The Baptism of Poland
Duke Mieszko I accepts Latin Christianity, tying the new Polish state to Rome and the West.
- God's Playground: A History of Poland (2 vols, revised edition) — Norman Davies, Oxford University Press (2005)
- A Concise History of Poland (3rd edition) — Jerzy Lukowski and Hubert Zawadzki, Cambridge University Press (2019)
Mieszko I, ruler of the Polanie (“people of the fields”) around Gniezno and Poznań, was baptised in 966, probably at Easter, following his marriage to the Czech Christian princess Dobrava. Choosing baptism through Bohemia and Rome, rather than through the German emperor, helped him keep his independence. In 1000 Gniezno became an archbishopric, and in 1025 Mieszko’s son Bolesław the Brave was crowned the first king of Poland.
- God's Playground: A History of Poland (2 vols, revised edition) — Norman Davies, Oxford University Press (2005)
- A Concise History of Poland (3rd edition) — Jerzy Lukowski and Hubert Zawadzki, Cambridge University Press (2019)
In 1966 the communist authorities and the Catholic Church held rival celebrations: the state marked “a thousand years of the Polish state”, while Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński led a “Millennium of the Baptism” that drew huge crowds. The contest showed who many Poles thought really spoke for the nation.
- Poland in the Modern World: Beyond Martyrdom — Brian Porter-Szűcs, Wiley-Blackwell (2014)
- The Spring Will Be Ours: Poland and the Poles from Occupation to Freedom — Andrzej Paczkowski, Pennsylvania State University Press (2003)
Why it matters today
Poles date their statehood and their Catholic identity to 966; the millennium in 1966 became a trial of strength between the Church and the communist state. Belonging to the Latin West, rather than the Orthodox East, remains central to how many Poles see themselves.