Bolesław the Forgotten () or the Cruel (; before 1016 – 1038/39) was a semi-legendary King of
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
of the
Piast dynasty
The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great.
Branch ...
from 1034 until his death in 1038 or 1039. He was allegedly the first-born son of
Mieszko II Lambert
Mieszko II Lambert (; c. 990 – 10/11 May 1034) was King of Poland from 1025 to 1031, and Duke from 1032 until his death.
He was the second son of Bolesław I the Brave, but the eldest born from his third wife Emnilda of Lusatia. He was prob ...
.
Sources which mention his existence
He is described in the ''
Wielkopolska Chronicle
The ''Wielkopolska Chronicle'' (or ''Chronicle of Greater Poland'', pl, Kronika wielkopolska) is an anonymous medieval chronicle describing supposed history of Poland from legendary times up to the year 1273. It was written in Latin at the end o ...
'', written in the 14th century, where he is said to have taken power in Poland after the death of his father Mieszko II, as he was the eldest son. According to the chronicle he was killed because of his extreme cruelty, and sentenced to the ''
damnatio memoriae
is a modern Latin phrase meaning "condemnation of memory", indicating that a person is to be excluded from official accounts. Depending on the extent, it can be a case of historical negationism. There are and have been many routes to , includi ...
''. The Julian calendar was in use so
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is a festival observed in most of the world on 1 January, the first day of the year in the modern Gregorian calendar. 1 January is also New Year's Day on the Julian calendar, but this is not the same day as the Gregorian one. Wh ...
had not been changed to the first day of January. The text describes him as follows:
However, there is no mention of any coronation of a Polish ruler in this period, which would have to be recorded in the German sources (as was the case with the coronations of Bolesław I and Mieszko II), probably because there was no royal insignia in the country, which had been returned to the
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
by the well-known
Bezprym
Bezprym ( hu, Veszprém; 986–1032) was the duke of Poland from 1031 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Bolesław the Brave, but was deprived of the succession by his father, who around 1001 sent him to Italy in order to become a mon ...
earlier in the year 1031.
This brief description of Bolesław in the ''Wielkopolska Chronicle'' is very similar with the information about Bezprym who was described in the ''Chronicles of Hildesheim'':
Bolesław's life is also described in a text written by Wincenty z Kielczy (13th century) and some other sources. In the ''Annals of Kraków'' under the date of 1038 was placed the information about a "king Bolesław's" death. This date cannot be connected with
Bolesław I Chrobry Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to:
In people:
* Boleslaw (given name)
In geography:
* Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
* Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
* Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, ...
(who died in 1025) and
Bolesław II the Bold Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to:
In people:
* Boleslaw (given name)
In geography:
* Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
* Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
* Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, ...
(dead in 1081, deposed and exiled) so it may refer to the Forgotten. In addition, an indirect reference to his existence may be found in the ''Małopolska Chronicle'', where
Bolesław III Wrymouth
Bolesław III Wrymouth ( pl, Bolesław III Krzywousty; 20 August 1086 – 28 October 1138), also known as Boleslaus the Wry-mouthed, was the duke of Lesser Poland, Silesia and Sandomierz between 1102 and 1107 and over the whole of Poland between ...
is called Bolesław IV. Also, in the ''Tyniec Codec'' (destroyed in the 19th century),
Bolesław II the Generous
Bolesław II the Bold, also known as the Generous ( pl, Bolesław II Szczodry ; ''Śmiały''; c. 1042 – 2 or 3 April 1081 or 1082), was Duke of Poland from 1058 to 1076 and third King of Poland from 1076 to 1079. He was the eldest son of Duke ...
was given the Roman numeral III. This gives some grounds to believe that between
Bolesław I Chrobry Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to:
In people:
* Boleslaw (given name)
In geography:
* Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
* Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
* Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, ...
and Bolesław II could be placed another Bolesław.
Foreign chronicles also favored the existence of Bolesław the Forgotten, for example:
*The ''Chronicles of Braunweiler'', where is mentioned the persecution of Queen
Richeza, wife of Mieszko II by a "concubine" (Latin: ''pellex''): "Queen Richeza, was divorced from her husband the King because of his hatred and the incitement of someone called concubine." No mention of any alleged son of this anonymous concubine, whose supporters of his existence identify with the Forgotten (which, however, introduced a contradiction with the reports of the ''Wielkopolska Chronicle'', where he was mentioned as the first-born son of Mieszko II and Richeza).
*The ''Chronica Boemorum'' of
Cosmas of Prague
Cosmas of Prague ( cs, Kosmas Pražský; la, Cosmas Decanus; – October 21, 1125) was a priest, writer and historian.
Life
Between 1075 and 1081, he studied in Liège. After his return to Bohemia, he married Božetěcha, with whom he had a s ...
: "In the year of the Incarnation of the Lord 1037 died the Duke Bolesław, which Mieszko was deprived of sight". However, historians who refuted the existence of the Forgotten alluded that this Duke could be
Boleslaus III of Bohemia
Boleslaus III ( – 1037), called the Red ( cs, Boleslav III. Ryšavý; to denote a "red-haired" individual) or the Blind, a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was duke of Bohemia from 999 until 1002 and briefly again during the year 1003. He was ...
