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The brief history of Poland
Part 1.
Since stone ages till consolidation of the Polish state.
- Early Poland
- Beginnings of the Polish State
- The Decline of Monarchical Power
- The Consolidation of Poland
1. Early Poland
The First Settlements of the Slavs
The classical and generally accepted historical theory designates central Europe and the mountain sides of the Carpathians as the habitat of the Slavs several centuries before Christ. According to this theory, the Prussians, Lithuanians, Letts, Jadzwings and Zmuds lived to the north and east of the Slavs, and the Ugro-Finnish peoples surrounded them in a great semicircle from the north of Riga to the lower Volga.
Recent studies based on linguistic data and on geographic nomenclature indicate that the distribution of peoples in the east of Europe was different from what was hitherto believed. According to these later studies, the Carpathians were originally inhabited by the Teutons; close to them on the west were the Celts; the Prussians, Lithuanians and Letts lived to the north, in the region now known as the province of Minsk. The Urgro-Finns had their settlements along the middle Volga, stretching from there through what is now central Russia to northern Poland and Prussia. Wedged in between these peoples were the ancient aboriginal Slavs, with their settlements along the River Niemen. The oldest names of these settlements were of an Indo-European and not Ugro-Finnish origin. It was only much later, about the beginning of our era, that the Slavs, pressed by the Ugro-Finnish peoples, who originally occupied the middle course of the Volga, moved further south; and occupied the abandoned settlements of the Teutonic and Celtic peoples, who migrated further west. It was then only that the Carpathians and the Vistula became the cradle of the Slavs, whence they spread in all directions in the first century after Christ. They reached the Don on the east, the Baltic on the north, the Adriatic on the south, and went as far as, the River Rhine on the west.
Archeology has not as yet determined the western most boundaries of Slavdom. The primitive custom of the Slavs of burning their dead, which lasted throughout the Stone Age and well into the Bronze, has deprived us of the oldest anthropological materials. It was not until the beginning of the Iron Age that burial was added to the ancient custom of incineration. In time, burial superseded the older custom almost completely and osseous remains, together with abundant decorations, implements, utensils and arms are found in the tier graves of the western Slavs as well as in the mounds of the east. For a long time the differences between the Slavic and Finnish graves in the east, and between the Slavic and Teutonic graves in the west, could not be definitely established. Thanks to the painstaking labors of the Danish archeologist, Sophus Willer, our knowledge of the matter has become more exact, and we can now distinguish between the Slavic and the Teutonic graves of the earlier (incineration) as well as of the later (burial) periods. The distinguishing features of the Slavic graves are ear chains made up of a number of circular "chopper-links" (Hackerringe), rings and earrings, made of twisted bronze wire, wooden pails with iron hoops, urns and earthenware of a peculiar shape, with carved, undulating and linear ornamentation on the outside surface. This contribution of archeology has thrown great light on the prehistoric anthropology of the Slavs and changed the view that the prehistoric Slav was of a brachocephalic type. This was inferred from the fact that the brachocephalic type is prevalent among the present day Slavs. The dolichocephalic skulls found in the excavations in Russia and Poland were attributed to the Teutons, and no attention was paid to the objects found with the skulls. Modern criteria established the fact that the Slav settlements existed not only at the mouth of the Vistula and on the, shores of the Baltic along the Elbe and Oder, but extended as far as the Rhine.
The westernmost outposts of the Slavs were very early annihilated by the Teutons, who pushed the Slavs toward the east. This early German "Drangnach Osten" was halted by the Slavic tribes living along the Warta (Warthe), Odra (Oder) and Notec (Netze) rivers, called Poloni by, the early Latin chronicles. They called themselves Polanie or inhabitants of the plains or fields, "pole" meaning field in the Slavic languages. They were a- strong, sturdy race, predominantly agricultural. Their extensive and fertile lands, reclaimed from primitive forests, stretching amidst the great chain of lakes and rivers, made possible an early intercourse between these peoples, who thereby attained a higher economic and social structure. It was in this region that the nucleus of the Polish Nation was formed.
The Growth of Military Organization
Owing to the frequent raids of the Norsemen the people of this region early organized an effective military force of defense. Under the protection of the military bands and their chiefs the fields could safely be cultivated and the little, fortified towns (grody), which became places for the transaction of intratribal business and barter for common worship and for the storage of goods during a foreign invasion could be successfully defended and the wrongs of the people redressed. The military bands and their leaders soon became the unifying force, and, the fortified towns the centers of a larger political organization, with the freeman( Kmiec or Kmeton) as its base. The first historical town of this nature was that of Kruszwica, on the Lake of Goplo. It soon gave place to that of Gniezno (called Gnesen by the Germans) or Knezno, further west, which by its very name indicates that it was the residence of a Knez, or prince or duke. In time Poznan (Posen) became the princely town, and the principality began to assert itself and to grow westward to the Oder, southward to the Barycz and eastward to the Pilica Rivers. In the east this territorial expansion met with the armed opposition of another large tribe, the Lenczanians, which was similarly organized under a military ruler and which occupied the plains between the Warta, Bzura and Pilica Rivers. Further east, in the jungles of 'the middle course of the Vistula to the north of Pilica, lived the most savage of the Polish tribes, the Mazurs. This tribe was the latest to come under the sovereignty of the principality which began its political existence on the bank of the Goplo Lake under the leadership of the wheelwright Piast, whose dynasty ruled the country till 1370. To the north of the Netze River between the Oder and the Baltic, lived the northernmost of the Polish tribes known as the Pomorzanie, or people living by the sea. "Po" in Polish means "by" and "morze" the sea; hence the name of the, province Pomorze, later changed by the Teutons to Pomerania.
Some historical writers attribute the change in the political organization of the primitive Polanie tribe to the influence of foreign commerce which for geographic reasons had early centered around the Goplo. At that period the lake was a very large body of water with a level at least ten feet higher than at present. The many small lakes now existing in the region were in all probability a part of Goplo, and the valleys of the vicinity constituted the bottom of the lake. There are many reasons to believe that such was the hydrography of the section in that remote age. In his description of Goplo, written five hundred years ago, Dlugosz, a Polish historian, speaks of a vast body of water, leading us to believe that the lake then was much larger than it is at the present time. There is reason to believe that five hundred years previous to this historian's time, before the primeval forests were cut, the lake was still larger. The supposition that Goplo at the time of its highest level was connected by means of small navigable streams with the river's Warta, Oder and the Vistula is quite plausible. The constructive 'fancy of the economic historian sees flotillas of the Pomeranian merchants moving to and fro from Stettin down the Oder and Netze. Here they met merchants from the east, the southeast and the southwest of Europe. The Byzantine, Roman and Scandinavian cultures met at Kruszwica, the largest town on the banks of this vast internal sea of Poland, and exercised a revolutionary effect upon the modes of thought and the political institutions of the tribe. Otherwise the sudden transformation which took place from the tribal and communal organization of the people, which still existed in the second half of the eighth century, to the militaristic structure of society with a strong princely power, as is known to have existed in the ninth century, becomes almost unaccountable. The pressure from the west and north was, no doubt, an important element, but it alone would hardly seem sufficient to explain the change. Economic and cultural reasons had unquestionably exercised a great influence in the rapid molding of a new form of political life which was more adapted to conditions that had arisen since the change from nomadic pursuits to settled agriculture.
