The Silesians ( pl, Ślężanie) were a
tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...
of
West Slavs
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples who speak the West Slavic languages. They separated from the common Slavic group around the 7th century, and established independent polities in Central Europe by the 8th to 9th centuries. The West Slavic langu ...
, specifically of the
Lechitic/
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
group, inhabiting territories of
Lower Silesia
Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...
, near
Ślęża mountain and
Ślęza
Ślęza (; german: Lohe) is a 78.6 km river in Lower Silesia, southern Poland, a left tributary of the Oder. It starts in the Niemcza Hills ( pl, Wzgórza Niemczańskie), part of the Sudeten Foreland (''Przedgórze Sudeckie''), and flows n ...
river,
[ on both banks of the ]Oder
The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...
, up to the area of modern city of Wrocław
Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...
.[ They were the first permanent inhabitants of the site of Wrocław where they build a fort on Ostrów Tumski in the 9th century or earlier, which at the time was an island on the Oder.][Wroclaw-life.com, Cathedral Isle]
/ref>
Their tribal name was derived from the name of the mountain and the river, which most likely came from the old Polish
The Old Polish language ( pl, język staropolski, staropolszczyzna) was a period in the history of the Polish language between the 10th and the 16th centuries. It was followed by the Middle Polish language.
The sources for the study of the Old ...
word ''Ślagwa'', meaning "humid", which refers to the climate of the area.[ The name of the region in turn, ]Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
, comes from their language and tribal name.[Jasienica, pg. 32] Along with the Opolans
Opolans ( pl, Opolanie; cs, Opolané; german: Opolanen) were the West Slavic tribe that lived in the region of upper Odra. Their main settlement ( gord) was Opole. They were mentioned in the Bavarian Geographer, under the name Opolini, as one o ...
, the Ślężanie comprised one of the two major tribes in Silesia. They bordered the Dziadoszanie to their north.[ The Biezunczanie's territory lay to the west. Other, more minor, Silesian tribes of the time included the ]Golensizi
The Golensizi ( pl, Golęszycy, Gołęszycy, Golęszyce, Gołęszyce, Gołężyce, cz, Holasici, german: Golensizen) were a tribe of West Slavs, specifically of the Lechitic tribes (one of the Silesian tribes), living in the Early Middle Ages and ...
, Trzebowianie (who might have actually been part of the Ślężanie), Bobrzanie
The Bobrzanie are one of the Silesian tribes mentioned in the ''Prague document'' from the 11th century AD. The area they inhabited was located on the Bóbr
Bóbr ( cs, Bobr, german: Bober, ) is a river which carries water through the north of ...
(who were probably subjects of the Dziadoszanie) and the Głubczyce
Głubczyce ( cs, Hlubčice or sparsely ''Glubčice'', german: Leobschütz, Silesian German: ''Lischwitz'') is a town in Opole Voivodeship in southern Poland, near the border with the Czech Republic. It is the administrative seat of Głubczyce Co ...
, further to the south.[
]
The ''Bavarian Geographer The epithet "Bavarian Geographer" ( la, Geographus Bavarus) is the conventional name for the anonymous author of a short Latin medieval text containing a list of the tribes in Central-Eastern Europe, headed ().
The name "Bavarian Geographer" was ...
'', which refers to them as the Sleenzane, states that they had 15 settlements, or '' gords'' (''civitates''), and lists them as one of several tribes located in Silesia.[ The '']Prague charter
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oc ...
'' (description of borders of the Prague bishopric) from 1086 refers to them with the alternative name of Zlasane. Thietmar's Chronicle, from the second decade of the 11th century, calls them the Silensi.[Buko, pgs. 83-84] Their tribal name was known to the Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
and the Byzantines.[
The Ślężanie achieved a high degree of social organization and built fortified towns by the 8th century AD, if not earlier. Archeological finds of fortifications built by various Silesian tribes date back to as early as 4th century and evidence of continuous settlement in the area can be traced back to 1st century AD.][
A long fortified wall, strengthened by numerous moats, stretched from the present day town of ]Jelenia Góra
Jelenia Góra (pron. ; Polish: ; german: Hirschberg im Riesengebirge; Exonym: ''Deer Mountain''; szl, Jelyniŏ Gōra) is a historic city in southwestern Poland, within the historical region of Lower Silesia. Jelenia Góra is situated in the Low ...
to Krosno Odrzańskie
Krosno Odrzańskie (german: Crossen an der Oder) is a city on the east bank of Oder River, at the confluence with the Bóbr. The town in Western Poland with 11,319 inhabitants (2019) is the capital of Krosno County. It is assigned to the Lubusz ...
