The baptism of duke Mieszko I in medieval history-writing

Abstract

The baptism of Mieszko I was a defining event in the history of the Poles and the emergent monarchy established by Mieszko's forebears. There are not many extant sources that enable the establishment of the chronology of the chain of events that led to Mieszko's conversion to Christianity. The extant annals contain very limited information and the later medieval authors' reconstructions of events offer an ornamented image of the key participants. What seems to be certain is that the baptism of Mieszko and his court commenced a long process of Christianisation of his subjects and that the key enabler of Mieszko's conversion was his marriage to the daughter of the ruler of Bohemia, Dobrava. This article will argue that it is impossible to provide the precise dating of the actual baptism of Mieszko beyond an estimate that it happened somewhere in Wielkopolska between 965 and 968.