When it shone in the sky, it was written all over the world - in Korea, Japan, France and Ireland. It was one of the most spectacular astronomical events of the 11th century. And it had surprisingly a lot to do with the ambitious leader of the Piast state.
It was 44 BC. The Roman Forum still bore the traces of the fire and riots accompanying Julius Caesar's funeral. The pile on which the body of the murdered consul and the favorite of the crowds was incinerated did not even cool down, and the Republic, consumed by corruption, had already plunged into the depths of the civil war. That's when a comet appeared in the sky.
Eighteen-year-old Gaius Octavian, Caesar's adopted son, said proudly, "This star was born for me." And apparently he really believed that the fiery ribbon would bring him unimaginable power. One could laugh at these youthful tales if it were not for the events of the following years.
History has proved that Gaius was right. After less than two decades, he overthrew the Republic. Thanks to him, the Roman Empire was born and he became its first emperor - Octavian Augustus. Since then, comets have become symbols not only of war, hunger and fire, but also:heralds of power.
Octavian Augustus. The man who gave comets a whole new meaning ...
The star goes to Kyiv
A whole millennium has passed and now it was the Polish prince Bolesław the Brave who was looking at the sky decorated with a bloody glow. The long-haired star moved along it just as it did in the days that decided the fate of Rome. A similar miracle has not been seen in Europe for at least a generation. We can guess, however, that the Piast leader knew perfectly well what to think about him.
Here God the Father himself illuminated his way to the east and called him to a merciless deal with his enemies. "This star was born for me," he might have unknowingly echoed the words of the first emperor. And unlike Octavian Augustus, he was not going to wait seventeen years for his dreams to come true.
Bolesław leads his team on his way to Kyiv.
Historians have completely forgotten about the comet that appeared in the sky in 1018. Meanwhile, its arrival coincided with one of the most famous events in the early history of Poland. The "broom-shaped star" shone for the first time at the beginning of August. The German chronicler Thietmar reported that "the crowd was fearful of seeing her as a bad omen" .
If this was the case in Germany, then what only in Rus, through which the flocks of Polish warriors were flocking, slaughtering, raping and robbing everything in their path. The immortal expedition of Bolesław the Brave to Kyiv was just underway. The most magnificent and wealthiest of the cities in the east, second only to Constantinople in wealth.
Comet of the century
Perhaps the comet did not arouse the interest of medievalists, but fortunately astronomers took care of it in detail. In their nomenclature, the star mentioned by Thietmar was named C / 1018 P1. And thanks to the monumental "Cometography" by Gary Kronek, published a few years ago, it is known that not only this one chronicler paid attention to it. The comet has been written all over the world - in Korea, France, and Ireland. And it is no wonder that, according to Kronek, it was one of the most spectacular events in the sky in the 10th – 11th centuries.
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On August 9, the comet lowered its flight, flooding the sky with ominous light. On August 13, if the records in distant Japan are to be believed, its splendor grew even stronger. Bolesław's army was already in the outskirts of Kiev at that time. There must have been a common belief that the "hairy star" (as an Irish monk wrote about her) heralded the success that awaited them the next day.
Indeed, the omen could not have been more favorable. Bolesław the Brave achieved a triumph that even the emperors of Byzantium were not capable of. Kiev was said to have four hundred churches, eight markets and an "indescribable" population. Now, on August 14, 1018, this enormous metropolis is in the hands of the Duke of Poland.
Early medieval Kyiv. Part of the mock-up.
Packs of his warriors spilled over the streets, beheading their heads, catching wenches and collecting loot. Meanwhile, Bolesław the Brave entered the council of Saint Sofia to sit on the throne of the princes of Russia.
Was it only his unbridled ambition driving him to this proud and risky step? Or was he rather seduced by a comet? The harbinger of success that lit his way east and gave him strength on the eve of the decisive decision ...
***
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Sources:
The article is based on the literature and materials collected by the author during the work on the book "Iron Ladies. The Women Who Built Poland ” . Find out more by clicking HERE .
Selected bibliography:
- Banaszkiewicz J., Bolesław and Peredsław. Comments on the ceremony of establishing the ruler in connection with Brave's entry into Kiev , "Kwartalnik Historyczny", vol. 97 (1990).
- Kronk G.W., Cometography , vol. 1: Ancient - 1799. A Catalog of Comets , Cambridge 1999.
- Schechner S.J., Comets, Popular Culture, and the Birth of Modern Cosmology , Princeton 1997.
- Strzelczyk J., Bolesław the Brave , Warsaw 2014.
- Thietmar, The Chronicle of Thietmar , transl. M.Z. Jedlicki, Krakow 2012.