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Lendians

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Cherven Towns as port of Poland until 981

The Lendians (Template:Lang-pl) were a Lechitic and West Slavic eastern Wends tribe recorded to have inhabited the ill-defined area in East Lesser Poland and Cherven Towns between the 7th[citation needed] and 11th centuries.

Since they were documented primarily by foreign authors whose knowledge of Eastern European geography was often vague, numerous speculations have accrued to their name, which include Lendzanenoi, Lendzaninoi, Lz’njn, Lachy, Landzaneh and Lendizi.

Sources

Sources mentioning Lendians:

Annales regni Francorum (805), Annales Mettenses(805), Annales Fuldenses(805) – Lechum
Bavarian Geographer (843) – Lendizi – (33) on the map,
Constantine VII (912–959) – Lendzanenoi, Lendzaninoi,
Josippon (Jewish chronicler), 890–953) – Lz’njn,
Nestor the Chronicler (11th century under the date of 981) – Lachy',
Kinamos (Byzantine chronicler, 11th century) – Lechoi,
Al-Masudi (Arabian chronicler, c.a. 940) - Landzaneh)

In Latin historiography the Bavarian Geographer (generally dated to the mid-9th century) attests that Lendizi habent civitates XCVIII, that is, that the "Lendizi" had 98 gords, or settlements.

The Lendians are mentioned, among others, by De administrando imperio (ca. 959, as Λενζανηνοί), by Josippon (ca. 953, as Lz’njn), by the Primary Chronicle (ca. 981, as ляхи), by Ali al-Masudi (ca. 940, as Landzaneh).

Name

Main article: Name of Poland

Lędzianie ( *lęd-jan-inъ) derived from Proto-Slavic and Old-Polish word "lęda" mean "field".[1][2] In modern Polish language still exist word "ląd" meaning "ang. Landmass" in pol. "ziemia". Ziemia has in Polish many meanings such "landmass" or "soil" but "Ziemia" was also historical unit of administration in Poland. The name of tribe Lędzianie comes from slash-and-burn agricultural technique which involves cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields.[3] Acording this meaning Lendian was a farmer "wood burner".[4] Acording to German-Russian linguist Max Vasmer the original ethnonym as lęděninŭ, deriving it from the Slavic word for "fallow, wasteland", which is cognate to English "land".[5]

From later forms Lachy (sneaky) "Lechi autem dicti fuerunt Polonii eo, quod magis deceptionibus et calliditate in bellis utebantur, quam ciribus"[6]:

Lendians is also other name for the Poles in a number of languages.[citation needed]

Directly from Lędzianie, Lendzianie, Lędzice

The Lendians also left their mark in Polish names such as Lachy Sądeckie which was an endonym used by Poles in south-eastern Poland. The north-eastern region of Podlaskie (Podlasie) signifies "under the Poles", with the Lithuanian name for the region Palenkė having the same meaning.

In the early 11th century, Scandinavians referred to the Polish tribe of Polans in the region of Gniezno as Laesar.[11] In High-Icelandic, Poland is known as Læsialand.

In the 11th century chronicles by Nestor, the term Lachy was used to refer to all Western Slavs who were not Czechs or Slovaks. Nestor stated that the Lachy had divided into many tribes, including the Polans, Pomeranians (Slavic tribe), Mazovians, and Lusatians.

The terms Lechites, Lechia and Lechitic languages stem from the latter form. That form was also used in many Middle Eastern languages.

Tribal area

File:RuskieIRP.png
Although the extent and borders of Lendians territories are still not clearly known, it is very likely that most of it was similar to the area of Ruthenian Voivodeship of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Constantine VII reports that in the year 944 Lendians were tributaries to the Rus and that their monoxylae sailed under prince Wlodzislav downstream to Kiev to take part in the naval expeditions against Byzantium. This may be taken as an indication that the Lendians had access to some waterways leading to the Dnieper, e.g., the Styr River.[12]

Based on Constantine's report, it appears likely that the Lendians occupied the historical region of Chervona Rus, centred around Przemyśl.[13] This conclusion is at variance with the Primary Chronicle which implies that the region was settled by the White Croats. In order to remove the perceived discrepancy, some Polish historians proposed alternative readings of the text in question, which would move the location of the White Croats considerably to the east, for instance, to the Vorskla River basin.[14]

The uncertainty of extant 10th-century descriptions of the upper Dniester and Bug River region makes it plausible to infer that the White Croats, Lendians and probably some other peoples shared this vast territory along the border of modern-day Ukraine and Poland.[12] Attempts to positively identify the Lendians with the Buzhans[13] or Dulebes[15] lose in probability in light of these considerations.[12]

History

Map showing an approximation location of Polish tribes. Lendians (Lędzianie) can be found in the bottom-right corner.
Main article: Red Ruthenia

In pre-Slavic times the region was populated by the Lugii and Anarti, associated with the Przeworsk and Puchov cultures. They were followed by East Germanic tribes, the Goths and Vandals. After these vacated the territory, the West Slavs (Lendians and Vistulans) moved in.

