The last work of Carlo Polanco, who seems to have been the most celebrated oftbe brothers, bears the date ol 1686.
Poland, Ecclesiastn u Histoid of. The Po- lish historians Naruscewicz, Friese, Lelewel, and others assert that Christianity was introduced into the Slavic countries at a very early period by some disciples of Methodius from M ra ia. Lelewel, upon very unsafe grounds, admits a l ■ i ~ 1 1 ■ • [ • r i . • of Posen anterior to the time "i king Mil I. According to Thietmar of
Merseburg, the latter, under the influence of bis wife Dambrouska, daughter of the Bohemian duke Boleslas, established the Christian religion in Poland in 965, pre- vailed upon his subjects to destroy the idols, and found- 166, with the assistance ol the < ■■ rman emperor Otho tbe Great, the bishopric ol Posen (Poz- i which, together with the bishoprii di oburg, and Hav< lb ■ • tbe archbishop of Magdeburg, D follows that the by Bogupbalus and the rroneou8ly. The >l the bishop of Posen extended over the do- is, the boundaries ol wh ch can- i for want of documents. Posen was
the "nl\ Polish bishopric up to the year i I, when the
"i a pilgrims tomb of St l trchiepis-
and Bubordinated to it the bishoprics of I Crai ow, and
Wratisl i all then situated in the duchy
of Polpi 3 Lubienski'a assertion thai Cra-
Polish bishoprii i- thus
proved to be erroneous, as it could not. as an archbish. opric, have been a dependence of < Jnesen.
Early Period— We know little about t lie ccclesias- tical development of Poland in it- first Christian cen- tury. Pope Gregory VII complained in 1075 of the small number of the bishops in proportion to the popu- lation; the dioceses w< re too large, and the bishops had not even fixed residences; nothing definite had been decided about the limits oftbe diocese of Gnesen and it- dependent bishoprics, among which was then count- ed the bishopric ofLebus, founded by Micislas in 965; but as the citj passed continually from Poland to Ger- many, and vice v< r-.i. it- existence was a precarious one. It is believed that the papal legate /Egidius founded il a second time in 1 123, and subordinated it to documents relating to it date- only from 1133. Another episcopal Bee dependent upon Gnesen was the bishopric of Plock, whose foundation is referred to Boleslas the Great It was formerly called Ep. Ma- soma.. Gallus (Chron. PoL ad ami. 1110) mentions a bishop Simeon: he seems to have been ordained in 1 in7. and to have died in 1129. A great victory of the Poles over tbe Prussians and Pomeranians is attributed to his intercession. And still another dependent bish- opric was that of Leslan, which was founded by Micis- las II. son of Boleslas the Great, and originally called Episc. Cvjaviensis, because it was intended for the prov- ince of Cujawia; extended afterwards over the largest part of Western Prussia, on the left hank of the Vistula; reached in a northerly direction the Baltic Sea: and was bounded west bj the archbishopric of ( rnesen, which it also encircled on the south, (.alius (Chroniclt I men- tions bishop Paula-, who died iii 1110. The bishopric of Ermeland, founded in 1243, came to Poland only in 1466. After the reign of Micislas II (1023 1 eral anarchy ensued, and at the same time a general apostasy from the christian faith. Bishops and priests were without authority, some were killed, and external and civil wars robbed Poland of its wealth, and of a con- siderable part of its population. In 1039 the Bohemians destroyed Posen and Gnesen, and took away the body of St. Adalbert A multitude of Poles crossed the Vis- tula and took refuge in Masowia : wild beasts established their lairs in the churches of St. Adalbert and St Peter. Kasimierz (Casimir) in that great distress arrived with a body of five hundred soldiers from Germany, and by his bravery and intelligence freed the country from for- eign occupation. He retained the power until his death, which occurred in 1058. He promoted the interests of Christianity by all the means in Ids power. He w ;i- Biicceeded by his son. Boleslas H, whose feats were not inferior to those of his ancestors; hut his ambition and pride caused his ruin. At Christmas, 1076, he put the diadem on his head, and was anointed by the bishops of the kingdom. About the same time Gregory VII ■ iii a legate to Poland. A few years afterwards, in 1079, the kiui_r. being put under interdict by St Stanis- las, bishop ol Cracow, avenged himself by tbe murder oftbe prelate. Hereupon tbe nobility expelled him, .and he was obliged to take refuge in Hungary, where he dhd. He was succeeded bj bis younger brother, Boleslas Wladislas Hermann, who lived in peace with hi- neighbors and the clergy, to whom he granted ri-hi- and privileges. Having lived many years in childless matrimony with the Bohemian prir ditb, a sou was granted him, in consequence of the in- tercession, ii wa- believed, of St JSgidius. This son was afterwards Boleslas Krzywonsty, At this time < ii ho. afterwards the apostle of Pomerania, lived at the Polish court, lie was instrumental in bringing about Wladislas Hermann's second marriage with Judith, the widowed sisti r ol the emperor Henry IV. In 1099 the bishops of Poland dedicated the cathedral of Gnesen.