Siemomysł or Ziemomysł (died ) was the third duke of the Polans and the father of

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

's first

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 ...

ruler,

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 ...

. A member of the

Piast The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of King Casimir III the Great. Branches of ...

dynasty, he was listed by Gallus Anonymous in his '' Gesta principum Polonorum'' as the son of Lestek, the second known duke of the Polans. According to Gallus' account and historical research, Siemomysł has been credited with leaving the lands of the Polans, Goplans and

Masovians Masovians, also spelled as Mazovians, and historically known as Masurians, is an ethnographic group of Polish people that originates from the region of Masovia, located mostly within borders of the Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. They speak the ...

to his son

, who further expanded them during his reign.

Details

Siemomysł's birth year and birthplace remain unknown. According to the chronicles, he was the son of a prince named Lestek who presumably ruled as Duke of Polans. In older sources, Siemomysł features under the name Ziemomysł. He supposedly ruled from around 930, though some historians believe that it could have been from 950. Earlier theories by Adam Naruszewicz proposed that Siemomysł's reign could have begun as early as 913. However, this view is not accepted by contemporary historians. It is believed that Siemomysł united the lands of the Western Polans, the Goplans, and the

. It is possible that his father, Lestek, was the first to begin this process of unification in order to establish a centralised state what would later become the

Duchy of Poland Civitas Schinesghe (; ), also known as the Duchy of Poland or the Principality of Poland, is the historiographical name given to a polity in Central Europe, which existed during the medieval period and was the predecessor state of the Kingdom of ...

in 966 AD. The name of Siemomysł's wife (or wives) is also a matter of debate. There is a theory that the daughter of Włodzisław, prince of the

Lendians The Lendians () 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 Europe geogra ...

tribe, could have been Siemomysł's wife, but there is no historical evidence to support this. Formerly, it was thought that his wife was named Gorka, but

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 ...

refuted this view in 1895. Mieszko and Czcibor were his known sons. According to modern Polish historian Henryk Łowmiański, Siemomysł aided the Ukrani uprising against the Germans in 954 AD. Siemomysł died sometime between 950 and 960, though the latter is more probable according to 19th-century and 20th-century sources. His burial place is unknown.

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Siemomysl 10th-century Polish monarchs Piast dynasty Slavic pagans 10th-century deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain

Details

See also

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