In this interview, Michał Machalski discusses his recent thesis research into rulers, subjects, and loyalty in 13th Century Poland’.   The thirteenth century in Poland was a period of intense turmoil and fragmentation, with many of the nobility battling for supremacy, and for the right to be King, while the Teutonic Knights made increasing incursions into Polish lands.

In this complex and fractured period, Michał looked at aspects of loyalty between the rulers from the local Piast dynasty and their subjects; how this loyalty was expressed, enacted, enforced, rewarded, and when lacking, how disloyalty was punished.  Although loyalty within the church was beyond the scope of his research, Michał explains how senior Bishops became arbiters of loyalty and guarantors of oaths.  Michał shows how through declarations and demonstrations of loyalty, the Polish society was held together and enabling Kazimierz III the Great to gain the throne and unite Poland. 

This podcast is part of a series of interviews covering central Europe in the medieval period for MECERN and CEU Department of Historical Studies.

Image - Duke of Wroclaw & Krakow Henryk IV Probus, from Codex Manesse 1305-40 (27668147667)