, who was imprisoned and blinded by orders of Bolesław I (and the mention of Mieszko could be a mistake of the chronicler).
*The Hungarian chronicle of Bishop Chartiritusa (first half of the 13th century) mentions the help given for Bolesław II to Hungary: "Henry won and the King of Alba and Kaulem relented, and having taken the three princes
Levente
Levente (between 1010 and 1015 – 1047) was a member of the House of Árpád, a great-grandson of Taksony, Grand Prince of the Hungarians. He was expelled from Hungary in 1031 or 1032, and spent many years in Bohemia, Poland and the Kievan Rus'. ...
,
Bela
Bela may refer to:
Places Asia
*Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India
*Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India
*Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara
* Bela, Dang, in Nepal
*Bela, Janakpur ...
and
Andrew
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...
escaped to Poland at the side of their widowed grandmother Duchess Dąbrówka, who had already raised his eighteen-year-old grandson Bolesław as a young adult, gallant and fierce in battle". However, this text contains several errors (for example, a non-existent Dąbrówka is identified as the grandmother of the Hungarian princes), and in consequence its value is questionable.
In Polish historiography
In older times Bolesław was widely described as historical monarch of Poland. Many Polish historians were sure about his existence:
Tadeusz Wojciechowski
Tadeusz Wojciechowski (b. 13 June 1838 in Kraków, d. 21 November 1919 in Lwów) was a Polish historian, professor, and rector of the University of Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine; then in the Austro-Hungary). One of the founders of the Polish Historic ...
,
Oswald Balzer
Oswald Marian Balzer (23 January 1858 in Chodorów – 11 January 1933 in Lwów) was a Polish historian of law and statehood, one of the most renowned Polish historians of his times.
In 1887 he became a professor at the University of Lwów. B ...
,
Roman Grodecki,
Feliks Koneczny
Feliks Karol Koneczny (; 1 November 1862 – 10 February 1949) was a Polish historian, theatrical critic, librarian, journalist and social philosopher. He founded the original system of the comparative science of civilizations.
Biography
Kon ...
,
Stanisław Zakrzewski
Stanisław Zakrzewski (13 December 1873 in Warsaw – 15 March 1936 in Lwow) was a Polish historian. He was a professor of Lviv University (since 1907), member of Polish Academy of Learning (since 1919), chairman of Polish Historical Society (192 ...
, and
Zygmunt Wojciechowski
Zygmunt Wojciechowski (27 April 1900 – 14 October 1955) was a Polish historian and nationalist politician. Born in 1900 in then-Austria, he obtained a doctorate from medieval history at Lviv University. In 1925 he moved to Poznań, where ...
. They had the following arguments:
*
Casimir I the Restorer
Casimir I the Restorer (; 25 July 1016 – 28 November 1058), a member of the Piast dynasty, was the duke of Poland from 1040 until his death. Casimir was the son of Mieszko II Lambert and Richeza of Lotharingia. He is known as the Restorer becau ...
was sent to monastery in Germany. Usually only the younger sons were sent to the monasteries, implying that Casimir had an older brother.
* Name ''Casimir'' had not been used earlier in the Piast dynasty. It would be natural to name the eldest son as ''Bolesław'', to honor Mieszko's father -
Bolesław I Chrobry Boleslav or Bolesław may refer to:
In people:
* Boleslaw (given name)
In geography:
* Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
* Bolesław, Olkusz County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
* Bolesław, Silesian Voivodeship, ...
.
* In the period 1034–1039 Casimir was living in Germany. It would have been impossible to leave the Polish state alone, without a monarch for such a long time.
Some say that
Gallus Anonymus
''Gallus Anonymus'' ( Polonized variant: ''Gall '') is the name traditionally given to the anonymous author of ''Gesta principum Polonorum'' (Deeds of the Princes of the Poles), composed in Latin between 1112 and 1118.
''Gallus'' is generally rega ...
failed to describe Bolesław because of the ruler's part in the
pagan reaction in Poland
The pagan reaction in Poland ( pl, Reakcja pogańska w Polsce) was a series of events in the Kingdom of Poland in the 1030s that culminated in a popular uprising or rebellion, or possibly a series of these, that destabilized the Kingdom of Poland. ...
.
See also
*
History of Poland (966–1385)
The period of rule by the Piast dynasty between the 10th and 14th centuries is the first major stage of the history of the Polish state. The dynasty was founded by a series of dukes listed by the chronicler Gall Anonymous in the early 12th cen ...
Notes
External links
''Bolesław Zapomniany'' (analisis of sources) in: Poczet.com (in Polish) etrieved 28 October 2014
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boleslaw The Forgotten
1030s deaths
11th-century Polish monarchs
Dukes of Poland
Legendary Polish monarchs
People whose existence is disputed
Piast dynasty
Polish people of German descent
Polish princes
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain