization that existed before the era of fragmentation.

In territorial administration, urban districts retained their importance, from the 12th century. called "coughs". Next to the castellans who led them were still the army, the castle judges, and the cornets.

In the first half of the 13th century, maintaining or joining the knighthood depended on owning land and receiving privileges from the prince. Some of the poor warriors, descended from the former free peasants, lost their lands and their previous social position, finding themselves among the dependent peasants; a smaller part of them fought to improve their status. At the end of the 13th century. the process of forming the knightly class was not yet completed. A knight was considered a person who held land on the basis of knightly law (iure militari). Most of the ordinary knights during the 13th century. acquired judicial and property immunity. For this they were obliged to take part in campaigns on horseback. Polish specificity was the absence of any legal distinctions within the knightly group, the absence of an internal hierarchy dividing knights according to feudal principles into vassals and lords. The ruling prince acted as the sole lord of a large knightly group, and each knight felt dependent only on him.

The organization of chivalry as a social group was based on tribal ties. Along with the old noble families, new ones emerged that arose not only on the basis of blood ties, but also on the basis of neighborhood. These were the so-called “nesting” births. They ensured the preservation of social status for all their members, including the economically weak. Belonging to the clan, confirmed by its other representatives, gradually became the main proof of possession of knightly status. At the turn of the XIII-XIV centuries. coat of arms became symbols of individual clans, which turned from personal to hereditary, as well as battle cries. In the 14th century, thanks to this, the so-called heraldic families took shape.

In addition, knights had special privileges that emphasized their higher social status. The penalty for killing or wounding a knight was higher than for killing or wounding a peasant. They had the right to the so-called “free tithe,” that is, to choose a church or other church institution to which they could give it (other classes paid tithes in their parish). A very important expansion of the rights of knighthood was the possibility of inheriting real estate through a side line, and in the absence of the latter, through a female line.

Already in the 13th century. Privileges were issued several times for the entire knightly class. The first of them was the privilege, published in 1228 in Tseni by Prince Władysław Thin-legged, who was seeking the Krakow throne at that time. At the end of the century, the Czech king Wenceslas II issued a similar privilege for the Malopolska knighthood. However, the practice of granting privileges to the entire knightly class only became common in subsequent centuries.

In parallel with the knightly class, the formation of the urban (philistine) class took place, the rights of which were formulated in local charters. Unlike the clergy, townspeople received letters of grant for individual urban communities. However, since their privileges were based on Magdeburg law, the legal position of the individual cities was close. The urban class was divided into the patriciate (rich merchants, owners of city plots and houses) and the so-called “pospolstvo” (common people), consisting of artisans and small traders. Members of both groups had hereditary rights of urban citizenship, unlike the rest of the urban population - the poor called the plebs.

Already in the 13th century, in addition to the general forms of urban organization established at the founding of the city, guilds began to emerge that united artisans. The workshops determined the rules of training and professional activity, and regulated the manufacture and sale of products. Their members took part together in religious ceremonies, guild feasts and holidays. However, no merchant guilds arose in Poland; city councils took care of the interests of merchants. As the founding of cities continued in subsequent centuries, the bourgeois class remained open to new people who had the necessary means.

Unlike many European states, where in addition to the clergy and knighthood there was a single third estate, the situation in Poland was somewhat more complicated, since the Polish peasants were an estate separate from the bourgeoisie. The legal status of the peasantry was not defined as precisely as that of other classes. Locational privileges concerned only a part of the peasants, since not all villages received them, which led to differences in the rights of residents of individual settlements. However, in spite of everything, there was a factor that united the peasant class into a single whole, namely, the right of hereditary use of land, the right to leave the village and taxation of the farm in accordance with its area, which was recognized by everyone. Like the urban class, the peasant class remained open. Both in the 13th century and in subsequent centuries, new people constantly became its members - immigrants and impoverished representatives of other classes. Some peasants, on the contrary, climbed the social ladder, moving to cities and receiving city rights, and in rare cases, joining the clergy and knightly classes.

In the 13th century, the final formation of the Polish estates (with the exception of the clergy) had not yet occurred, but the process had gone quite far. Determination of class rights and the emergence of large social groups influenced the nature of princely power and the political organization of the entire society. The basic principle of estates was, as in other European states, the obligation of the ruler to respect the rights of estates. The prince ceased to be the owner of his principality, but became the custodian of the legal order that existed in it. The rights of individual classes were different, but the people of that time perceived this inequality as natural and necessary. Nevertheless, none of the classes was completely deprived of rights, which was an important factor in political stability.

Thus, the period of specific fragmentation entailed very diverse consequences for Poland. There were sensitive territorial losses, but at the same time internal restructuring took place, economic and social development accelerated, the rights of individual segments of the population expanded and were defined, and the clergy and knighthood took an increasing part in government. These factors brought Polish society closer to the societies of the more developed countries of Western Europe, with their inherent government structure and economic structure.

