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{{History of Poland}}
This article covers the [[history of Poland]] in the [[Middle Ages]]. This time covers roughly a [[millennium]], from the 5th century to the 16th century. It is commonly dated from the [[Fall of the Western Roman Empire]], and contrasted with a later [[Early Modern Period]]. The time during which the rise of [[humanism]] in the [[Italian Renaissance]] and the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] unfolded is generally associated with the transition out of the Middle Ages, with European overseas expansion as a succeeding process, but such dates are approximate and based upon nuanced arguments.

== Early Middle Ages ==
{{main|Poland in the Early Middle Ages}}
{{see also|Slavic peoples}}
The  first waves of [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] migration settled the area of the upper [[Vistula River]] and elsewhere in the lands of present-day southeastern [[Poland]] and southern [[Masovia]], coming from the upper and middle regions of the [[Dnieper River]]. Results of a genetic study by researchers from [[Gdańsk Medical University]] "support hypothesis placing the earliest known homeland of Slavs in the middle [[Dnieper basin]]".<ref name="Y-STR Variation among Slavs: Evidence for the Slavic Homeland in the Middle Dnieper Basin"/> The [[West Slavs]] came primarily from the more western early Slavic branch called the [[Sclaveni (military)|Sclaveni]] by the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] historian [[Jordanes]] in ''[[Getica (Jordanes)|Getica]]'', the eastern branch being the [[Antes (people)|Antes]].{{Ref_label|a|a|none}} The Slavs had first migrated into Poland in the second half of the 5th century, some half century after these territories had been vacated by [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribes (after a period during which settlements were absent or rare).<ref name="KK-337"/><ref name="KK-327-330, 346"/> According to the references given in this and [[Poland in the Early Middle Ages]] article, many scholars now believe that the Slavic tribes had not been present in Poland before the earliest medieval period,{{Ref_label|b|b|none}} though the opposite view, predominant in Polish [[prehistory]] and [[protohistory]] in the past, is still represented.<ref name="KK 325-352"/><ref name="UzP 122-167"/>

From there, over the 6th century, the new population dispersed north and west. The Slavs lived mostly by cultivating crops but also engaged in [[Hunter-gatherer|hunting and gathering]]. Their migrations took place while [[Eastern Europe|Eastern]] and [[Central Europe]] were being invaded from the east by waves of peoples and armies such as the [[Huns]], [[Avars (Carpathians)|Avars]] and [[Magyars]].<ref name="KK 325-352"/><ref name="UzP 122-167"/>

[[File:West slavs 9th-10th c..png|300px|thumb|left|[[West Slavs|West Slavic]] tribes in 9th/10th century (Slovaks did not exist in the 9th/10th century) ]]
A number of West Slavic [[Polish tribes]] formed small states, beginning in the 8th century, some of which later coalesced into larger states. Among these tribes were the [[Vistulans]] (''Wiślanie'') in southern Poland, with [[Kraków]] and [[Wiślica]] as their main centers (major fortified centers were built in their country in the 9th century), but later the tribe(s) referred to as the [[Polans (western)|Polans]] (''Polanie''—literally, "people of the fields") would prove of decisive historic importance. At the end of the 9th century Vistulans were part of the [[Great Moravia]], according to some theories.

The tribal states built many [[grad (Slavic settlement)|gord]]s – fortified structures with earthen and wooden walls and embankments – from the 7th century onward. Some of these were developed and inhabited; others featured a large empty space and may have served primarily as refuges in times of trouble. The Polans settled the plains around [[Giecz]], [[Poznań]] and [[Gniezno]] that would become the early center of Poland and lent their name to the country. They went through a period of accelerated building of gord-type fortified settlements and of territorial expansion, beginning in the first half of the 10th century, and the Polish state developed from their tribal polities in the second half of the 10th century.<ref name="UzP 122-167"/><ref>[[Jerzy Wyrozumski]] – ''Dzieje Polski piastowskiej'' (VIII w. – 1370) (History of Piast Poland (8th century – 1370)), [[Fogra]], Kraków 1999, {{ISBN|83-85719-38-5}}, pp. 47-86</ref>

==High Middle Ages==
{{main|Poland during the Piast dynasty}}

The Polish state begins with the rule of [[Mieszko I of Poland|Mieszko I]] of the [[Piast dynasty]] in the second half of the 10th century. Mieszko chose to be [[Baptism of Poland|baptized]] in the Western [[Latin Church]] in 966. Following its emergence, the [[Polish people|Polish nation]] was led by [[List of Polish monarchs|a series of rulers]] who converted the population to [[Christianity]], created [[Kingdom of Poland (1025–1385)|a strong kingdom]] and integrated Poland into the [[Culture of Europe|European culture]]. Mieszko's son [[Bolesław I Chrobry]] established a [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno|Polish Church province]], pursued territorial conquests and was officially crowned, becoming the first [[Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|King of Poland]]. This was followed by a collapse of the monarchy and restoration under [[Casimir I the Restorer|Casimir I]]. Casimir's son [[Bolesław II the Bold]] became fatally involved in a conflict with the [[Stanislaus of Szczepanów|ecclesiastical authority]], and was expelled from the country. After [[Bolesław III Wrymouth|Bolesław III]] [[Testament of Bolesław III Krzywousty|divided the country among his sons]], internal fragmentation eroded the initial Piast monarchy structure in the 12th and 13th centuries. [[Konrad I of Masovia|One of the regional Piast dukes]] invited the [[Teutonic Knights]] to help him fight the [[Balts|Baltic]] [[Old Prussians|Prussian]] pagans, which caused centuries of Poland's warfare with the Knights and then with the [[Duchy of Prussia|German Prussian state]]. The Kingdom was restored under [[Władysław I the Elbow-high]], strengthened and expanded by his son [[Casimir III the Great]]. The western provinces of [[Silesia]] and [[Pomerania]] were lost after the fragmentation, and Poland began expanding to the east. The consolidation in the 14th century laid the base for, after the reigns of two [[Louis I of Hungary|members]] of the [[Capetian House of Anjou|Angevin dynasty]], the new powerful [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Kingdom of Poland]] that was to follow.<ref name="Wyrozumski"/>