, and along both sides of the Bobr river. The existence of these sophisticated defenses suggests that the various Silesian tribes had to cooperate in their construction. Hence, it is possible that in the period between the 7th and 9th centuries, the Ślężanie were united in a loose confederation of Silesian tribes. However, the wall most likely served a solely defensive purpose, most likely as a bulwark against raiding parties of the neighboring Polabian Slavs
Polabian Slavs ( dsb, Połobske słowjany, pl, Słowianie połabscy, cz, Polabští slované) is a collective term applied to a number of Lechitic ( West Slavic) tribes who lived scattered along the Elbe river in what is today eastern German ...
as none of the Polish tribes yet shared direct borders with Germanic states at the time.[
From 990 AD on, after a series of short wars between ]Mieszko I
Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was the first ruler of Poland and the founder of the first independent Polish state, the Duchy of Poland. His reign stretched from 960 to his death and he was a member of the Piast dynasty, a son of Siemomysł and ...
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 ...
, first ruler 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 ...
, and Boleslaus II, Duke of Bohemia
Boleslaus II the Pious ( cs, Boleslav II. Pobožný pl, Bolesław II. Pobożny; c. 940 – 7 February 999), a member of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 972 until his death.
Life and reign
Boleslaus was an elder son of Duke B ...
of the Přemyslid dynasty
The Přemyslid dynasty or House of Přemyslid ( cs, Přemyslovci, german: Premysliden, pl, Przemyślidzi) was a Bohemian royal dynasty that reigned in the Duchy of Bohemia and later Kingdom of Bohemia and Margraviate of Moravia (9th century–130 ...
(who was Mieszko's brother in law), Silesia, and the Ślężanie, became part of the Polish state.[Lerski, Wróbel and Kozicki, pg. 354] Over time, the Ślężanie, along with the other Silesian tribes, as well as the Vistulans
The Vistulans, or Vistulanians ( pl, Wiślanie), were an early medieval Lechitic tribe inhabiting the western part of modern Lesser Poland."The main tribe inhabiting the reaches of the Upper Vistula and its tributaries was the Vislane (Wislanie) ...
, Pomeranians, Lendians
The Lendians ( pl, Lędzianie) were a Lechitic tribe who lived in the area of East Lesser Poland and Cherven Cities between the 7th and 11th centuries. Since they were documented primarily by foreign authors whose knowledge of Central and East E ...
, Masovians
Masovians, also spelled as Mazovians, and historically known as Masurians, is an ethnographic group of Polish people that originate from the region of Masovia, located mostly within borders of the Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. They speak the Masov ...
and the Polans Polans may refer to two Slavic tribes:
* Polans (eastern)
The Polans (, ''Poliany'', ''Polyane'', pl, Polanie), also Polianians, were an East Slavic tribe between the 6th and the 9th century, which inhabited both sides of the Dnieper river ...
mixed and became part of the Polish state.[Falk, pg. 546]
The mountain Ślęża, and the neighboring peak of Sępia Góra ("Vulture Peak"), served as a sacred place where important religious ceremonies were held by the tribe. In fact, the religious importance of the location dates back to the sun-worshipping people of the Lusatian culture
The Lusatian culture existed in the later Bronze Age and early Iron Age (1700 BC – 500 BC) in most of what is now Poland and parts of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, eastern Germany and western Ukraine. It covers the Periods Montelius III (earl ...
, as early as 1300 B.C. It was used as a place of worship by various people who inhabited the area before the Ślężanie, for example, the Silingi
The Silings or Silingi ( la, Silingae; grc, Σιλίγγαι – ) were a Germanic tribe, part of the larger Vandal group. The Silingi at one point lived in Silesia, and the names ''Silesia'' and ''Silingi'' may be related.Jerzy Strzelczyk, "Wand ...
(most likely a Vandal
The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century.
The Vandals migrated to the area betw ...
tribe).[Jasienica, pg. 35] The mountain Ślęża was also a place of pilgrimage for other Slavic tribes of that era. According to legend, the peak was created as a result of a battle between angels
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
and demons
A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, ...
, when after a struggle, the angels used the mountain to bury the entrance to hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
.[Krzysztof Kucharski, "Menu dawnych Ślężan" (Menu of the old Ślężanie), ''Gazeta Wroclawska'', 13 August 2009, last accessed July 8, 2010]
/ref>
See also
*List of Medieval Slavic tribes
This is a list of Slavic peoples and Slavic tribes reported in Late Antiquity and in the Middle Ages, that is, before the year AD 1500.
Ancestors
*Proto-Indo-Europeans (Proto-Indo-European speakers)
** Proto-Balto-Slavs (common ancestors of Bal ...
Notes
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Silesians
History of Silesia
West Slavic tribes
Silesian tribes