In the tenth century, a Slavic ruler named Mieszko I transformed a patchwork of tribes into the foundations of the Polish state. Drawing on new archaeological evidence and early written accounts, historians are uncovering how his leadership, trade networks, and military power reshaped medieval Central Europe.
By David Bachrach
Late in the reign of Emperor Otto I (936–973) a Jewish traveler from Muslim Spain named Abraham ibn Jaqub recorded his experiences in the German kingdom and in the lands of the Slavs. Ibn Jaqub, as he is generally known today, had a great deal to say about economic matters and commented on merchant routes and great markets teeming with Turks, Jews, and Slavs, who were selling slaves, tin, furs, arms, wheat, horses, and riding equipment. He was also interested in political and military matters and discussed the construction of various types of fortifications, natural defenses provided by swamps and forests, as well as the roads that connected major strongholds of both the Ottonian king and various Slavic rulers. Ibn Jaqub was interested most of all in the realm of Mieszko I (c. 960–992) who is generally seen as the founder of the Piast state in Poland.
The Accounts of Ibn Jaqub and His Contemporaries
Map of Europe around the year 1000 – image by Richard Ishida / Wikimedida Commons
Ibn Jaqub stated that Mieszko ruled the largest of the Slavic lands and gained great wealth from its abundance in wheat, meat, honey, and fish. Mieszko is reported to have levied his taxes in minted money, although there are no finds of coins actually minted by Mieszko in the region during this period. If Ibn Jaqub was correct on this point, it is likely that the minted coinage came from a combination of sources. From the 930s onward, we see an influx of Arab silver, probably in exchange for the furs, honey, and slaves mentioned by Ibn Jaqub in his account. Then, in the last third of the tenth century, there was an influx of silver pennies from the German kingdom, likely in exchange for the same range of goods.
Ibn Jaqub also was fascinated by the military organization of Mieszko’s nascent polity. He emphasized that the main purpose to which Mieszko put the taxes that he levied was to build up an army. Each man in Mieszko’s army received a fixed salary every month. The troops included 3,000 armored riders, whom Ibn Jaqub identifies as exceptionally good warriors. With considerable exaggeration, he states that each of Mieszko’s mounted men was equal to 100 opponents. In addition to their salaries, these fighting men received gifts of clothing, horses, and weapons.
Abraham ibn Jaqub’s journey – Image by Popik / Wikimedia Commons
Ibn Jaqub’s account of the powerful polity under the rule of Mieszko is corroborated by his contemporary Widukind, a monk at the monastery of Corvey, who wrote his Deeds of the Saxons for an audience at the German royal court. Most of Widukind’s account deals with border conflicts between Mieszko and his Slavic neighbors. Widukind was interested in this topic as both the people he denotes as the Licicaviki (who may have been the Veleti) and the Slavic people known as the Wuloini hired the renegade Saxon aristocrat Wichmann to join them with his mercenary company and to lead their forces. Although initially suffering defeats at the hands of Wichmann, Mieszko eventually defeated the Saxon magnate and his Slavic allies.
A generation later, Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg (1009–1018) recorded in his Chronicon that Mieszko’s son Bolesław Chrobry (992–1025) was the ruler of a powerful state, worthy of being treated with caution if not respect by the Ottonian kings. Early in his reign, Bolesław provided a substantial force of 300 mounted and armored troops to aid Otto III (983–1002). Later, Bolesław proved a major thorn in the side of Henry II (1002–1024), who launched numerous, large-scale campaigns against his Polish neighbor in a largely unsuccessful effort to beat him into submission.
The Dresden manuscript of the Chronicon of Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg
Traditionally, the emergence of a powerful state under Mieszko during the 960s, as recorded by writers of the later tenth and early eleventh century, was seen by Polish scholars as the final stage of a lengthy period of development. This conviction was based on the twelfth-century account by the so-called Gallus Anonymous, who wrote for the court of the Piast ruler Bolesław III (1107–1138). Gallus Anonymous specifically wrote in his Deeds of the Princes of the Poles about the reigns of Mieszko I’s father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
Although scholars recognized that there were legendary elements in the text, both historians and archaeologists sought to fit the material sources of information discovered within Poland into a chronology dating back to the late or even mid-ninth century. Consistent with the developing consensus around the Scandinavian origins of the Rus in Russia and Ukraine, the early Piasts also were given a Scandinavian origin. This was despite the fact that there were no written sources to support such an attribution, and the material finds within Poland itself offered no basis for identifying Scandinavian settlement there.
Particularly important for the scholarly consensus regarding the long prehistory of the Piast state before the emergence of Mieszko in the written record was the early dating of substantial fortifications. This was particularly the case for Gniezno and Poznań, which played central political, economic, and religious roles in the early Polish state. This archaeological work began before the Second World War and accelerated in the post-war period as the millennium of the first appearance of the Piast state in the written record approached. Communist rule in post-war Poland exerted a strong influence on scholarly investigations, and Marxist theories regarding “pre-feudal” social structures were layered over the existing consensus regarding the gradual emergence of the Polish state. In particular, the supposed emergence of the Polish state from the tribal structure of the Poloni was grafted on to the older story of the lengthy prehistory of the Piast dynasty.
Archaeology and the Birth of the Polish State
12th-century ceramic tile featuring an eagle found in Gniezno – photo by Mathiasrex, Maciej Szczepańczyk / Wikimedia Commons
However, the turn of the twenty-first century saw the development of powerful new archaeological techniques. These were applied by historians and archaeologists alongside new ways of thinking about the development of the Polish state, which had followed the end of Communist rule. Of particular importance was the emergence of dendrochronological analysis that permitted archaeologists to identify the year in which a particular tree was cut, and thus to provide much more precise dating of fortifications. On this basis, it became clear that rather than a lengthy period of development, at least a dozen major fortifications were built in the core region of Piast power within a very short timeframe in the second quarter of the tenth century. Gniezno, which had been seen as the original kernel of the Polish state, appears to have been constructed no earlier than 940. As a group, these fortifications predate the first appearance of Mieszko in the written record by only a decade or two.
In addition to the fortifications, extensive archaeological work on open areas in Poland during the last three decades has revealed large numbers of previously unknown agricultural settlements. Notably, these settlements appear to have developed in clusters around the fortifications that were constructed in the 930s and 940s. By analogy with the Ottonian kingdom to the west, a number of scholars have interpreted these agricultural settlements as providing the economic wherewithal to support the maintenance of garrisons organized by the Piast rulers.
Overall, recent trends in Polish archaeology have entirely reshaped our understanding of the emergence of the Polish state. The influx of Arab silver coinage in the 930s has been connected with the development of a large-scale slave trade, the revenues from which provided the economic basis for the Piast rulers to establish themselves militarily in Poland. The accounts by Ibn Jaqub and Widukind of Corvey thus reveal the perception by outsiders that a powerful new state was emerging. As Thietmar of Merseburg makes clear, this state had reached a significant level of strength by the turn of the millennium.
David Bachrach is a Professor at the University of New Hampshire, where he researches medieval military history, particularly in England and Germany.
Widukind of Corvey: Deeds of the Saxons, translation and commentary by David S. Bachrach and Bernard S. Bachrach (Catholic University Press, Washington, D.C., 2014).
In the tenth century, a Slavic ruler named Mieszko I transformed a patchwork of tribes into the foundations of the Polish state. Drawing on new archaeological evidence and early written accounts, historians are uncovering how his leadership, trade networks, and military power reshaped medieval Central Europe.
By David Bachrach
Late in the reign of Emperor Otto I (936–973) a Jewish traveler from Muslim Spain named Abraham ibn Jaqub recorded his experiences in the German kingdom and in the lands of the Slavs. Ibn Jaqub, as he is generally known today, had a great deal to say about economic matters and commented on merchant routes and great markets teeming with Turks, Jews, and Slavs, who were selling slaves, tin, furs, arms, wheat, horses, and riding equipment. He was also interested in political and military matters and discussed the construction of various types of fortifications, natural defenses provided by swamps and forests, as well as the roads that connected major strongholds of both the Ottonian king and various Slavic rulers. Ibn Jaqub was interested most of all in the realm of Mieszko I (c. 960–992) who is generally seen as the founder of the Piast state in Poland.
The Accounts of Ibn Jaqub and His Contemporaries
Ibn Jaqub stated that Mieszko ruled the largest of the Slavic lands and gained great wealth from its abundance in wheat, meat, honey, and fish. Mieszko is reported to have levied his taxes in minted money, although there are no finds of coins actually minted by Mieszko in the region during this period. If Ibn Jaqub was correct on this point, it is likely that the minted coinage came from a combination of sources. From the 930s onward, we see an influx of Arab silver, probably in exchange for the furs, honey, and slaves mentioned by Ibn Jaqub in his account. Then, in the last third of the tenth century, there was an influx of silver pennies from the German kingdom, likely in exchange for the same range of goods.
Ibn Jaqub also was fascinated by the military organization of Mieszko’s nascent polity. He emphasized that the main purpose to which Mieszko put the taxes that he levied was to build up an army. Each man in Mieszko’s army received a fixed salary every month. The troops included 3,000 armored riders, whom Ibn Jaqub identifies as exceptionally good warriors. With considerable exaggeration, he states that each of Mieszko’s mounted men was equal to 100 opponents. In addition to their salaries, these fighting men received gifts of clothing, horses, and weapons.
Ibn Jaqub’s account of the powerful polity under the rule of Mieszko is corroborated by his contemporary Widukind, a monk at the monastery of Corvey, who wrote his Deeds of the Saxons for an audience at the German royal court. Most of Widukind’s account deals with border conflicts between Mieszko and his Slavic neighbors. Widukind was interested in this topic as both the people he denotes as the Licicaviki (who may have been the Veleti) and the Slavic people known as the Wuloini hired the renegade Saxon aristocrat Wichmann to join them with his mercenary company and to lead their forces. Although initially suffering defeats at the hands of Wichmann, Mieszko eventually defeated the Saxon magnate and his Slavic allies.