Social and Political Structure of Early Slavic Life
Though somewhat differing in civilization, the tribes which later formed the Polish nation were kindred in their social, moral and religious ideas. They were scattered in large clans or gentes, bound by ties of blood. The lands belonging to a group or family were held in common. The work was done in common under the direction of the "starosta," the elder or patriarch of the gens. He was the chief executive, and had control over the crops and the allotments of work. It must, however, be noted in this connection that since the earliest times there existed private property in movables especially in tools. The Polish Slavs, unlike the others and especially the Southern Slavs, never had the so-called "zadrugas" or great communal households. From their early history they exhibited a strong individualistic propensity.
Important matters were decided by a popular assembly called "Wiec," to which belonged all the male adults of the community. It is impossible to determine accurately the relation between the power of the Wiec and that of the starosta. It varied from place to place and from time to time; sometimes the popular assembly maintained supreme power; sometimes the starosta gained ascendancy and endeavored to make his office hereditary. In many instances he was successful.
As elsewhere in a similar primitive social organization the individual did not exist outside of his clan. The solidarity of the members of the clan was the basis for protection and any injury sustained by a member of the clan at the hands of an outsider was an offense against the whole community. The principle of blood vengeance prevailed. He who did not belong to a clan had no protection and either perished or was made a slave, becoming the property of the clan as a unit, and, in later stages, of certain individuals within the community. The slaves were recruited chiefly from among the prisoners of war, but some were bought. In some instances murder was punishable by slavery. The children of slaves were retained by the masters as slaves.
Concomitant with the growth of the "grody" and the increased demands of the military princes, came the agglomeration and greater economic exploitation of the slaves in the interests of the small fortified towns and their garrisons. Settlements given over entirely to slaves sprang up around the "grody" and certain specified tasks were assigned to the inhabitants. Some settlements ground grain, some supplied bread or fish, others cared for horses and cattle, built boats or made shields, and the settlements were named for the industry in which the inhabitants engaged. This distribution of occupations among the settlements lasted well into the twelfth century, the occupations having become hereditary from father to son. The names of many such "purposely created" (narokowe) villages have survived until the present day.
The Religion of the Early Slavs
We do not possess adequate sources of information as to the primitive religion of the Polish Slavs. Like, all primitive peoples they deified the forces and phenomena of nature.
The surrounding world was filled with supernatural beings: gods, goddesses and spirits. It seems that none of the Slavic peoples had any idea of a god as a supreme being ruling the whole world. In some places certain deities were worshipped more than others, but there was no gradation or hierarchy of gods One feature of the Slavic religion, that distinguishes it from that of the Teutons was the calmness and serenity of the Slavic gods, a difference which emphasizes the peaceful character of the Slavs. The most generally recognized deity was Swiatowit (Indra), the Slavic, Zeus. He was pictured with four faces, hence seeing everything; with a cornucopia in his right hand a sword in his left hand. He was worshipped particularly in Pomorze (Pomerania) and on the Island of Rugia (Rugen). The other well known deities were Perun, the god of storms; Welles, the god of cattle; Lada, the goddess of order and beauty; Marzanna, the goddess of death; Dziewanna, the goddess of spring; Radegast, the protector of merchants and guests. In addition, the woods and waters were filled with nymphs, sirens and fauns. The Slavs believed in the immortality of soul and in an afterworld, with punishment and reward. The dead were the objects of particular care, and funerals were very elaborate and carried on with great pomp. Certain days of the year were set aside for offerings and prayers to the dead. Some people, particularly women, had special powers of communication with the spirits of the dead, and their services as intermediaries were often sought. Generally speaking, however, this class of sorcerers and magicians did not develop into a permanent priestly class. The only exception to this rule were the Slavs on the Elbe and in Rugia among whom a class of professional priests is known to have existed.
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2. Beginnings of the Polish State
The Influence of the Roman Catholic Church
The recorded political history of the Polish Nation begins with the conversion of the people to Christianity, which took place in the year 963 AD, when the Polish Prince Mieszko 1, 960-982, facing a German invasion, forsook the faith of his fathers and by so doing halted the march of ruthless extermination by the Germans, ostensibly undertaken in the name of Christianity. Exhausted by previous wars with his northern neighbors and realizing that he could not withstand the triumphant armies of Otto I of Saxony, founder of the Holy Roman Empire, conqueror of France, Denmark, Burgundy and Bohemia, Mieszko promptly recognized the sovereignty of the German Emperor and embraced the new faith. Closely following the official introduction of Christianity and the establishment of the first Bishopric in Poznan (Posen) comes the overweening influence of the western world.
The monasteries established in Poland were branches of Italian, French and German abbeys. The foreign methods of organization and of agriculture brought over by them from the west exercised a very powerful and beneficent influence upon the productiveness of the Polish farmer and upon his modes of life. He was taught the use of more developed agricultural implements and was shown how to drain swamps, build better houses, plant orchards, and do many other things, which he had not known.
The establishment of a monastery was almost, invariably accompanied, by an influx of foreign laborers. They were brought over to produce certain things, which the natives could not, and which were needed by the friars. The craftsmen, however, were not the only foreign working element, which arrived in Poland at the time. The country was changing, from its former basis to more intense agriculture, and this change necessitated a larger labor force, and many German peasants settled in Poland. Moreover, the grants of land given to the monasteries in the various sections of the principality did not, as a rule, include the right to the population settled on these donated domains. To do the necessary work on their extensive estates the monasteries were oftentimes compelled to resort to foreign labor which, when imported by them, was chiefly non-free in character. In this way, the monasteries, which at the time of their introduction into Poland were the only large private landowners, supplied an example of organization of large manors and the utilization of the half free class of foreign peasants who became attached to the soil (adscriptitii).
By adopting the Church of Rome, Poland, like Bohemia, Moravia and Croatia joined the common wealth of the nations of western Europe and became spiritually as well as socially separated from the rest of Slavdom. The double set of influences at work, the Byzantian and the Roman, not only cleft the Slavic peoples in twain, but created two entirely distinct civilizations which frequently clashed with each other in a very severe manner.
