fl.
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...
11th century) was the first historically verifiable
Duke of Pomerania
This is a list of the duchies and dukes of Pomerania.
Dukes of the Slavic Pomeranian tribes (All Pomerania)
The lands of Pomerania were firstly ruled by local tribes, who settled in Pomerania around the 10th and 11th centuries.
Non-dynastic
...
The Annals record reads: "''His omnibus peractis rex inde discessit ac Mersiburc, natale sancti Iohannis celebraturus
4 June
Events Pre-1600
* 1411 – King Charles VI grants a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.
*1525 – 1525 Bayham Abbey riot; Villagers from Kent an ...
perrexit. Illuc etiam Bratizlao dux Boemorum, Kazmir Bolaniorum, Zemuzil Bomeraniorum advenerunt atque regem donis decentibus honoraverunt. ..Inde discedens apostolorum Petri et Pauli festa
9 June
Events Pre-1600
*411 BC – The Athenian coup succeeds, forming a short-lived oligarchy.
* 53 – The Roman emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia.
* 68 – Nero dies by suicide after quoting Vergil's ''Aeneid'', thus ending the Ju ...
Mihsina celebravit ubi etiam conventionem secundo habens duces praefatos inter se pacificavit.''" ( Annales Altahensis maiorum ad a. 1046)
This entry describes Zemuzil's attendance of a meeting with
Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry III (, 28 October 1016 – 5 October 1056), called the Black () or the Pious, was Holy Roman Emperor from 1046 until his death in 1056. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was the eldest son of Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia.
Henry was rais ...
in
Merseburg
Merseburg () is a town in central Germany in southern Saxony-Anhalt, situated on the river Saale, and approximately 14 km south of Halle (Saale) and 30 km west of Leipzig. It is the capital of the Saalekreis district. It had a diocese ...
("Mersiburc") on 24 June 1046, along with
Bretislaus I, Duke of Bohemia
Bretislav I (; 1002/1005 – 10 January 1055), known as the "Bohemian Achilles", of the Přemyslid dynasty, was Duke of Bohemia from 1034 until his death in 1055.
Youth
Bretislav was the son of Duke Oldřich and his low-born concubine Božena ...
("Bratizlao dux Boemorum") and
Casimir I of Poland
Casimir I the Restorer (; 25 July 1016 – 19 March 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 ...
("Kazmir Bolaniorum"). The dukes "honored the emperor with decent gifts", which according to Schmidt (2009) was the payment of
tribute
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...
. In a second meeting on 29 June in
Meißen
Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...
("Mihsin"), according to the document, the "aforementioned dukes" concluded a mutual peace agreement.
Scholarly assessment
Nature of the dispute
Roderich Schmidt (2009) assumes that the peace referenced in the document was necessary, among other reasons, because of fights between Zemuzil and Casimir, and that Zemuzil aided
Miecław
Miecław (10th/11th century – 1047) was a cup-bearer of king Mieszko II Lambert, who in c. 1038 had proclaimed independence of the state that he ruled, from the Duchy of Poland, beginning the rebellion that lasted until his death in 1047.
...
of
Mazovia
Mazovia or Masovia ( ) is a historical region in mid-north-eastern Poland. It spans the North European Plain, roughly between Łódź and Białystok, with Warsaw being the largest city and Płock being the capital of the region . Throughout the ...
who had fought against Casimir, previously expelled from Poland but restored with Henry's aid, and was defeated. Referring to Steindorff, Ernst (1874) Jahrbücher des Deutschen Reichs unter Heinrich III. pp. 298ff., source cited there i Chron. Polon. Lib. I c.20, c.21 /ref> According to Edward Rymar (2005) the most likely nature of the dispute was the non payment of tribute by the Pomeranian duke to Casimir. After Henry's intermediation Zemuzil failed to pay feudal dues and Casimir invaded and took control of Pomerania in the following year (1047).Edward Rymar, Rodowód książąt pomorskich ' (Genealogy of Dukes of Pomerania), Książnica Pomorska, 2005, pg. 79
Žemužilse's realm
According to Schmidt it is not possible on the basis of the 1046 record to decide the location of his realm. Edward Rymar, following Łowmiański, believes that Žemužilis was a ruler of a unified Pomeranian state with its center in
Kołobrzeg
Kołobrzeg (; ; ) is a port and spa city in the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in north-western Poland with about 47,000 inhabitants (). Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (in the middle of the section ...
