Since Pope Urban II announced the crusade to Jerusalem, which would reclaim your tomb from the Gentiles, the idea of Christ's knights - fighters fighting and dying for the faith - has begun to sprout. On the Vistula River, however, the crusade movement was not of great importance. The Polish knighthood did not want to travel to the Middle East and convert the infidels with the sword. Leszek Biały became a symbol of this attitude. The prince of Krakow politely, though in fact arrogant ... dismissed the pope.
In view of the rapid expansion of Islam, which meant the murder and economic exploitation of Christians, in the 11th century the West decided to attack the enemy on "its" territory before it penetrated into continental Europe. The pleas for help from the Byzantine emperor Alexius II were not without significance. In a letter to Pope Dressed II, he wrote:
The Most Holy Greek Empire has been invaded by pagan Pechenegs and Turks who have already taken much of it, plundering it completely. The news of incessant killings and insults against Christians is so terrible they are for the ear that even stones can move. (...) All the lands between Jerusalem and Greece, including Thracia, have submitted to their rule. Only Constantinople remained, but his enemies would threaten him in the near future, if not stopped by the help of faithful Latin Christians. (…)
I myself, dressed in the emperor's mantle, see no hope, no possibility of rescue. (...) In the name of the Triune God, I oblige you to rush to help me and the Greek Christians. We put ourselves in your hands; we prefer to be under your Latin rule rather than under the yoke of the Gentiles.
When the Church announced the first crusade to Jerusalem in 1095, Pope Urban II said:“Let those who were robbers now become soldiers of Christ. […] May those who were mercenaries serving for a few pieces of silver now have eternal reward. "
This is how the pattern of the knight of Christ was born. The fight for faith has become another way to clear worldly guilt and gain immortal glory . Godfryd de Bouillon, conqueror of Jerusalem during the First Crusade, had such an honor.
Wojaczek for the rich
Only really rich knights could afford trips to the Holy Land. A long and dangerous journey awaited the daredevils (and their number). It was often a journey of a lifetime. Willingness, he had to sell his property more than once in order to go on it. He risked everything he had.
Of course, there was a conviction among the members of the knightly entourage that thanks to the spoils they would be able to get rich and recover their expenses. However, it was very illusory. In fact, the scale of the undertaking was so large that even with great gains, the reimbursement alone would be a success.
We do not know any Polish participants of the first crusade (1096–1099). The trip to the Holy Land turned out to be fruitful for the knights of Christ. Several cities were recaptured from the hands of Muslims:Edessa, Antioch, Jerusalem, Akka, Tripoli.
The main reason for the popularity of the Crusades was in the spiritual realm. In the 12th century, a friar Bernard of Clairvaux wrote the treatise "De laude nova militia" ("Praise of the New Knighthood"), which became a code of conduct for knights and promoted the fight for the faith instead of fighting for loot.
Participants of the crusades could count on an indulgence for their sins and many other spiritual "privileges" still on earth, which were of great importance to God-fearing Europeans of that time. There were also material privileges. The Crusaders could count on hospitality in monastic and church buildings. They were also exempt from paying taxes and tolls.
Ours were (not) here
When the crusade movement flourished in the West, the period of the Piast state breaking into smaller and smaller principalities began on the Vistula. This state of affairs made papal calls to crusades less resonant. We do not know any Polish participants of the first crusade (1096–1099) . The trip to the Holy Land turned out to be fruitful for the knights of Christ. Several cities were recaptured from the hands of Muslims:Edessa, Antioch, Jerusalem, Akka, Tripoli. The Kingdom of Jerusalem was established.
Poles probably already took part in the second crusade. On the basis of earlier reports, writing several hundred years later, Jan Długosz mentioned several Polish lords who joined the army of the German king Konrad III. Długosz's description is so full of errors and inaccuracies, that it is impossible to determine who from Poland went south and in what number.
Today, some researchers believe that it could have been Władysław the Exile, the eldest son of Bolesław the Wrymouth.
The Greek chronicler Jan Kinnamos mentioned much earlier about the Lechites, who, apart from the "Czechs and French", came to the rescue of the decimated forces of Konrad III, beaten by the Seljuk Turks at Doryleum, much earlier mentioned by the Greek chronicler Jan Kinnamos. According to the history, the Poles arrived with their ruler.