Since the days of Mieszko I the Polish forms of political and spiritual life have been consciously molded according to western models. In the internal administration of the Polish principality the organization of the German burgwards was followed. The patriarchal form of life was gradually dissolving and the "grody" were combined into counties administered by governors called "castellans," from the Latin word "casiellum" or castle. These officials were the personal representatives of the Prince, and were recruited chiefly from the descendants of the chiefs of the subjugated tribes or the earls of the former democratic townships. They soon formed the nucleus of a feudal aristocracy. The political life of the people became more centralized, and, as in western Europe, more subjected to the power of the feudal lords.
With the growth of the power of the Prince the burdens of the people grew heavier. Mieszko was compelled to maintain a large and permanent standing army to preserve the unity of his principality. The taxes of the people had to be increased for the maintenance of this army. In addition to the support of the army, of the Prince and his Court, and the requirement of supplying them with food, forage and lodging, greater personal services were requested for the building and upkeep of the fortified towns and roads. Furthermore, the introduction of tithes for the maintenance of the churches and the clergy, mostly foreign and whom the people hated added much to the pressure put upon them.
The Growth of the State
In compensation for the added economic burdens came a powerful swing of national development and political consolidation. Boleslav the Brave, 982-1025 AD, the oldest son of Mieszko, having disposed of his brothers, with whom he was joint heir to the domains of his father, became the single ruler of Poland and determined to push her boundaries far and wide. After having successfully checkmated the Bohemian and Ruthenian invasions, Boleslav defeated the Pomeranians and conquered the Baltic seacoast. In the year 999 AD the old commercial town of Cracow was annexed, and after beating back a Hungarian invasion, Boleslav added Trans-Carpathian Slavonia to Poland.
With the death of Emperor Otto III (1002 AD) the imperial branch of the House of Saxony became extinct, and during the interregnum a period of internal dissension ensued in Germany and Italy. At the same time a civil war was in progress in Bohemia, and, taking advantage of the situation, Boleslav entered Prague, proclaimed himself Prince of Bohemia, and fused the two principalities into one State (1003 AD). But this did not prove to be a lasting conquest, as very soon after Henry II of Bavaria became the German Emperor, and a joint expedition of Germans and Bohemians, was sent against Boleslav. A bloody and devastating war began which lasted fourteen years. Boleslav was compelled to abandon his claims to Bohemia. He retained however, most of the conquered territory of the other Slavic peoples on the west and east, the German marks between the Oder and the Elbe, the city of Kiev and many towns of Red Russia. At the end of his reign Poland extended from the Baltic on the north to the Danube on the south, and from the rivers Bug and Dniester in the east to the Elbe in the west.
In addition to his qualities as a warrior, Boleslav was a statesman and diplomat of conspicuous ability. He realized that his achievements would not be lasting unless the ancient Slavic law of equal rights of inheritance of all the male heirs was changed to that of primogeniture. This could be achieved only by making the Polish principality a kingdom. The Pope desirous of curbing the power of the German Emperor but fearing him deferred giving his consent. Another reason for is hesitancy to acquiesce in Boleslav's request was his disinclination to concede to the Polish monarch the power of nominating bishops which his investment with royal prerogatives would carry. Not awaiting the Pope's final decision, the impetuous Boleslav convoked the Polish bishops, at Gniezno (Gnesen), the seat of the archbishopric, and was crowned there by the archbishop amid great splendor, and in the presence of his feudatories and his great army of twenty thousand warriors. This was a bold defiance to the German Emperor, whose sovereignty he ceased to recognize (1024 AD).
The Relation of Poland to the German Empire
A coalition of the German Empire with Bohemia and all the other conquered countries, which came under the rule of Boleslav, led to a war which, by the year 1040, left Poland stripped of almost all her previous conquests. The internal strife between the two sons of Boleslav the Brave and the revolt of the people against oppressive taxation and brutal treatment, experienced at the hands of the Church and the feudal lords, contributed to the Polish defeat and plunged the country into a state of chaos and dissolution which for a time threatened its very existence. Cities, castles, churches and monasteries were burned and demolished, and in many places the people reverted to paganism after having murdered the hated priests and monks.
As in many other instances, so in this crisis in Polish history, outside circumstances averted the disruption of the Kingdom of Boleslav. The growing power of Bohemia aroused the fears and disquietude of the German Emperor, Henry III. A strong Poland was needed to curb the Bohemian ambitions. The Germans lent their aid to Kazimir the Restorer (1040-1058 AD), who, with the help of his loyal feudatories, reconquered some of the lost provinces, restored unity and peace, and began to devote himself to internal reorganization along German lines. He established a bureaucracy and an ecclesiastical hierarchy, rebuilt cities and churches, and imposed very heavy taxes and duties on the people in an effort to reduce them into complete subjugation to the warriors and clergy. In compensation for the aid of Germany, Kazimir recognized the sovereignty of the German Emperor and renounced the title of King.
The political history of Poland from the introduction of Christianity to the end of the XIIth century turns around the relation of the Polish sovereigns to the German emperors. The suzerainty of the German Emperor was recognized by the rulers of Poland only when the Germans were in a position to force them into this relation. As soon as either internal dissensions or foreign wars enfeebled the power of the German Empire, the Polish state immediately tried to secure emancipation.
The Alliance with the Holy See
It fell to the lot of Boleslav the Bold, or Generous, the successor of Kazimir (1058-1079 AD), a man of power and strong will, to restore the glory of the Kingdom of Boleslav the Brave by an alliance with the Pope. In the beginning of the existence of the Polish state Mieszko I, in an endeavor to loosen the ties binding him to the German Empire, had sought to establish an entente with the Pope John XV, and confided Poland to the protection of the Apostolic See. In token of this relation an annual gift, known as St. Peter's pence, was sent to the Pope by the King. In establishing direct relations with the Pope, Poland endeavored to eliminate the intervention of the Emperor in her foreign relations. At times under the pressure of the Emperor, the relations with Rome became less intimate, but no opportunity was missed to re-establish them. As a matter of fact, the annual St. Peter's pence was regularly sent to Rome until the end of the XIIth century.
During the reign of Boleslav II the Bold, occurred that famous struggle for supremacy between Pope Gregory VII, Hildebrand and the Emperor Henry IV. In recognition of the assistance shown him in this conflict, the Pope crowned Boleslav as independent King in 1076 AD.
