He drove border posts tens of kilometers deep into the mighty Reich. He took the most wonderful city in the East. He conquered the Czech Republic, Moravia, Slovakia and even Prussia. He had momentum. Like no one before him and no one in the following centuries.
1. Kyiv
If in medieval Poland chroniclers had compiled a list of the greatest conquests of Bolesław the Brave, the occupation of Kiev would be in the first place. It is enough to look at the chronicle of Anonymus called Gall, who wrote about the Polish king from the perspective of less than a hundred years. Most of Chrobry's military successes are dismissed in one sentence, but he writes about the expedition to Kyiv with fan zeal.
In the summer of 1018, Bolesław the Brave first crashed the army of the Russian prince Jarosław the Wise on the Bug river, and then he appeared near Kiev, whose terrified inhabitants opened the gates for him, begging for mercy and offering the throne of Kievan Rus. Chrobry felt so confident that shortly thereafter he sent a message to the Byzantine emperor Basil II the Bulgarian, offering him an alliance, or otherwise threatening war. Is this a manifestation of megalomania? Maybe. Or rather:a display of understanding of the newly acquired power.
After taking Kiev, Chrobry was so self-confident that he threatened the ruler of Byzantium - Basil II.
2. Prague
The seizure of Prague in 1003 was a political masterpiece. In Bohemia, fights at the top of power were extremely bloody, even by medieval standards. Bolesław the Brave added gasoline to the fire in his own way, because he helped his cousin and namesake - Bolesław the Red, famous for his cruelty, regain the throne.
Soon after, Rudy gave a feast to which he invited representatives of the powerful Varsovians, with whom he officially intended to reconcile and forgive him the recent exile. In fact, it ended with the Czech "St. Bartholomew's Night", because on the orders of Bolesław the Red, drunk revelers were butchered like hogs.
Soon after, a message appeared before the Brave, asking him to put an end to the bloody games. The Polish prince first invited Bolesław the Red to his place, whom he drank, imprisoned and blinded him. Later he went to Prague, where he was proclaimed the new ruler of Bohemia and, according to tradition, sat on the local stone throne. Thus, he became the new prince:according to the Czech numbering, Bolesław IV.
3. Łużyce and Milsko
Lusatia and Milsko are, transferring to today's administrative division of Germany, a significant part of the federal states of Saxony and Brandenburg. Bolesław the Brave took it in 1002, taking advantage of the confusion that arose in the Reich after the unexpected death of the little over twenty-year-old Emperor Otto III. Later, he fought for them with variable luck with Henry II, another German ruler - until he achieved his goal, which was confirmed by the peace treaty concluded in 1018 in Bautzen.
On the list of conquests of the first Polish king, towns like Bautzen or Lubusz do not sound as impressive as Kyiv or Prague, but it was a success, since Emperor Henry II, officially recognized as the head of the entire Christian world, despite repeated expeditions against Poland, had to give way in this regard .
4. Prussia
The conquest of Prussia was a great challenge. As the chronicler Wincenty called Kadłubek wrote, their lands were “completely devoid of artificial fortifications, but inaccessible due to its natural location. At the very beginning, there is a nursery all overgrown with a thicket of thorn bushes, where under the green grass there is an abyss of mud tar ”. Although Kadłubek wrote his chronicle at the beginning of the 13th century, this description fits just as well with a situation two centuries earlier.
Chrobry was not only an excellent fighter, but also a cunning and ruthless politician. He often used deception to achieve his goal. The illustration shows the nineteenth-century image of Bolesław planning further conquests.
The Piast dukes were unable to break the Prussians, and in 1166 even the Duke of Sandomierz, Henryk, son of Bolesław the Wrymouth, was killed. The idea to finish them off with the Teutonic hands turned out to be unfortunate, because the Teutonic Knights were ready to do the same with the Polish state after finishing the Prussians, but ... But in the history of the Piasts there was a ruler who had already conquered Prussia. Of course - Bolesław the Brave.
Several sources mention this, but very vaguely. Historians assume that he forced to pay tributes to those Prussian tribes whose territories bordered directly on Poland. It is not known how far the Polish sphere of influence extended. German sources mention that Mieszko II, son and successor of the Brave, during the invasion of the Reich, was supported by pagans, who are usually considered to be Prusai, whose lands were within the Polish state.
5. Slovakia
The conquest of today's Slovakia is similar to Prussia, because sources on this subject can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Two facts are certain:1) Bolesław the Brave fought against Hungary for these lands; 2) Bolesław the Brave moved the borders of his country as far as the Danube River. Few. And it still sounds impressive.
Brave's warriors were disciplined and deadly effective. The illustration shows a painting by Michał Bylina entitled "Team of Bolesławów".
6. Moravia
Bolesław Chrobry, leading his warriors to the territory of today's Slovakia, rather did not break through the Tatra Mountains, but struck from Moravia, which he probably subjugated to himself in 1002. Thanks to this, it gained an excellent base not only for Slovakia, but also for the Czech Republic and the Bavarian Eastmarch, which will later be called Austria. The Polish prince eagerly used this option, and the "Moravian warriors of Bolesław" more than once took part in invasions on the Reich.
7. Krakow
If Bolesław Chrobry conquered Krakow, it would be his most lasting success - looking from the perspective of a thousand years. The question is, is he really the one who should be credited with the success in question? It is known that at the time the document "Dagome iudex" was written (somewhere between AD 985 and AD 992), Kraków was outside the monarchy of Mieszko I, Bolesław's father. In March 1000, the city of Krak recognized the authority of Brave, because it was then that the bishop of Kraków was subordinated to the archbishop of Gniezno. So it had to be conquered between AD 985 and AD 1000 - exactly when.
One source gives a specific date. According to the Czech chronicler Kosmas, in 999 the Polish prince Mieszko conquered Krakow. The problem is that Mieszko I died seven years earlier. The error, then, is either in the name or in the date. There are more indications that the Czech historian confused the names, the more so that later in the chronicle of Bolesław the Brave, he usually calls Mieszko, and other events, which he noted in 999, actually took place ... in 999.
Bolesław the Brave was undoubtedly the greatest conqueror in the history of the Piast dynasty. The illustration shows the nineteenth century image of the ruler.
It is believed that the capture of rich Krakow allowed Bolesław to raise funds for the organization of the Gniezno Congress, during which he dazzled with the splendor of Emperor Otto III and his surroundings.
It is difficult to count the conquests of Bolesław Chrobry. The Piast dynasty never had a ruler who would act on a similar scale. Although most of Bolesław's achievements turned out to be impermanent, he enjoyed the rule in Kiev and Prague for a relatively short time, but this does not detract from his military or political achievements. Most of the early medieval "empires" lived a little longer than their creators, to mention the monarchies of Charlemagne, the Moravian prince Świętopełk the Great or the Danish king Knut the Great, by the way of Bolesław the Brave's nephew.
The world remembers them all as outstanding strategists and warriors. It is high time to include the co-creator of Poland in this group. Because taking into account the realities in which he operated, and especially the potential of the state left to him by his father, he really was in no way inferior to leaders like Alexander the Great. And he probably even surpassed many of them!
Bibliography:
The article is based on the materials collected by the author while writing the book The Birth of Power. All the conquests of Bolesław the Brave (CiekawostkiHistoryczne.pl 2017).