Despite the fragmentation, the idea of ​​the unity of the Polish state remained in the minds of the Poles. The most outstanding Polish chronicler of this period, Wincenty Kadlubek, as well as the creators of other texts: chronicles, calendars and lives of saints, viewed Poland as a single whole, connected by a common history and common culture. Those who were familiar with the history of their country were proud of the deeds of their ancestors, which also strengthened the idea of ​​​​the existence of a united Poland. It was increasingly taken into account that the country was inhabited by an ethnic community, which was designated by the terms nation and gens. The first term emphasized common origin Poles, the second is the commonality of their language. Against this background, it is quite understandable that during the appanage period the term used during the era of state unity was preserved - Regnum Poloniae. For writers of the XII-XIII centuries. Poland still remained a political entity, despite the fact that they recognized as natural - and until the middle of the 13th century, even desirable - its division into appanage principalities.

Ideas about unity were preserved, however, not only in the minds of the enlightened elite, but found expression in a number of institutions. The Polish principalities were ruled by representatives of the same dynasty. Dynastic consciousness intensified as interest in history increased. Among the Piasts such names as Semovit, Lestek (Leszek), Semomysl appeared, reminiscent of ancient ancestors princely family. The names of their famous successors were also used: Mieszko, Bolesław, Casimir and Władysław. New names were added to them - Henryk, Konrad, which appeared in Poland thanks to the marriages of Polish princes and daughters of German dignitaries. There were also names such as Vasilke and Troyden, testifying to dynastic ties with their eastern neighbors.

In addition to dynastic consciousness, legal regulations played a significant role, according to which power in the Polish principalities was to be retained by the ruling family. Therefore, when individual branches of the dynasty died out, Piasts from other principalities were invited to the vacant appanage thrones. Political agreements on the lifetime or posthumous transfer of the principality were also concluded within the dynasty.

Another institution that ensured the unity of the divided Polish kingdom was the church. The Polish lands were part of a single Polish - Gniezno - metropolis. The practice of provincial episcopal congresses (synods) contributed to the preservation of its integrity, despite the well-known independence of the Krakow and Wroclaw dioceses. The emergence of the Polish provinces of the Dominicans and Franciscans was of similar significance, although a significant gap appeared in this area when at the end of the 13th century. Silesia was separated from the Polish Franciscan province.

The Polish coronation symbols kept in the cathedral treasury of Krakow served as a material and at the same time symbolic expression of the unity of Regnum Poloniae: a crown, a scepter and a copy of the spear of St. Mauritius. The last one was for nothing Otto III Boleslav the Brave, and the crown and scepter belonged to Boleslav the Brave.

The feeling of linguistic unity of the Poles intensified when they encountered the language of the German colonists, priests and monks who arrived in Poland. Forced to limit ourselves to written sources, we know only about the conflicts that arose on this basis within the church. They began in the last decades of the 13th century. The problem turned out to be so serious that the Polish church, led by Archbishop Jakub Świnka, at the synods in Łęczyce in 1285 and 1287. decided on the obligation of parish priests to know the Polish language and explain the truths of the faith in Polish. These decisions were only partly related to the influx of German priests, townspeople and peasants into Poland. An equally important reason was the creation of a network of parishes and the coverage of missionary activities throughout society. Changes in spiritual life implied not only a mechanical transfer of ritual gestures and symbols to Polish soil, but also an explanation to believers of the foundations of Christian doctrine. The practical result of the decisions of the Łęczyca synods was the emergence of collections of sermons in Polish, the first known list of which dates back to the beginning of the 14th century. A manifestation of Polish religiosity is also the text of the oldest surviving song in the Polish language - which arose at the end of the 13th century. "Mother of God".

In sculpture and painting of that time, along with purely Polish ones, there were also common Christian motifs. The most perfect works include the bronze doors of the cathedral in Gniezno (12th century) with depictions of scenes from the life of St. Vojtecha, the doors of the cathedral in Płock, where among biblical scenes the patron of the arts is represented - Bishop Alexander of Płock, beautiful tympanums from Strzelno and Wroclaw with figures of princes and representatives of the nobility offering the churches they founded to Christ or Mary. Interesting wall painting - from the 13th century. already Gothic in style, which helped believers comprehend the truths of faith and introduced them to the history of the church.

The desire for unity found ideological expression in the cult of Polish saints. About the cult of St. Vojtech has already been mentioned. In the 13th century, new Polish saints were canonized, and the cult of Bishop Stanislaus acquired nationwide significance. The cult of the martyr bishop existed in Krakow already from the end of the 11th century, but its veneration acquired a special scope from the beginning of the 13th century. After the canonization of Stanislaus in 1253, this cult became a symbolic expression of the desire to unify the country. Drawing an analogy with the dismemberment of the body of a bishop, which then miraculously grew together, the author of the “extensive” life of St. Stanisław, Vincent of Kielce, wrote: “And just as he [King Bolesław] cut the body of the martyr into many pieces and scattered them in all directions, so the Lord divided his kingdom and allowed many princes to rule in it... But just as the power of God made the holy body of the bishop and martyr as it was before, without a trace of scars... so in the future, for the sake of his merits, the divided kingdom will return to its former state.”

The common desire, expressed in such a passionate form, could not but be accompanied by actions aimed at unifying the country.

Bibliography

1. Tymovsky Michal, Kenevich Jan, Holzer Jerzy. History of Poland; M.: Publishing house "Ves Mir", 2

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