Seeking revenge, the Emperor recognized the Bohemian ruler as King and offered him the Polish provinces of Cracow and Silesia. A war followed which led to internal dissensions in Poland. In carrying out rigorously the reforms of Hildebrand, the King made many enemies among the clergy. His despotic character was also resented by the nobility. Under the leadership of the king's brother, Wladyslav Herman, a revolution broke out. The Bishop of Cracow interdicted the king and joined the Bohemians. For this he paid the penalty of death. The story goes that the infuriated king personally murdered the Bishop in the church at mass. Recent studies however, show that the bishop was tried for treason by the King's Court, was found guilty and was executed.
The civil war resulted in the king's defeat and he fled the country. Cracow and southern Poland went to Bohemia, and Poland once more became a feudatory of the German Empire, and the new ruler, Wladyslav Herman (1070-1102 AD), lost his title of king. By a skillful playing off of Poland and Bohemia against each other, and by the active encouragement of internal hereditary strifes, the German Emperors kept both of these western Slavic nations from developing into powerful states.
Polish Laws of Inheritance
A principal cause for the constantly recurring civil wars was the Slavic laws of inheritance, which Boleslav the Brave failed to abolish, and which Kazimir tried to modify by establishing the so-called seniorate. This was a system of inheritance whereby all sons were equal sharers in their father's estate, but the oldest son, the senior, became the supreme lord over all of them. It was a compromise measure designed to retain the old customs and laws of Poland, and to preserve at the same time the political unity, which was gravely threatened after the death of each ruler.
The years following the death of Wladyslav Herman witnessed one of these terrific internal strifes which, in this instance, was aggravated by a German invasion, finally repelled by Boleslav the Wrymouthed (1102-1138 AD), who succeeded also in conquering Pomerania and extending the Polish possessions on the Baltic Seaboard, far across the Oder up to and including the Island of Rugia (Rugen). He died, however, a feudatory of the German Emperor.
Mindful of the dangers of another civil strife after his death, he obtained the sanction of the Emperor and of the Pope to the Kazimirian principle of seniorate. The aristocracy of the land, which had grown during the years in wealth and class-consciousness, was opposed to a strong centralized government. They preferred a number of smaller principalities, which precluded the centralization of power in one ruler, and gave more offices and freedom to themselves. It was due to their antagonism that the imperial and Papal sanction of the seniorate failed to bring the desired results.
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3. The Decline of Monarchical Power
The Prerogatives of the Grand Duke of Cracow
Following his theory of seniorate, Boleslav the Wrymouthed divided the country into five principalities Silesia, Great Poland*, Mazovia, Sandomir and Cracow., The first four provinces were divided among his four sons who became independent rulers. The fifth province, that of Cracow, was to be added to the senior among the Princes who, as the Grand Duke of Cracow, was the representative of the whole of Poland.
No sooner did Boleslav die than his oldest son, Wladyslav, conceived the idea of restoring Poland's unity by depriving his brothers of their shares. He met with the determined opposition of the Church and the magnates, who clearly recognized, that a centralized power was detrimental to their interests and influence. The Archbishop of Gnesen hurled an anathema at Wladyslav and two powerful potentates organized an army against him. A civil war ensued which, despite the help received from outside and the interference of Friedrich Barbarossa, ended in the defeat. of the Grand Duke of Cracow. This marks the beginning of the era of disintegration of the young, Polish state and the decline of monarchical power in Poland. The principalities of Silesia, Great, Poland and Mazovia had become divided into smaller units, with further sub-divisions and occasional fusions. Separatist interests and jealousies led to almost incessant warfare.
The ruler of Cracow retained the title of Dux Poloniae, the Duke of Poland, but the security of his office depended upon his relations with the aristocracy and clergy. Kazimir the Just (1177-1194) had been obliged to summon a council of nobles and clergy and to surrender certain of his rights and privileges. He was also compelled to promise to call such councils when important matters of state were to be decided upon. At the Council or Synod of Lenczyca, held in 1180, the Church, under the threat of an interdict enjoined the Duke from the exercise of his right to the personal property of deceased bishops (Ius Spolii) and to certain levies for his officials and representatives. In return for these concessions or immunities the Council abolished the seniorate and vested in the line of Kazimir the Just the perpetual right to the principality of Cracow. Thus the right of seniority in the House of Piast the Wheelwright gave way to the law of primogeniture in the line of Kazimir the Just. This right was frequently contested by armed interference. The authority of the Duke of Cracow was not adequately defined by law and was nil in actual practice. The heads of the smaller principalities were, in fact, independent rulers. They were free to establish alliances for defensive and offensive warfare, to make treaties and to maintain independent customs barriers, In other words, Poland of the XIII century was no longer one solid political entity. The sovereignty of the former state became diffused among a number of smaller independent political units, with only the common bonds of language, race, religion and tradition.
The Restriction of the Sovereign Power of the Princes
The princely power was theoretically unlimited. By the "grace of God" the princes were absolute lords of their dominions. Actually, the exercise of their power depended on the strength or weakness of the barons and clergy and on their own skill in playing off the interests of the one against those of the other. The barons and the clergy became very powerful in the XIIIth century. Both classes acquired large land holdings with jurisdiction over their subjects. The Church grew constantly stronger on account of its splendid organization, its accumulation of wealth and the moral control it exercised over the people. Then, too, it had become more independent since the adoption of the Gregorian reforms, which deprived the king of the power to appoint bishops. By their presence at the Councils of the Prince, called "Colloquia," they, in conjunction with the barons, exercised direct control over the affairs of the principality. The Colloquium was called at such times as state business demanded. In addition to the relatives of the prince, the barons and prelates were invited to attend it, and at these gatherings matters of foreign policies, as well as of internal administration, were determined. The granting of franchises, the fixing of taxes and matters of like nature were decided at these meetings, and at times the Colloquium also served as the Prince's Court. The Colloquium was the nucleus of what later developed into the Senate.
German Settlements in Poland
Synchronous with the metamorphosis in the structure of the Polish State and sovereignty was an economic and social impoverishment of the country. Harassed by civil strifes and foreign invasions, like that of the Tartars in 1241 AD., the small principalities became enfeebled and depopulated. The incomes of the Princes began to decrease materially. This led them to take steps toward encouraging immigration from foreign countries. A great number of German peasants, who, during the interregnum following the death of Friedrich II Hohenstaufen, suffered great oppression at the hands of their lords, were induced to settle in Poland under certain very favorable conditions. German immigration into Poland had started spontaneously at an earlier period, about the end of the XI century, and was the result of overpopulation in the central provinces of the Empire. Advantage of the existing tendency had already been taken by the Polish Princes in the XIIth century for the development of cities and crafts. Now the movement became intensified.