Who could he be? Today, some researchers believe that it could have been Władysław the Exile, the eldest son of Bolesław the Wrymouth, and at the same time a vassal of the German king Konrad III, expelled from Poland by his brothers after he tried to finally deal with them and take full power. Besides, he would have personal reasons for participating in the crusade. He was in conflict with the Archbishop of Gniezno, Jakub of Żnin. The trip to the Holy Land was to guarantee the lifting of the excommunication against Władysław. It is possible that the son of the Exile, Bolesław the Tall, also participated in the crusades alongside the German Konrad III.
Was it so? It's just a guess.
A dream of martyrdom
We do know for certain that Henryk Sandomierski participated in the crusade. He is the first Polish prince mentioned in this context by name and surname. Several sources mention him. Henry and the post office were to leave for the Holy Land around 1153/54. In Palestine, he honored the Holy Sepulcher and joined the forces of King Baldwin of Jerusalem [III]. Długosz reported:
Performing a very brave knightly duty against the Saracens, dreamed of getting the martyr's palm. But fate didn't let him achieve it then. After spending a whole year there, when some of his soldiers had died, partly in these fights, partly due to the unfavorable climate, he returned home in good health.
Both his brothers Bolesław and Mieczysław, as well as all Polish gentlemen, welcomed him with great reverence and sincere joy. Thanks to his stories, news began to spread and disseminate about the state, situation and organization of the Holy Land and about the bitter and bloody fights waged against the barbarians in its defense.
However, the relations with the Middle East did not mobilize much for the Polish knighthood. Compared to the mass crusade movement in the West, our interest in expeditions was very weak.
Historians point out a few more potential participants of the crusades - a certain Jaksa from Miechów (a knight of Lesser Poland, perhaps of Polabian origin), it is possible that Kazimierz I of Opole or Władysław Odonic was also a participant of the crusades. Mention is also made of a few Pomeranian rulers from the Gryfit family.
No beer, no move
Leszek Biały - the prince of Kraków in the years 1194–1198 - was summoned to participate in the crusade by Pope Honorius III. He was to commit himself voluntarily to it, counting on the favor of the See of Peter in his plans to unite the country under his scepter. He was quite successful in this regard.
He was the last Piast, whose sovereignty was recognized by the other dukes, and the deal with Władysław Laskonogi from Greater Poland gave him a chance to take over his district. Ultimately, it did not happen. Leszek died in the attack in Gąsawa, inspired by the Wielkopolska pretender to power - Władysław Odonic , and the Pomeranian prince, Świętopełk.
Leszek was killed in an attack in Gąsawa, inspired by Władysław Odonic, a candidate for power from Greater Poland, and the Pomeranian prince, Świętopełek.
Before that happened, however, he had successfully played out his politics. The crusade to which Leszek committed himself was to lead him to Syria, but ultimately he did not undertake it. He was to explain the absenteeism to the pope with the words:
When I am sick, I cannot swim to the Holy Land, especially since I cannot drink wine or simple water because of an affliction against the nature of the body, drink beer or honey.
It is true that the letter, in which the lack of beer is described as a key issue, has not survived, but we know the letters of Pope Honorius III to the bishop of Wrocław, Wawrzyniec and Piotr, the provost of Głogów. In both correspondence, the Pope actually mentions that the Polish prince mocked the crusade with the lack of beer:
We were recently given as certain that this prince was heavy with the carcass of his body, with little or no effort to help the Holy Land, especially when he had changed his habit into nature he cannot drink wine or plain water, accustomed to drinking only beer or honey […].
Beer like water
The story of Leszek's mockery of the Crusade made the prince famous among posterity. For many, he became a model of love for a golden drink, a love that became his nature out of habit ... Others were amused by the disinvoltage with which he "chased away" the person sitting on the Chair of Peter. Still others see the prince as anti-clerical and pacifist.
However, this is most likely an abuse, although it cannot be concealed that the prince could have made an excuse, especially if he added up the cost of a trip to the Middle East.
On the other hand, it is a myth to attribute a special love to beer or a tendency to drunkenness to a prince. Drinking beer instead of water in the Middle Ages was nothing strange. People of that time avoided water from unreliable sources. Household water did not boil. So it happened that people got sick or died from the bacteria it contained.
On the other hand, beer (a drink common in those days, drunk even by children - with a much lower alcohol content than today's beer) was consumed in large quantities. It was a health-safe drink. Fermentation, alcohol and boiled water all killed the germs.
