A battle between a fat man and a lame one. And a bunch of insults that led to one of the greatest military triumphs in the history of Poland. How did our first king win the decisive clash on the Bug?
On July 22, 1018, Bolesław's army stood on the Bug River. Chrobry led his team, seasoned in many years of battles, to Ruthenia, he also had the support of three hundred Teutonic and five hundred Magyar warriors. On the other side, Prince Jaroslaw was waiting with his army.
The ruler of Poland ordered the camp to be set up. For the next few days, the soldiers on both sides mostly insulted each other. Their chiefs weren't pretty. Jarosław was limping, Bolesław got fat and climbed the horse with great difficulty. For this reason, they were both a thankful object to tease.
This blood insult requires
The Russian prince didn't bother with it, maybe he got used to it. He withdrew to a secluded place to fish in peace. The Polish ruler reacted differently. It is possible that he neglected and died in the last several months after the death of his beloved wife Emnilda.
- Fallen pig! - perhaps this is how the Ruthenian warriors were yelling.
Bolesław Chrobry with the team during the expedition to Kyiv. Drawing by Karol Stobiecki.
Lured by the screams near the river bank, even old Buda, voivode of Jarosław, appeared.
"I will pierce your fat belly with my javelin," he threatened at the sight of the Polish prince.
Goblet of bitterness changed. Bolesław looked at his warriors.
"If this insult does not offend you, I will die alone," he said.
He climbed his steed with difficulty, accompanied by bursts of laughter on the other side of the Bug. He headed towards the ford. And somewhere in the middle of the fat body, a warrior woke up, before whom thousands trembled. After a few minutes he was on the other side of the river with anger in his eyes, sword in hand.
Jarosław's people stopped being merry when his warriors followed the Polish prince. Surprised Ruthenians and Vikings quickly rushed for swords, axes, shields and bows, but the Poles, led by their prince, who had once again awakened the lust for fame, won.
In the evening, the Russian bank of the Bug was strewn with corpses, the only way to cross was by stepping on the corpse and staining the shoes with blood. The voivode of Buda was killed. Prince Jarosław managed to escape.
Absolute revenge
For the next three weeks, the Polish army, supported by the Germans and Hungarians, occupied the city behind the castle - until it reached the walls of Kiev. There, a thousand warriors from the nomadic Pecheneg people waited for them. Allied with Bolesław, they had been besieging the city for some time, showering it with arrows and trying to set the wooden buildings on fire.
Bolesław Chrobry triumphantly enters Kiev. A painting by Konstanty Górski.
The inhabitants of the Ruthenian capital bravely defended their families and property against foreign nomads. They believed that it made sense to resist the Pechenegs. The arrival of Światopełek changed the optics. As for the fights between the sons of Włodzimierz, the Kievians did not care who would win. After the death of the old prince, Światopełk ruled, later Jarosław ruled, and life ran its usual course. So why resist longer?
On August 14, 1018, the gates of Kiev opened, and the Polish prince and his son-in-law entered the city. Their solemn march was accompanied by singing and cheers, unforced, because here the siege was ending and the time of war was ending.
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You can read about other spectacular conquests of Bolesław the Brave in the book The Birth of Power .