Studies of the development of the German settlements in Poland indicate that they sprang up along the wide belt which was laid waste by the Tartars in 1241. It was a stretch of land comprising present Galicia and Southern Silesia. Prior to the Tartar invasion these two provinces were thickly settled and highly developed. Through them ran the commercial highways from the East and the Levant to the Baltic and the west of Europe. Cracow and Breslau were large and prosperous towns. After the Tartar barbarians retired the country was in ruins and the population either scattered or exterminated. Large numbers were taken prisoners. The refugees went north and helped to colonize the sparsely inhabited areas and to clear the forests to the east of the Vistula in Mazovia. On the heels of the receding Tartars came the Germans. Theirs was a movement along the line of least resistance. The new settlers were spared the hard labor of the pioneers as the soil they occupied had been used for arable purposes centuries before. There was no need of clearing primeval forest or colonizing an utter wilderness.
It would be a mistake to think that all the newcomers were Teutons. Slavic tribes, at that time, separated Poland from Germany, and the Germans who came to Poland went through this Slavic screen and brought with them numerous autochthons of the border Slavic lands. Upon arriving in Poland the settlers from the west restored agriculture, rebuilt the cities and came into the possession of all the advantages the fertile soil and the favorable geographic position gave them.
The entrepreneur (known by the Latin name of villicator), who brought over a number of settlers, received, in addition to the compensation for his services, a piece of land for the colony of which he became came the chief (woyt), with hereditary right to certain taxes. These rights he could concede or sell. He was also the judge of the colony. He was free from all duties except those of a knight and a tax collector, and responsible to nobody except to the Prince. The settlers, after dividing among themselves the land granted to them by the Prince, proceeded to build the city with its town hall, market-place and church in the center. The streets ran radius-like from the center. The town was surrounded by a mound and ditch, beyond which lay the arable fields, pastures and woods. The settlers were given every privilege of building the towns in the way to which they were accustomed, and to govern themselves according to the practice of their native country. For a number of years, varying in each case, the settlers were free from all taxes or duties. After the expiration of the term of years they had to pay a stipulated annual tax into the Prince's treasury. The tax was to be paid in money, not like that of the Polish grody, in kind and services. In addition they were, in some instances, required to maintain defensive walls, towers and gates, and to supply impedimenta for war and armed servants. In their internal affairs they were given full home rule and were free from all interference by representatives of the Prince. They governed themselves according to German law, the chief (woyt) and a chosen jury constituting the court. Appeals from the decisions of this court could be taken to the Court of the Prince or to the higher courts in the German cities. The administration was in the hands of a City Council, consisting of the burgomaster and advisors, either elected by the people or appointed by the Prince, this depending on the terms of the charter. The artisans established guilds which regulated the quality and price of products. The Prince had the sole authority to grant town charters. Sometimes he gave this power to the feudal and ecclesiastical lords of the principality.
In this way beside the Polish "grody" sprang into existence a large number of towns, with German laws, customs and. institutions. The ancient towns of Cracow, Lwow, Poznan, Plock and others received a large mixture of German population, and became regarded by the metropolitan towns in Germany as their branches and as outposts of German trade and civilization in Poland. The common law of the country was supplanted by the Magdeburg and Halle law, German silver coins became the money of the country, and all municipal records began to be kept in the German language. Had it not been for the Tartar invasion, Polish towns would have developed normally and created a city population truly Polish, which would have been organically allied to the whole social and national fabric. As it was the cities became oases for a foreign element, hostile, or at least indifferent, to the country, and this condition became responsible in a measure for the excessive prerogatives gained in the future by one class of the Polish nation, the nobility, who alone bore the brunt of national defense.
Similar to the growth of German towns was the development by colonization of villages based on German law. To induce settlers in the unoccupied areas the Prince granted tracts of land exempt from taxes for a number of years. All the settlers on these lands were absolutely free. The only obligation was the payment of an annual rent to the Prince, collected for him by the organizer of the settlement, who, in compensation for his work, received in hereditary right a large grant of land, a flour mill or tavern. In addition to the duties of a tax collector the organizer, called soltys, was to render military service and act as the police officer of the village. He was also the presiding officer of the jury chosen by the villagers. In all administrative matters the village, like the city, had complete home rule. Except for the town hall and the town council the villages did not differ much from the towns. With the consent of the Prince, barons and prelates could either establish new free settlements or change the legal basis of the already existing native villages in their domains from the Polish to the German law.
On account of the advantages that the German method of settling gave to land owners, it became very popular with them and exercised a great influence upon the administrative, economic and particularly, political life of the country. The influx of great masses of the German element, that had all the support of their native country as well as of the military Teutonic Orders, which settled on the Baltic seacoast in the beginning of the XIIIth century and from its earliest days engaged in a ruthless war of extermination on the autochthonous population under the guise of spreading Christ's gospel, destroyed political cohesion.
Jewish Immigration to Poland
An additional foreign element began to settle in Poland in great numbers at the same time. The Jews, persecuted all over Europe during the Crusades, fled to Poland where they were received in a most hospitable manner. They settled in the towns and began to carry on commerce and banking. As illustrative of the friendliness of the Poles toward these newcomers may be cited - the statue of Kalisz, promulgated by Prince Boleslav in the year 1246 by which the Jews received every protection, of the law and which imposed heavy penalties for any insults to their cemeteries, synagogues and, other sanctuaries. About the same time Prince Henry IV of Wroclaw (Breslau) imposed heavy penalties upon those who accused Jews of ritual murder. Anyone who made such an accusation had to prove it by six witnesses, three Gentiles and three Jews, and in case of his inability to prove the charge in a satisfactory manner he was himself found guilty and subject to severe punishment.
While the Jews adapted themselves to their new environment. and coalesced, to a degree, with the native population, the German element, backed by their government, became aggressive and sought to dominate the country. The rich German town people were supported in their endeavors by the clergy, who arrived from Germany in great numbers and occupied prominent church positions. It was with the aid of the Germans that the dauntless but Germanized Leszek the Dark (1278-1288), and after him Henry Probus (1289-1290), who joined the ancient Polish Duchy of Silesia to, the German Empire, ascended the throne of Cracow. The German influence grew disquietingly. A strong antagonistic movement arose and the clash of the two forces constitutes the pith of Polish history during the next century. The conflict resulted in complete Polonization of the German element and among the descendants of these settlers there have been many of the most ardent Polish patriots. This is eloquent testimony of the great assimilative powers of the people and of the state building capabilities of the Poles.
* The name Great Poland (Wielkopolska in Polish) was not meant to indicate that the principality was large than the others, but that it was "older" or "original" Poland. The Latin name Major Polonia was mistakenly translated as "Great Poland". The principalities of Cracow and Sandomir, having come later into the fold of the Polish state, were named "younger Poland" but in the course of time, in contrast to the misnomer "Great Poland," became popularly known as "Little Poland" (Malopolska in Polish).