In this context, Leszek Biały's request could actually be dictated by health needs, not alcoholism.
In this context, Leszek Biały's request could actually have been dictated by health needs, and not by alcoholism. The more so because the prince did not push himself to a stronger drink, i.e. wine, which was not lacking in Syria. But was it possible to ridicule the war for faith only by complaining about poor health? Historians emphasize that the prince's alibi, although colorful, was not the only argument.
Leszek Biały offered the head of the Church a Christianization expedition against the pagans whom our princes had for copper. . I am talking about the rebellious and dangerous Prussia. From the times of Brave, Prussian tribes resisted attempts at Christianization with a sword, repaying the Piasts themselves with bloody invasions.
In the name of the German god
Polish princes, although they did not travel to the Holy Land, had a lot of experience in promoting Christianity by force. In the mid-12th century, Mieszko III Stary from Greater Poland participated in the crusade of the German mighty (Albrecht Niedźwiedzia and Henryk Lew) against the Slavic Obodrzyce - one of the tribal groups of the Polabian Slavs, commanded by the extremely talented Niklot.
The Polab Slavs bravely and long resisted the Germanic pressure and attempts to impose the "German god" as they perceived Christ. And this crusade - tens of thousands of armed men - on the Elbe was repulsed, although the Slavic peoples of northeastern Germany were on the verge of demographic collapse after many years of wars.
The Polab Slavs fought off the Germanic pressure and attempts to impose the "German god" for a long time and bravely as they perceived Christ.
Interestingly, our princes and knights (earlier the Christianization expedition against the Polabian Wielety was carried out by Bolesław the Wrymouth) apparently did not realize the common Slavic origin and the common enemy that the Polabians resisted on the first flank. They proceeded to destroy them hand in hand with the German knights, for whom participation in the Polabian crusade was a chance to mock their journey to the Holy Land. Eventually, with the participation of the Polish sword, the Germans drowned in blood and literally exterminated the Slavic Połabs.
In 1160, Niklot died, and Obodrzyce was subordinated to East March. Soon after Obodrzycach, it was time for the militant sailing Ranów. On June 12, 1168, the mighty Arkona with the great temple of Świętowit was conquered by the Danes. There, Bishop Roskilde Absalon personally destroyed the statues of the deities.
It was not only a demonstration of strength. The Polabian Slavs attached so much importance to religiosity that when the deities were destroyed they felt themselves finally defeated. This was the case in 1068, when the Saxons destroyed the Swarożyc shrine in Wieliczka (the bishop Burchard from Halberstadt, who was in charge of the expedition, rode the holy horse and returned to Saxony on his Swarożyc steed). This is also what happened with Ranami. After the destruction of Arkona, they were forcibly baptized, and their lands were incorporated into the Danish diocese of Roskilde by the bull of Pope Alexander III.
Trade and sword
According to Henryk Samsonowicz, 50 years after the Polabian crusades, Leszek Biały, who had formed an anti-Prussian alliance with Henryk Brodaty from the Silesian district and Konrad Mazowiecki, presented the pope with an interesting concept to convince the wild tribes from the north to the faith of Christ:
Trade between Poland and Prussia should be organized by rationing the export of the most sought-after products - iron, salt and weapons. For this purpose, it is necessary to establish - on the conquered Prussian territory - a city that will be the main distributor of these goods . Prussians who come for them will be able to gradually learn the Christian faith.
It is difficult to assess the feasibility of this plan at present, but it seems that the idea of a peaceful, economic and cultural expansion deserves attention and that its implementation could produce effects different from those that took place as a result of later Teutonic expeditions.
The Pope was convinced by this concept, but Christianity, along with salt, iron and weapons, was not "bought" by the infidels. There were no results, so the Piast princes tried to convert the pagans with the sword again and again faced severe punishment for it . As a result of retaliatory invasions, Poles lost not only all the footholds in Prussia, but also their own forts - incl. Gutowo, Zwiniarz, Kołodzieje, Nowy Dwór Bratiański, Hungary near Malbork, Podzamcze near Kwidzyn.
The Polish mighty lacked consistency, but also some conviction to fight against a bitter enemy. Konrad Mazowiecki, whose district was particularly vulnerable to retaliation, was busy playing for power in Krakow. In such circumstances, he came up with the idea of pacifying the Prusai with foreign hands. This is how the German Teutonic Order came to Poland, but here's a completely different story ...