(Kolberg) rather than a smaller duchy, which explains why he was treated by Henry as a co-equal with the rulers of Bohemia and Poland. Schmidt also argues that the mention of Žemužilis along with Bretislaus and Casimir suggest that they were equal in status, and that the political organisation of his realm in 1046 resembled the Bohemian and Polish ones.
On the other hand, Stabenow (1995) says that the great majority of historians regard Zemuzil as ruler of only a part of the area between
Oder
The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through wes ...
,
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
,
Vistula
The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra i ...
,
Warta
The river Warta ( , ; ; ) rises in central Poland and meanders greatly through the Polish Plain in a north-westerly direction to flow into the Oder at Kostrzyn nad Odrą on Poland's border with Germany. About long, it the second-longest riv ...
and
Noteć
The Noteć (; , ) is a river in central Poland with a length of (7th longest) and a basin area of .Baltic Pomeranians.
Name
Historians have made several attempts to reconstruct the duke's Slavic name from the version recorded by a German chronicler, "''Žemužils''". Before the connection between the document from 1040 and the one from 1046 was made the name was variously rendered as ''Ziemomysł'' (by Oswald Balcer), ''Siemosił'' (by
Aleksander Brückner
Aleksander Brückner (; 29 January 1856 – 24 May 1939) was a Polish scholar of Slavic languages and literature (Slavistics), philologist, lexicographer, and historian of literature. He is among the most notable Slavicists of the late 19th ...
) and even ''Wszemysł'' (this particular variant has been abandoned as a hypothesis). Zygmunt Wojciechowski in consultation with
Slavicist
Slavic (American English) or Slavonic (British English) studies, also known as Slavistics, is the academic field of area studies concerned with Slavic peoples, languages, literature, history, and culture. Originally, a Slavist or Slavicist was ...
s considered "''Žemužilis''" to correspond to the diminutive form "''Siemysł''", short for "''Siemomysł''". The name appears among the members of the Piast dynasty with the Polish duke
Siemomysł
Siemomysł or Ziemomysł (died ) was the third duke of the Polans and the father of Poland's first Christian ruler, Mieszko I. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was listed by Gallus Anonymous in his '' Gesta principum Polonorum'' as the son of ...
and the stem "-Siem", referring to "family" (hence "Siemomysł" is someone "thoughtful of their family"), is also found in the Piast name of the half-legendary
Siemowit
Siemowit (Polish pronunciation: ɛˈmɔvit also Ziemowit ɛˈmɔvit was, according to the chronicles of Gallus Anonymus, the son of Piast the Wheelwright and Rzepicha. He is considered to be the first ruler of the Piast dynasty.K. Jasiński, R ...
.
Religion
According to Rymar, Zemuzil was most likely a
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
or otherwise he would not have had Henry's support, although he might have kept this fact hidden from his still mostly pagan subjects.
Proposed genealogies
According to Edward Rymar, Zemuzil is often thought to have been the father or the grand father of the Pomeranian Duke Świętobor I.Edward Rymar, Rodowód książąt pomorskich ' (Genealogy of Dukes of Pomerania), Książnica Pomorska, 2005, pg. 78 Schmidt says it is not possible on the basis of the 1046 record to decide whether Zemuzil was an ancestor of later Pomeranian dukes, and cites similar conclusions of other German historians Martin Wehrmann and
Adolf Hofmeister
Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo, and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name with German origins.
The name is a compound derived from the Old High German ''Athalwolf'' (or ''Hadulf''), a composition of ''athal'', or ''adal'', mean ...
.