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4. The Consolidation of Poland
The Acquisition of Pomerania
That part of the Baltic seaboard which lies between the Vistula in the east and the Oder in the west, and bounded by the Notec on the south, was inhabited by the Pomeranians a cognate Slavic people, who, separated from Poland by virgin forests, long resisted the numerous armed attempts to bring them into the fold of the Polish state. No regular wars could be carried on with them but guerilla warfare, resembling that of Charlemagne with the Saxons, lasted for over a century. Finally in 1109, by a brilliant victory near the town of Naklo on the Notec River, Boleslav the Wrymouthed succeeded in forcing the Pomeranian princes to recognize the sovereignty of Poland.
The administration of the newly acquired territory was left to the native princes. The people of the southern part of Pomerania accepted Christianity and became incorporated into the diocese of Great Poland.
The advantages secured by the accession of the seacoast could not be immediately exploited by the Poles, for it was necessary to defend vital national interests against a new German invasion, sent by the Emperor Henry V in the year 1109. After a defeat at Wroclaw (Breslau) the Germans were forced to retreat, having devastated a large area of Poland and exterminated many prosperous towns. In this war the city of Glogow (Glogau) became famous for its desperate defense, in the course of which the children of the town, captured by the Germans and carried in front of their siege machines, were killed by their fathers.
After the war with the German Empire Pomerania again claimed the attention of the Polish sovereign. Aided by the Prussians, a neighboring people on their east, the Pomeranians, under the leadership of Swietopelk of Naklo, rebelled. The rebellion was crushed and Pomerania, together with the cities of Naklo, Santok, Czarnkow, Uscie and others, was incorporated into the Duchy of Great Poland. Suspecting other princes to the east of Pomerania to be in sympathy with Swietopelk, the victorious Boleslav the Wrymouthed crossed the Oder, conquered the Lutics, another Slavic tribe on the Baltic, took their chief city of Stettin and went further west, vanquishing the Slavic peoples of Mecklenburg and Brandenburg and along the Baltic sea coast up to and including the Holy Island of Rugia (Rugen) in 1121. Since that time the name of Pomerania has been applied to the whole stretch of the Baltic seacoast extending from the mouth of the Vistula to the Isle of Rugia.
Boleslav endeavored to introduce Christianity into the conquered territories but all attempts proved futile until the arrival of the mission of St. Otto, the chaplain of Boleslav's father, who, instead of appearing as a poor ascetic, came, aided by the power of the Polish sovereign, in full dazzling splendor of a prince of the Church and won the hearts of the people by his gifts and kindness. By 1130, when the first bishopric in Pomerania was established at Wolin, and the people of the country, who had so persistently fought Christianity, were all converted by the apostolic endeavors of the Polish ruler and his saintly bishop.
Further extensions of Polish influence to the west, or even a firm grounding of the Poles in the newly conquered territories, were rendered impossible, first by an unfortunate war with Hungary, 1132-1135, and then, after the death of Boleslav the Wrymouthed in 1138, by the previously described division Poland into five independent principalities with the ensuing civil strifes and the disappearance of a constructive political polity.
About the year 1147 the Margrave Albrecht the Bear, Henry the Lion of Saxony, and the Danish King Waldemar the Great organized a joint expedition against the Northwestern Slavs. The expedition crowned the centuries long efforts to subdue the Slavs. On the Slavic lands, between the Elbe and the Oder, Albrecht founded a new German Duchy called Brandenburg from the old Slavic town of Branibor and settled it with Teuton colonizers, mostly from the Netherlands. The Saxon Prince and the Danish King divided the Slav territories on the lower Elbe and the Island of Rugia. The Lutic Prince of Stettin became at first a feudatory of the Saxon Prince and later of the German Emperor. The autochtonous Slavic population of these regions was either exterminated or pushed into Poland, which lost all of the seacoast west of the Vistula. Following this, a considerable number of German colonizers occupied the lands watered by the lower course of the Vistula.
The Polish Crusade Against the Prussians
To offset the losses in the west the Polish princes turned their attention to the Prussians who occupied the Baltic seaboard from the right shore of the Vistula to the Niemen, and ex tended south, through bogs and forests, as far as the Narev. Further south of them, on the Narev and the right shore of the Bug, west of the Mazurs, lived the Jadzwings, a tribe closely related to the Prussians. Both the Prussians and the Jadzwings came under partial Polish suzerainty by the end of the XIIth century during the reign of Kazimir the Just, 1177-1194 , but this did not prevent their constant ferocious raids on Mazovia, which proved most exasperating to the Mazurian princes. All Christian missions among the Prussians were unavailing. They clung tenaciously to paganism. In order to make it possible to wage constant and unrelenting war against these heathens, Pope Honorius III relieved the Poles from expeditions to Palestine and proclaimed throughout Germany a crusade against the Prussians. Two such crusades were undertaken, one in 1219 and another in 1222, but both without perceptible success.
The Political Aggressive mess of the Knights of the Cross
After a defeat suffered at the hands of the fierce Prussians, Conrad, Prince of Mazovia, decided to turn for help to the Knights of the Cross, the German order, which after returning from Palestine settled on the Baltic in the early part of the XIIIth century soon after the Knights of the Sword established themselves at the estuary of the Dvina for the purpose, of converting the Lithuanians. For their help in the campaign against the Prussians, Conrad granted to them the districts of Chelmno and Nieszawa in Mazovia. It was customary for princes in those days to bestow such large territorial gifts on ecclesiastical corporations, but the grants did not involve the loss of princely sovereignty over them. Not so did the Knights of the Cross regard this cession. Their ambition from the first was to found an independent state on Polish territory, and in pursuance of this design they obtained, prior to the receipt of the grants of Conrad, a charter from Emperor Friedrich II to organize all the lands they might acquire or conquer into a feudal state of the German Empire. They also obtained from Pope Gregory IX the privilege of complete freedom from any church intervention in their territories.
With such plans in mind they arrived in Mazovia in 1228. They were received with open arms by the rulers and the people, and were supported most loyally throughout their campaign against the Prussians, which lasted over half a century, until the whole of Prussia as far as the Niemen was conquered. Having finished with the Prussians they turned against the heathen Lithuanians who lived to the east of Prussia, along the middle Niemen and its tributaries. They soon began to exhibit their real designs with reference to the Poles, who were not heathens, and who, through the Mazurian prince, had induced them to undertake the crusade against the Prussians and who had bestowed upon them help and friendship.
The Causes of Political Consolidation
The pressure of Brandenburg in the northwest and of the Order of the Cross in the northeast led to a realization, on the part of the Poles, of the imminent danger from the Teutons and the need of concerted action against them. Moreover, the constant civil wars between the Polish princes were ruining the people and thwarting the economic, social and political progress of the country. The need of a fusion of the small political units into a powerful kingdom became apparent, particularly among the clergy, who were the most enlightened and educated people of the time and who by their church organization formed the one truly Polish institution.
