Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 19.djvu/299

Rh 962-1279.] POLAND 287 it to be devoured by dogs and birds of prey. It was, however, guarded by eagles who kept off the assailants ; and, some monks collecting the remains, they all became mysteriously reunited and were afterwards honourably interred at Cracow. Such a crime was not likely to go unpunished in those days. Gregory VII. (Hildebrand) placed the whole kingdom under an interdict. Boleslaw, regarded with hatred by all his subjects, fled into Hungary, but of his end we have no certain information. After the disappearance of Bolestaw, who had taken his son with him, the state remained nearly a year without a sovereign. Finally, being afraid of a Russian or Hungarian invasion, the Poles called to the throne Wtadystaw (Ladislaus), the brother of Bolestaw. Anxious to remove the interdict, he at once despatched ambassadors to the pope ; but, although the churches were allowed to be reopened, so great was the authority of the occupant of the chair of St Peter, who refused again to ratify the title of king, that for two hundred years from this time no Polish ruler could legitimately assume such a dignity, but was obliged to consent to the humbler appellation of duke. Wtadystaw, who was engaged in constant wars with the Russians and the heathen inhabitants of Prussia, died in 1202 at Ptock, as was suspected, of poison. The power of Poland was diminished in his reign, as many provinces were occupied by the Russians. He was succeeded by his olesiaw son, Bolestaw III., to whom the Poles have affixed the surname of Krzywousty, or the Wry-mouthed. Kromer tells us, &quot; Fuit autem Boleslaus hie, habitudine corporis satis firma, vegeta, et laborum patiente, colore fusco, statura mediocri, os ei carbunculus morbus ab ineunte adolescentia distorserat, atque inde Criuousti cognomentum habuit.&quot; He married Sbislava, the daughter of Sviatopolk, the prince of Kieff, and was successful in many wars, till, hav ing eventually been defeated by the Hungarians on the banks of the Dniester, he is said to have died of grief. He seems to have been a redoubtable warrior, and to have distinguished himself in some very hard fighting. His expeditions against the Pomeranians were characterized by much cruelty, for we are told that Gniewomir, one of their chiefs, was beaten to death in the presence of the Polish army. Besides his attack upon the Pomeranians we learn from Gallus that he also marched against the Prussians, whom he utterly defeated, returning with a large spoil of cattle and other booty. His most import ant war, however, was with the German emperor Henry V., the husband of Matilda, the daughter of our Henry I. He had probably become jealous of the rising power of Bolestaw, for the Germans at that time affected to regard Poland as a fief of the empire. The only event of much interest in this war is the gallant defence of Glogau, where the imperialists were driven off, in spite of their furious onslaught, and were ultimately routed near Breslau. The emperor fled precipitately, and the Poles gave little or no quarter. The field, says Kromer, where the battle took place was full of corpses, and exhibited a sorry and lament able spectacle. The bodies of the Poles were carefully sought out and interred, but the Germans were unburied and lay as food for dogs and birds. In consequence of this the number of dogs who frequented the spot was so great that the road was rendered difficult to travellers. The place was called the Field of the Dog both by the Poles and Germans, a name which has obtained till the present day. Kromer, however, tells us that some of the German historians claimed the victory for their nation. Whatever the result may have been, peace was soon after wards made between the emperor and the duke, a peace which was further consolidated by the marriage of Bolestaw and his son Wtadystaw to members of the imperial family. Before his death the Polish duke, following the same fatal course which in Russia paved the way for its subjugation by the Mongols, parcelled out his territories to his sons Wtadystaw, Bolestaw, Mieczystaw, and Henry. There remained a fifth and youngest son, at that time of tender age, Kazimierz. The duke being asked why he had left him portionless is said to have declared that the four- wheeled chariot must have a driver, thus, as it were, prophesying the future pre-eminence of this child. The prediction, which looks very much like a prophecy after the event, reminds us of William the Conqueror distribut ing his kingdom to his sons. The quarrels of these princes are very tedious. Wtadystaw was ultimately driven out and Bolestaw became supreme. His subjects gave him the nickname of Kdzierzawy, or the curly. He was drawn into a contest with the German emperor Frederick Barbarossa, who invaded Poland in the year 1158. It would have been impossible for Bolestaw to meet so formidable a foe in the field; he, however, succeeded in forcing him to make peace by continually harassing his army, and laying waste the territory before it. Frederick again attempted to convert Poland into a fief of the German empire, but failed. Bolestaw signed a peace by which he consented to give Silesia to his brother Wladystaw, and the Poles were to furnish three hundred spearmen to assist the emperor Frederick against Milan. An expedition which he undertook against the Prussians in 1 167 was unsuccessful ; in consequence, as Kromer assures us, of treachery, the Poles became entangled in the marshes of the country and were cut to pieces. On his death Bolestaw Mieczysia was succeeded by his brother Mieczystaw, who was so III. unpopular that he was expelled from the country in 1177. The crown, therefore, according to the prophecy, devolved upon Kazimierz, the youngest son of Bolestaw Krzywousty. During his reign many judicious laws were passed in Poland ; among other improvements he abolished the evil custom of purveyance. His reign was tranquil, and by summoning a council of the bishops and nobles at iczyca he may be said to have instituted the Polish senate, at all events to have laid the foundations of it. At this time the third crusade was preached in Poland, and the order of the Cistercians was introduced into the country. We shall pass rapidly over the reigns of Leszek V. (the White), Wtadystaw III., and another Bolestaw. Conrad, duke of Masovia and brother of Leszek, introduced the order of Teutonic knights into the Polish territories on the Baltic, from whom the Prussian monarchy, one of the great enemies of the republic, was afterwards to develop itself. In the reign of Bolestaw V. (1227-1279) the Mongols Bolestaw made an incursion into Poland, but were subsequently V diverted into Hungary, having gained a victory at Lig- nica (Liegnitz) in Silesia in 1241. They carried off great quantities of booty. It is said that on this occasion nine sacks were filled with the ears of the slain. During their stay Bolestaw, like Ivan the Terrible at a later period, remained cloistered in a monastery Lelewel dwells pathetically upon the many evils suffered by Poland during the long reign of this prince, and says he was an unjust judge, a soldier who had aversion to fighting, and a sovereign who neglected the government. At this time also commenced the introduction of Germans into the country in such numbers as to threaten to denationalize it. The trade was almost entirely in their hands, and instead of being governed by Polish laws they enjoyed the benefit of the Jus Maydeburgicwii. The wide influence of these foreigners is shown by the many words of German origin to be found in the Polish language. An unfortunate and uninteresting prince, Leszek the Black, succeeded, but the dignity of the house of Piast was fully restored when Przemystaw, without condescending to solicit the title of sovereign from the hands of the pope,