The origins of the first independent Polish state are firmly associated with the Piast Dynasty and the first historical ruler of Poland, Duke Mieszko I.
This post, thus, briefly considers the beginnings of the Piast dynasty and the predecessors of Mieszko I.
The Beginnings of the Piast Dynasty – The Semi-Legendary View
The very beginnings of the Piast dynasty based on legend and folk memory are tied to a semi-legendary figure known as Piast Chościkowic. This is how Gallus Anonymus, author of the oldest Polish chronicle, referred to him. In the Polish language, he’s often called Piast Kołodziej. Sources in the English language often refer to Piast as Piast the Wheelwright.
Piast Chościkowic, along with his wife, Rzepicha, and father, Chościsko, appear in the Polish Chronicle of Gallus Anonymus (Gall-Anonim). Written in around 1113, the precise name of the work is Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum (Chronicles and deeds of the dukes or princes of the Poles).
Apparently, Piast Chościkowic’s reign began in the 8th-century and ended in the 9th-century. According to legend, he died in 861 aged 120 years.
Overall, Piast Chościkowic, as little more than a semi-legendary figure, can only be considered as the presumed founder of the Piast dynasty.
Selections from Gallus Anonymus’s Chronicle about Piast Chościkowic
Back to Gallus’s chronicle. It describes an unexpected visit that two strangers paid to Piast. They ask to join Piast’s family to celebrate the 7th birthday (a pagan rite of passage for young boys) of Piast’s son, Ziemowit. In gratitude for the hospitality they received, the guests cast a spell which makes Piast’s cellar ever full of plenty. Upon viewing this, Piast’s compatriots declare Ziemowit their new prince. Therefore, Ziemowit subsequently replaces the late Prince Popiel II (a legendary 9th-century ruler of two proto-Polish tribes, the Goplans and Western Polans*):
Selection 1:
Selection 2:
Source for selections from Gallus Anonymus’s Polish chronicle:
* Who were the Western Polans?
The Western Polans (Polish: Polanie), also known as Polans and Polanians, were a West Slavic and Lechitic tribe (certain West Slavic tribes who inhabited modern-day Poland and eastern German). They inhabited the Warta River basin of the contemporary Greater Poland region beginning in the 6th century.
The Etymology of the word Piast
Regarding the etymology of the word Piast, two theories prevail. The first refers to the roots as piasta (“hub” in Polish). This a reference to Piast Chościskowic’s profession as a Wheelwright.
The second theory connects Piast to piastun (“keeper” or “custodian”). This could hint at Piast’s initial role as “steward of the house”, and the ensuing takeover of power by Piast.
The Beginnings of the Piast Dynasty – A Historical View
Unsurprisingly, many historians have paid scant heed to the semi-legendary status of Piast Chościkowic. Conversely, they have tended to label Piast as a purely legendary figure. For example, Lukowski and Zawadzki (2019, p.3) accuse ‘the anonymous Gaul’ of using “folk memory … to locate the founder of the ruling house in a successful peasant adventure called ‘Piast’, who had overthrown a tyrannical predecessor, Popiel.”
Historians such as Lukowski and Zawadzki (2019, p.4) and Reddaway et al. (1978, p.16) are more sure of the existence of Piast’s ancestral successors to power. Next in line as rulers of the Polans were Ziemowit, Lestek and Ziemomysł. Hence, Ziemomysł would have been Piast’s great-grandson. Reddaway et al. (1978, p.16) state that:
“ The very names of these ancestors, whose actual existence we have no reason to doubt, point to the native origin of the dynasty. “
Therefore, the beginnings of the Piast dynasty may be placed as early as the second half of the ninth century – when Duke Ziemowit came to power.
The commercial and administrative centres of the Piast dynasty were in Gniezno and Poznań.
The Piast Dynasty – Much Intrigue and Many Question Marks
Whether Piast was a semi-legendary or wholly legendary figure may still be a matter of debate.
Perhaps it’s an irrelevant discussion anyway. The majority of prominent historians of Polish history, such as Lukowski and Zawadzki (2019) and Reddaway et al. (1978), are only really willing to place the beginnings of the Piast dynasty from the second half of the ninth century. This was when Ziemowit, the presumed son of Piast the Wheelwright, succeeded Piast himself. Adam Zamoyski (2009) is yet another historian who refuses to admit that the Piast dynasty was established in Piast’s supposed reign. Instead, Zamoyski (2009, p.2) writes that:
What set the Polanie apart from their sister peoples were their rulers, the Piast dynasty established in Gniezno at some time during the ninth century.
Unfortunately, the scarce availability of historical sources determine that the history of the Piast dynasty can be reliably traced only since 963 (Reddaway et al., 2014) when Duke Mieszko I reigned supreme.
Summing up, Piast certainly wasn’t the first legendary Polish ruler in terms of chronology. There are plenty of legendary Polish rulers, who appear for the first time in chronicles from the 13th century, with ties to the 7th, 8th and 9th centuries. These figures include Krakus I, Krakus II, Wanda and Lech. Lech was the legendary founder of the Polish nation according to folktales.
References
Lukowski, J., and Zawadzki, H., 2019. A Concise History of Poland, Third Edition, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge
Reddaway, W.F., J.H Penson, Halecki, O. et al. (eds.), 1978. The Cambridge History of Poland: From the Origins to Sobieski (To 1696), Octagon Books: New York
Zamoyski, A., 2009. Poland: A History, First Edition, HarperCollins e-books: London