This budding tendency toward the unification of the state was strongly supported by the cities, as, in addition to the wars, the various tariff restrictions and the multifarious other taxes hampered the development of commerce and industry.
The period preceding the unification of the country abounded in warfare and bloodshed. Prince Przemyslav, of Great Poland, with the consent of the Pope, crowned himself King of Poland in Gniezno (Gnesen) in 1295, but a few months later was murdered by the agents of Brandenburg. After his death the struggle between the various princes who strove for the high dignity again became acute. As a compromise Waclav, King of Bohemia, was crowned King of Poland in 1300. All Poland, except Mazovia, came under his sceptre. The unification, however, entailed the loss of national independence and subjected Poland to a rigid administrative rule of Bohemia and to a strong German influence, which at that time had already become predominant in Bohemia.
Difficulties with the Knights of the Cross
and the Disloyalty of the German Settlers
One of the princes of Great Poland, Wladyslav Lokietek, 1306-1333, an able and enterprising man, who, by the unification lost his title to sovereignty, fled abroad, enlisted the help of the powerful Pope Boniface VIII, and, choosing an appropriate moment when Bohemia became involved in a war with Hungary, appeared in Poland. He met with a cordial reception in all the parts of country. Cracow and the whole Little Poland, Kujawy at the lower course of Vistula, and Pomerania, joined him. Great Poland alone chose another prince of their own, and Mazovia did not participate in the struggle.
At this juncture the Margrave of Brandenburg invaded Pomerania and conquered it. Lokietek, at war with Great Poland, asked the Order of the Cross to help him against the Markgrave. This they did but after defeating the Brandenburgians turned against the Pomeranians. Following a most cruel slaughter of the population, the province was annexed by the Knights, who established there at the city of Malborg on the Vistula, their permanent capital.
They immediately proceeded to Germanize this newly conquered province. By joining hands with the other German order they formed an extensive and powerful Teutonic Empire. In this way Poland became isolated from the sea by a formidable foe who commanded at the time the admiration of all Europe. Lokietek hesitated to risk a war with the Order. The case was submitted to the Pope who issued a decree commanding the Knights to restore Pomerania and repay to Lokietek all war expenditures. This they refused to do.
While the difficulties with the Knights were growing, the German element in the city of Cracow succeeded in organizing a rebellion against Lokietek in favor of a Germanized prince. The rebellion, led by the mayor and the bishop, was crushed and the Germans dealt with very severely. The city was deprived of its home rule and was for a time governed by appointive officers of the prince. The severe punishment of Cracow had a discouraging effect upon the German troublemakers in other Polish cities. They soon abandoned their nationalistic political aspirations and returned to peaceful vocations.
Lokietek, Poland's Political Sovereignty and the Ensuing Wars
Similarly successful were Lokietek's expeditions against his enemies in Great Poland. Before long all the Polish principalities united into one political state. The inherently constructive force of the Polish genius asserted itself despite the powerful influences that were arrayed against it. Lokietek was but an incarnation of the national spirit that had produced Boleslav the Brave and Boleslav the Wrymouthed and that revealed itself most powerfully in the days of Jagiello and on many subsequent occasions in the course of Polish history. The union brought about by the leadership of Lokietek was, however, personal at first. The sovereign was the only bond that kept the various provinces together. In their internal organization the component parts of the unified state were completely autonomous and governed in exactly the same way as they had been before the consolidation took place. To give to the political unity an adequate outward expression Lokietek strove for royal dignity. With the consent of the Pope he was crowned in 1320 in Cracow as an independent King of Poland.
This act led to a prolonged and costly war with the German Emperor, who was antagonistic to the Pope, and, having renewed the struggle of the Emperor against Rome, still regarded Poland as his vassal: Emperor Ludwig joined forces with John of Luxemburg, King of Bohemia, who, as a son-in-law of Waclav, claimed the right to the throne of Poland, and with the Markgrave of Brandenburg declared war on Poland.
Foreseeing the war, Lokietek forged a chain of friendships: first with the Scandinavian countries, then with Hungary, by giving away in marriage his daughter Elizabeth to the Hungarian King, Karl Robert. He also approached the heathen Lithuanians, which was a bold step for a Christian prince to take, and in 1325 his only son, Kazimir, married Anna Aldona, the daughter of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gedymin.
The struggle began in 1327 and was not terminated at the time of Lokietek's death in 1333. The war proved disastrous. By the treaty of Trenczyn in Hungary, the new Polish King Kazimir, 1333-1370, acknowledged the right of Bohemia to suzerainty over Silesia and Mazovia. The pearl of the Polish crown the westernmost province of Silesia, was thus for centuries torn from Poland. Kazimir, however, succeeded in retaining Polish spiritual influence over the province by insisting that it not be severed from the Archbishopric at Gnesen, and Mazovia soon reverted, in 1355, into the fold of the Polish state as a. feudatory of the Crown.
Final peace with the Knights of the Cross was established in 1343 after a drawn-out suit brought against them by the order of the Pope Benedict XII for the recovery of Pomerania and other occupied territories. Demands had also been made for compensation for their inhuman treatment of the native population and their wanton destruction of life and property. The court rendered a verdict in favor of Poland. Conscious of their superior military power they refused to obey the verdict and Poland had to submit to the loss of Pomerania. Kujawy, however, and the other occupied territories were returned to Poland.
The Acquisition of Ruthenian Territories
Kazimir could not undertake another war for the restoration of Pomerania, as the country was exhausted and as his attention was directed to Ruthenia where, on account of the extinction of the reigning dynasty he had to press his claims as against those of other pretenders. After a prolonged war with the Tartars and Lithuanians, the western part of Volhynia was annexed to Poland and the Prince of Podolia recognized the over lordship of the Polish sovereign. Kazimir endeavored to reach the seacoast of the Black Sea but his expedition was unsuccessful.
The acquisition of new lands in the east with a population element different in religion and lower in civilization, together with the chaos that existed in the internal affairs of the country ruined by internal dissensions and by long and bloody foreign wars, led Kazimir to devote his thoughts and energy to the material upbuilding of the land, and to the restoration of law and order in his vast domains.
Internal Reforms
The law of the country was a compound of the native common law and of the German law. It was differently interpreted in the different localities. The chaos gave rise to injustice in the application of the law and its enforcement, and pointed very clearly to the acute need of uniformity and of establishing a firm, well defined judicial and administrative system. In 1347 a special council was called to Wislica to improve the laws. The results of their labors of many years, known as, the Statutes of Wislica, where a body of uniform laws with special regard for the local conditions of the several sections of the country. It may be noted in this connection that Poland in the time of Kazimir had a large number of eminent writers and jurists. Janko of Charnkov wrote a valuable contemporary history in the form of chronicles, similar to that of Gallus, who wrote in the XlIth century during the time of Boleslav the Wrymouthed.