A generation later, Bishop Thietmar of Merseburg (1009–1018) recorded in his Chronicon that Mieszko’s son Bolesław Chrobry (992–1025) was the ruler of a powerful state, worthy of being treated with caution if not respect by the Ottonian kings. Early in his reign, Bolesław provided a substantial force of 300 mounted and armored troops to aid Otto III (983–1002). Later, Bolesław proved a major thorn in the side of Henry II (1002–1024), who launched numerous, large-scale campaigns against his Polish neighbor in a largely unsuccessful effort to beat him into submission.
Traditionally, the emergence of a powerful state under Mieszko during the 960s, as recorded by writers of the later tenth and early eleventh century, was seen by Polish scholars as the final stage of a lengthy period of development. This conviction was based on the twelfth-century account by the so-called Gallus Anonymous, who wrote for the court of the Piast ruler Bolesław III (1107–1138). Gallus Anonymous specifically wrote in his Deeds of the Princes of the Poles about the reigns of Mieszko I’s father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
Although scholars recognized that there were legendary elements in the text, both historians and archaeologists sought to fit the material sources of information discovered within Poland into a chronology dating back to the late or even mid-ninth century. Consistent with the developing consensus around the Scandinavian origins of the Rus in Russia and Ukraine, the early Piasts also were given a Scandinavian origin. This was despite the fact that there were no written sources to support such an attribution, and the material finds within Poland itself offered no basis for identifying Scandinavian settlement there.
Particularly important for the scholarly consensus regarding the long prehistory of the Piast state before the emergence of Mieszko in the written record was the early dating of substantial fortifications. This was particularly the case for Gniezno and Poznań, which played central political, economic, and religious roles in the early Polish state. This archaeological work began before the Second World War and accelerated in the post-war period as the millennium of the first appearance of the Piast state in the written record approached. Communist rule in post-war Poland exerted a strong influence on scholarly investigations, and Marxist theories regarding “pre-feudal” social structures were layered over the existing consensus regarding the gradual emergence of the Polish state. In particular, the supposed emergence of the Polish state from the tribal structure of the Poloni was grafted on to the older story of the lengthy prehistory of the Piast dynasty.
Archaeology and the Birth of the Polish State
However, the turn of the twenty-first century saw the development of powerful new archaeological techniques. These were applied by historians and archaeologists alongside new ways of thinking about the development of the Polish state, which had followed the end of Communist rule. Of particular importance was the emergence of dendrochronological analysis that permitted archaeologists to identify the year in which a particular tree was cut, and thus to provide much more precise dating of fortifications. On this basis, it became clear that rather than a lengthy period of development, at least a dozen major fortifications were built in the core region of Piast power within a very short timeframe in the second quarter of the tenth century. Gniezno, which had been seen as the original kernel of the Polish state, appears to have been constructed no earlier than 940. As a group, these fortifications predate the first appearance of Mieszko in the written record by only a decade or two.
In addition to the fortifications, extensive archaeological work on open areas in Poland during the last three decades has revealed large numbers of previously unknown agricultural settlements. Notably, these settlements appear to have developed in clusters around the fortifications that were constructed in the 930s and 940s. By analogy with the Ottonian kingdom to the west, a number of scholars have interpreted these agricultural settlements as providing the economic wherewithal to support the maintenance of garrisons organized by the Piast rulers.
Overall, recent trends in Polish archaeology have entirely reshaped our understanding of the emergence of the Polish state. The influx of Arab silver coinage in the 930s has been connected with the development of a large-scale slave trade, the revenues from which provided the economic basis for the Piast rulers to establish themselves militarily in Poland. The accounts by Ibn Jaqub and Widukind of Corvey thus reveal the perception by outsiders that a powerful new state was emerging. As Thietmar of Merseburg makes clear, this state had reached a significant level of strength by the turn of the millennium.
David Bachrach is a Professor at the University of New Hampshire, where he researches medieval military history, particularly in England and Germany.
Click here to read more from David Bachrach
Further Readings:
Zbigniew Dalewski, “The Origins of the Piast Dynasty and Its Polity in Historiographical Perspective,” History Compass Journal 18.12 (2020).
D. Mishin, “Ibrahim ibn Ya’qub at -Turtishi’s Account of the Slavs from the Middle of the Tenth Century,” Annual of the Medieval Studies at the Central European University 2 (1994-1996), 184-199.
Widukind of Corvey: Deeds of the Saxons, translation and commentary by David S. Bachrach and Bernard S. Bachrach (Catholic University Press, Washington, D.C., 2014).
Top Image: Photo by Jan M / Wikimedia Commons
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