==Late Middle Ages==
{{main|Poland during the Jagiellon dynasty}}

Beginning with the [[Grand Duke of Lithuania|Lithuanian Grand Duke]] [[Jogaila]] (Władysław II Jagiełło), the [[Jagiellon dynasty]] (1385–1569) formed the [[Polish–Lithuanian union]]. The partnership brought vast [[Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Lithuania]]-controlled [[Rus' (people)|Rus' areas]] into Poland's sphere of influence and proved beneficial for the Poles and [[Lithuanians]], who coexisted and cooperated in one of the largest [[personal union|political entities]] in Europe for the next four centuries. In the [[Baltic Sea]] region Poland's struggle with the Teutonic Knights continued and included the milestone [[Second Peace of Thorn (1466)|Peace of Thorn]] under King [[Casimir IV Jagiellon]]; the treaty created the future [[Duchy of Prussia]]. In the south Poland confronted the [[Ottoman Empire]] and the [[Crimean Khanate|Crimean Tatars]], and in the east helped Lithuania fight the [[Grand Duchy of Moscow]]. Poland was developing as a [[feudalism|feudal]] state, with predominantly agricultural economy and an increasingly dominant [[landed nobility]] component. The ''[[Nihil novi]]'' act adopted by the Polish [[General sejm|Sejm]] ([[parliament]]) in 1505, transferred most of the [[legislature|legislative power]] from the [[monarch]] to the Sejm. This event marked the beginning of the period known as "[[Golden Liberty]]", when the state was ruled by the "free and equal" [[szlachta|Polish nobility]]. [[Protestant Reformation]] movements made deep inroads into the Polish Christianity, which resulted in unique at that time in Europe policies of [[religious toleration|religious tolerance]]. The European [[Renaissance]] currents evoked in late Jagiellon Poland (kings [[Sigismund I the Old]] and [[Sigismund II Augustus]]) an immense [[Renaissance in Poland|cultural flowering]]. Poland's and Lithuania's territorial expansion included the far north region of [[Livonia]].<ref name="Wyrozumski"/><ref>[[Józef Andrzej Gierowski]] – ''Historia Polski 1505–1764'' (History of Poland 1505–1764), Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe (Polish Scientific Publishers PWN), Warszawa 1986, {{ISBN|83-01-03732-6}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Poland}}
*[[Culture of medieval Poland]]
*[[Obotrites]]
*[[Principality of Nitra]]

==Notes==
{{refbegin}}
''a.''{{Note_label|a|a|none}}"Though their names are now dispersed amid various clans and places, yet they are chiefly called Sclaveni and Antes"; transl. by [[Charles Christopher Mierow]], [[Princeton University Press]] 1908, from the [[University of Calgary]] web site

''b.''{{Note_label|b|b|none}}This is the so-called [[Slavic peoples|allochthonic theory]]; according to the [[Slavic peoples|autochthonic theory]] the opposite is true
{{refend}}

==References==
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="Y-STR Variation among Slavs: Evidence for the Slavic Homeland in the Middle Dnieper Basin">[[Krzysztof Rębała]] ([[et al.]]), [http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-preview.axd?code=c3ht013txp686v71&size=largest "Y-STR Variation among Slavs: Evidence for the Slavic Homeland in the Middle Dnieper Basin"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425064723/http://resources.metapress.com/pdf-preview.axd?code=c3ht013txp686v71&size=largest |date=2012-04-25 }}, in ''[[Journal of Human Genetics]]'', [[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] Japan, May 2007. Retrieved October 22, 2011.</ref>

<ref name="KK 325-352">Piotr Kaczanowski, Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski – ''Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich (do VII w.)'', pp. 325-352</ref>

<ref name="KK-327-330, 346">Piotr Kaczanowski, Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski – ''Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich (do VII w.)'', pp. 327-330 and 346</ref>

<ref name="KK-337">[[Piotr Kaczanowski]], [[Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski]] – ''Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich (do VII w.)'' (Oldest history of Polish lands (till 7th century)), [[Fogra]], Kraków 1998, {{ISBN|83-85719-34-2}}, p. 337</ref>

<ref name="UzP 122-167">Various authors, ed. [[Marek Derwich]] and [[Adam Żurek]], ''U źródeł Polski (do roku 1038)'' (Foundations of Poland (until year 1038)), [[Wydawnictwo Dolnośląskie]], Wrocław 2002, {{ISBN|83-7023-954-4}}, pp. 122-67</ref>

<ref name="Wyrozumski">Jerzy Wyrozumski – ''Historia Polski do roku 1505'' (History of Poland until 1505), Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe ([[Polish Scientific Publishers PWN]]), Warszawa 1986, {{ISBN|83-01-03732-6}}</ref>
}}

{{Poland topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poland In The Middle Ages}}
[[Category:Medieval history of Poland| ]]