By the time the Wislica statutes were drafted, slavery had ceased to exist in all parts of Poland, but the relations of peasants to landowners were not uniform throughout the country. They differed from place to place. Almost universally the taxes in kind had ceased to exist. It may be of interest to note that in Kazimir's time the exigencies of commerce demanded a regulation of the monetary problem and that the Wislica statutes provided that "there shall be throughout the country uniform money of a constant value and weight." One of the reasons for this requirement, as given in the statute, was "that the state might not look like a many headed monster." Both taxes and tithes were paid in money. The peasant was free to make contracts with the landowner for the use of leased land, but he was often times helpless in preventing the landlord from exacting more than the contract stipulations provided, especially when the settlements were based on German law and the landlord was the "soltys" or the chief and judge of the village. In many instances the peasants were leaving the settlements and taking with them all the stock received from the landlord. Such migrations were frequent at that time. The tracts of land laid waste by the Knights of the Cross in the lake region of Prussia and the country formerly occupied by the Jadzwings, whom the Chevaliers completely exterminated, offered opportunities for advantageous settlement. Polish colonization of these regions was going on very rapidly. A similar colonizing movement was taking place in the acquired provinces of Ruthenia. The Polish peasant was settling there on the German law basis and was bringing with him western civilization to these remote eastern regions. Likewise many of the townspeople and of the nobility settled in Ruthenia and became in time the natural bond between the natives of these provinces, whose faith bound them to Constantinople, and the rest of the empire whose tastes and connections were those of the west.
Although Kazimir realized that unity in religion would be most desirable for the solidarity of the nation, and with that in view founded Roman Catholic bishoprics in Przemysl, Wlodzimierz (Vladimir Volhynski) and Chelm, and established two religious orders in Ruthenia, yet he gave complete freedom and encouragement to the prevailing Greek religion. The Ruthenian bishopric at Halicz was raised to the dignity of a metropolis to make it independent of the See of that Church, recently moved from Kieff to Moscow. His religious tolerance was well exhibited in his relations with the Jews, who, persecuted practically all over Europe, settled in large numbers in the Polish cities. The protection afforded to them in the XIIIth century in Kalisz and Great Poland was extended by Kazimir throughout his kingdom.
The German settlers in the villages, forming small foreign islets in a great native sea, had in the course of time become completely amalgamated with the native population. In the cities, however, where they clustered in large groups, they preserved their distinct identity and had strong German attachments. Shielded by their independent municipal organizations they remained entirely foreign to the country of their adoption.
They formed an anomaly in the body politic, which proved dangerous in times of war. Kazimir like his father Lokietek who had to face an open rebellion on the part of the German city element, well realized the gravity of the situation and strove to modify the relations of the cities to the crown. In 1356 Kazimir established in Cracow a court for city affairs, to which appeals from local municipal courts were to be taken. This court was established to obviate the need of appealing to the Courts of Magdeburg and Halle.
By special protection of the rights and safety of merchants Kazimir gave an additional stimulus to Polish commerce. Poland was and still is the natural bridge between Europe and the East. Commercial routes between the Baltic and the Black Sea, between Russia and the Hanseatic cities cross in Poland. Some of the Polish cities, like that of Kalisz, ruined during the recent war operations, were known in antiquity. In the XIVth century a number of large and prosperous cities, like Wroclaw (Breslau) and Cracow were in constant touch with the largest trading centers of the world. The products of Polish industries were at the time successfully competing with those of other industrial countries and Polish cloth (polenschen Laken) compared favorably with that of Flanders. Famous were the cloth-halls of Poland, and that still standing in Cracow is a magnificent example of Polish municipal architecture of the middle ages.
To increase the natural advantages of the Polish cities, Kazimir improved the roads, constructed bridges, suppressed highway robbery, and built large storehouses in the cities and along the roads and navigable rivers. Through colonization he founded a large number of new towns, encouraged industries and navigation. He strengthened, by walls and castles, the defenses of the country. To protect the native merchants he promulgated a law whereby foreign merchants were debarred from retail sales. In the development of the cities and in the growth of their wealth and importance he saw a support of the kingly power against the disquietingly growing might and lawlessness of the magnates and nobility and the independence of the church.
Kazimir's reforms and particularly the strong executive arm of the government were strongly opposed by both the magnates and the clergy, and a number of armed uprisings were organized, all of which were suppressed by the King. He realized, however, that reforms, no matter how wise or beneficial, cannot be forced upon a nation by the superior will of a sovereign, and that law and order cannot be enforced unless they have the respect of the people. To educate political leaders he founded an Academy of Sciences in Cracow in the year 1364. This was the second academy of the kind in Europe, that of Prague preceding it by a few years only. For purposes of comparison it may be of interest to state that the University of Vienna was founded a year later, and that of Heidelberg two years later. The University of Erfurt was established in 1392, of Leipzig in 1409, of Cologne and of Rostock in 1419, of Halle in 1694, of Breslau in 1702, of Gottingen in 1736 and of Berlin in 1809. The University of Moscow was founded in the year 1755 and that of St. Petersburg in 1819. Even before the founding of the Cracow Academy a number of writers and scientists of high attainment and originality appeared in Poland. The most distinguished of them was Ciolek, known by his Latin name of Vitellio, who is considered as the founder of the science of optics.
By the end of Kazimir's reign Poland was unified politically, not only in the person of the King, but through the legal, economic and social reforms which he had been able to bring about. Well aware of the profound changes which were taking place in the life of contemporary Poland, he and his advisors endeavored to frame legislation that would meet adequately the new conditions. Expression was given to the really true conception of the function of all legislation in the opening sentences of the Wislica Statute which stated that "no one should wonder or condemn if, with the change of times, the customs and laws also change." The evolutionary conception of law, as thus expressed in this first Polish Statute, is truly remarkable. The principle served as a guide for future generations and Polish political thought indeed never recognized immutability or fixity of state organization or of traditional legal concepts. The life of the citizen was never fettered by rigid law enactments. On the contrary, laws were made to meet newly arising conditions as soon as they became discernible. This explains the fullness of Polish life which so often puzzled foreign observers, brought up as they were under the traditions of absolutism. It explains also both the strength and the weakness of the Polish Republic.
Though Kazimir's foreign policy failed to bring back into the Polish fold the lost provinces, yet for his wise administration and peaceful achievements he is known in Polish history as Kazimir the Great, who "found Poland of wood and left her of stone".
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