The 19th century German historian Johann Ludwig Quandt believed that Zemuzil and other early Pomeranian dukes of the
Griffin dynasty
The griffin, griffon, or gryphon (; Classical Latin: ''gryps'' or ''grypus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk o ...
descended from Polish nobility of
Lesser Poland
Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name ''Małopolska'' (; ), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a separate cult ...
, that Zemuzil was made a
voivode
Voivode ( ), also spelled voivod, voievod or voevod and also known as vaivode ( ), voivoda, vojvoda, vaivada or wojewoda, is a title denoting a military leader or warlord in Central, Southeastern and Eastern Europe in use since the Early Mid ...
of his duchy by the Polish king
Bolesław I Chrobry
Bolesław or Boleslav may refer to:
People
* Bolesław (given name) (also ''Boleslav'' or ''Boleslaus''), including a list of people with this name
Geography
* Bolesław, Dąbrowa County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
* Bolesław, Olkusz Coun ...
, and that he was the grand father of Świętobor I.Rymar, pg. 38 The Austro-Polish historian
Oswald Balzer
Oswald Marian Balzer (23 January 1858 in Chodorów – 11 January 1933 in Lwów) was a Polish historian of law and statehood who was one of the most renowned Polish historians of his time.
In 1887 he became a professor at the University of L ...
linked the duke with the Piast dynasty through a matrilineal connection, making his mother the daughter of Bolesław I Chrobry.Rymar, pgs. 40-41 In a similar way,
Henryk Łowmiański
Henryk Łowmiański (August 22, 1898 near Ukmergė - September 4, 1984 in Poznań) was a Polish historian and academic who was an authority on the early history of the Slavic and Baltic people. A researcher of the ancient history of Poland, Lith ...
saw Zemuzil as the son of a daughter of
Mieszko I
Mieszko I (; – 25 May 992) was Duchy of Poland (966–1025), Duke of Poland from 960 until his death in 992 and the founder of the first unified History of Poland, Polish state, the Civitas Schinesghe. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was t ...
, the first historical ruler of Poland.Rymar, pg. 46
Gerard Labuda
Gerard Labuda (; 28 December 1916 – 1 October 2010) was a Polish historian whose main fields of interest were the Middle Ages and the Western Slavs. He was born in Kashubia. He lived and died in Poznań, Poland.
Life
Labuda was born in N ...
said that Zemuzil was most likely related to the Piasts through his mother. Rymar says that the 1040 document is one of the reasons why Zemuzil is sometimes thought to be related to the Polish
Piast dynasty
The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented List of Polish monarchs, Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I of Poland, Mieszko I (–992). The Poland during the Piast dynasty, Piasts' royal rule in Pol ...
.Rymar, pg. 77Stanisław Zakrzewski believed the duke to be a brother of the Dytryk proposed as the father of Sememizl by Labuda, and also hypothesized that Zemuzil was an ancestor of Świętobor.Rymar, pg. 59
Sememizl
A document from 1040 mentions a ''Sememizl''.; Rymar (2005), p. 77 This document is a record of Henry III bestowing upon the cathedral in
Naumburg
Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...
few villages which Sememizl previously held as fiefs from Henry III. According to Edward Rymar, Sememizl is generally identified with Zemuzil due to rarity of this name among Polish Piasts and Pomeranian dukes.
Gerard Labuda
Gerard Labuda (; 28 December 1916 – 1 October 2010) was a Polish historian whose main fields of interest were the Middle Ages and the Western Slavs. He was born in Kashubia. He lived and died in Poznań, Poland.
Life
Labuda was born in N ...
doubted a connection between Zemuzil and Sememizl, whom he thought to be a son of
Dytryk Dytryk (''Dietrich'' or ''Theoderic'') (born after 992 - died after 1032) – Polish duke in 1032.
Dytryk was a paternal grandson (''patruelus'') of Mieszko I and his second (or third?) wife Oda of Haldensleben, the daughter of Dietrich of Haldens ...
, one of the step brothers of Chrobry who had been banished by the Polish king to Germany.Rymar, pg. 46