Watch on the Odr 2


 * Watch on the Odr 2
 * by Johnny Pez
 * 5 December 2001

Vistulis, history of. . . Although some small Vistulian warbands took part in the Hundred Years War, for the most part the attentions of King Boleslav I and his successors remained fixed on local threats, especially the Magyars. During the latter half of the third century periods of uneasy peace were punctuated by raids of greater or lesser size by both sides, along with attempts by the Magyars to seize the fortress of Trencsin in SE 264 [1036 CE], 279 [1051 CE] and 298 [1070 CE].

The latter year marked a new turn in relations between the Magyars and the Vistulians, for in that year the Magyar Khagan Ladislas converted to Orthodox Christianity, and took the title of King of the Magyars. The Magyars had long been poised between the House of Submission in the north and Christendom in the south. The expansion of the High Kingdom of the Elbe into the lands immediately east of Magyaria deepened the threat posed by the House of Submission, and it seems fairly likely that Ladislas made his decision out of cold-blooded political calculation rather than religious fervor. The choice of Orthodoxy also brought Ladislas an Imperial alliance against the Bulgars to his south, who were followers of the Jabrite sect of Christianity.

One of the consequences of Ladislas' conversion was the expulsion from Magyaria of all non-Christians, including Ananite Jews, Orthodox Submissives, and Spectrals. The Spectrals made their way east to Kievan Rus, while the Submissives retreated to the High Kingdom or Vistulis. The Ananites, however, found the way east to Khazaria blocked by the Pechenegs, while the Bulgars and the Saxons refused them entry into their own lands. By default, the Ananites found themselves crossing the Carpathians into Vistulis.

The arrival of the Ananites led in SE 308 [1080 CE] to a debate within the Holy Thing of Elbing on the Edict of Toleration. Here the pro-Saxon and pro-Danish factions among the Vistulians were mirrored in the Holy Thing, with the pro-Saxon members opposed to ratification of the Edict and the pro-Danish members in favor. The eventual decision in favor of ratification owed much to the eloquence of Judge Mjesko Stanislavson of Krakov. However, the contentious nature of the debate meant in practice that the division throughout the House of Submission between pro-Edict and anti-Edict areas was duplicated within Vistulis, with Ananites (and eventually Christians as well) permitted to settle in some parts of the country and barred from others.

For reasons which have never been adequately explained, following the ratification of the Edict of Toleration, Judge Mieszko was murdered by King Boleslav II. Boleslav claimed that Judge Mieszko had committed treason against him, but no details have come down to us. Speculations that the Edict controversy was involved run up against the fact that Boleslav was known to support Judge Mieszko's stand in favor of ratification. Whatever King Boleslav's motives, the results of his actions are well known. Supported by the thanes of Elbing and Lublin, Ladislav deposed his elder brother and seized the Vistulian crown for himself. Boleslav fled to the Deputate of Prussia, dying in Regno in SE 313. FN1

The succession of Ladislav resulted in a further erosion of royal authority. Thane Sjetjek of Elbing had emerged from the conflict as the most powerful man in Vistulis, and King Ladislav spent most of his reign trying to gain control over his former ally. Ladislav eventually succeeded in engineering Thane Sjetjek's fall, but his death in SE 330 [1102 CE] was the signal for a power struggle between his sons Zbignjev and Boleslav.

Once again the Saxon and Danish factions within Vistulis rose up, the former supporting Zbignjev and the latter Boleslav. Boleslav and the Danish faction eventually prevailed, causing Zbignjev to flee to the High Kingdom and seek the support of Heinrich V. A Saxon army entered Silesia in 337 [1109 CE], only to suffer a series of severe defeats at the hands of King Boleslav. The Saxons were forced to retreat, and Boleslav became the undisputed master of Vistulis.

The 340s marked one of the turning points in the history of the House of Submission, and indeed of all of Europe, when the bubonic plague or Black Death swept through the continent, killing anywhere between one quarter and one half of the population. For reasons which are still not well understood, the spreading plague largely bypassed Vistulis, FN2 sparing the kingdom most of the associated demographic and social problems. Boleslav III reaffirmed the Edict of Toleration in 345 [1117 CE], and Vistulis became a magnet for Christians and Jews who fled persecution elsewhere in the House of Submission. Another result of the plague was the end of the Saxon migration into Pomerania and Silesia, and the start of a counter-migration westwards by Vistulians into the now-underpopulated regions of Brandenburg and Lusatia. By the end of the fourth century, Vistulic-speakers made up a third of the population of Brandenburg, and more than half the population of Lusatia, with far-reaching consequences for both.

By the time of King Boleslav's death in SE 366 [1138 CE], the effects of disease and Boleslav's own astute leadership had transformed Vistulis from a divided and ravaged realm to one of the most powerful in the House of Submission. In spite of outmigration to the High Kingdom, Vistulis was the only European nation to experience a net population growth in the mid-fourth century. A growing pool of Christian and Jewish refugees from the rest of the House of Submission was contributing to the growth of the kingdom's cities and adding to its prosperity. Finally, the foundation of the Great School in Krakov in SE 359 marked the beginning of the Golden Age of Vistulian scholarship and literature that would continue into the next century.

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