Around 833 the land of the Lendians was incorporated into the Great Moravian state. Upon the invasion of the Hungarian tribes into the heart of Central Europe around 899, the Lendians submitted to their authority (Masudi). In the first half of the 10th century, they paid tribute to Igor I of Kiev (Constantine VII).

From the mid-950s onward, the Lendians were politically anchored in the Bohemian sphere of influence. Cosmas of Prague relates that the land of Krakow was controlled by the Přemyslids of Bohemia until 999.[16] His report is buttressed by the foundation charter of the Archdiocese of Prague (1086), which traces the eastern border of the archdiocese, as established in 973, along the Bug and Styr (or Stryi rivers.[17]

Abraham ben Jacob, who travelled in Eastern Europe in 965, remarks that Boleslaus II of Bohemia ruled the country "stretching from the city of Prague to the city of Krakow".[18] At one point in the 970s, the region seems to have been taken over by Mieszko I of Poland. This may be inferred from the Primary Chronicle which reports that Vladimir I of Kiev conquered the "Cherven towns" from the Poles in 981 (actually, in 979).[19]

The region returned to Polish sphere of influence in 1018, when King Boleslaw I took the Cherven towns on his way to Kiev. Yaroslav I of Kiev recovered the borderland in 1031; it remained part of Kievan Rus and its successor state of Halych-Volhynia until 1340 when it was once again taken over by Kingdom of Poland under Casimir III of Poland. It is presumed that the Lendians were assimilated by East Slavs by that period. The most important factors contributing to their fate could be:

See also

References

Latin Wikisource has original text related to this article:
  1. ^ Henryk Łowmiański "Historia Polski", PWN, Warszawa 1964
  2. ^ Henryk Łowmiański "Studia nad dziejami słowiańszczyzny Polski i Rusi w wiekach średnich", UAM, Poznań 1986
  3. ^ Henryk Łowmiański "Studia nad dziejami słowiańszczyzny Polski i Rusi w wiekach średnich", UAM, Poznań 1986
  4. ^ L.Krzywicki, "Spoleczeństwo pierwotne, jego rozmiary i wzrost", Warszawa 1937
  5. ^ Vasmer Dictionary online
  6. ^ Karol Szajnocha. Dzieła. p. 131 op. cit. Chronica principum Poloniae'. Hrsg. von Gustav Adolf Stenzel. 1835, Wrocław, . I. 2, 39; see also Wincenty Kadłubek Kronika polska "dano mu imię Lestko, to jest przebiegły, ponieważ więcej nieprzyjaciół zniszczył przebiegłością niż siłą."
  7. ^ Annales regni Francorum (805), Annales Mettenses(805), Annales Fuldenses(805)
  8. ^ "Laesir is the Old Norse term for the Ljachar, a people near the Vistula in Poland". [in:] Theodore Murdock Andersson, Kari Ellen Gade Morkinskinna : The Earliest Icelandic Chronicle of the Norwegian Kings (1030-1157). ISBN13 9780801436949 p. 471; "The word here for Poles is "Laesum" - the dative plural from a nominative plural "Laesir". This clearly is derived from the old name for Pole - "Lyakh", since in the course of the Slavonic paradigm -kh- becomes -s-in accordance with the "second palatalization" and the addition of the regular Norse plural ending of -ir- [...] [in:] The Ukrainian review. 1963. p. 70; "eastern Wends, meaning obviously the Vjatyci/Radimici, Laesir "Poles" or "Western Slavs" (ef. Old Rus'ian ljaxy) [in:] Omeljan Pritsak. Old Scandinavian sources other than the sagas. 1981. p. 300
  9. ^ Äfven i ett annat slaviskt lånord år ja substitueradt med æ, nåmligen læsir = Ijach, n. pi. Ijasi 'Polack', [in:] s. Axel Olrik i Festskrift til Vilh. Thomsen, 126 f.; [in:] trans. Arkiv för nordisk filologi: t. 19-20. ss. 280
  10. ^ "Den sidstnævnte har digtet om Krigen med Danmark 1048. Blandt Høvdinger fra Østen i Rings' Hær optræder Læsi eller Læsir (Lefy, Leso hos Saxo, Læsir i Brot). Han synes at have faaet sit Navn fra Folkenavnet *Læsar, Dat. Læsum, Ljecherne de Polakkerne, hvilket Navn er kjendt fra Tjodolvs." Norsk sagaskrivning og sagafortælling i Irland. Sophus Bugge. Norske Historiske Forening
  11. ^ Joanna Aleksandra Sobiesiak, Bolesław II Przemyślida (+999). Dynasta i jego państwo, Kraków 2008, s. 119, ISBN 83-60448-05-1
  12. ^ a b c Alexander Nazarenko. Древняя Русь на международных путях: Междисциплинарные очерки культурных, торговых, политических связей IX-XII веков. Moscow, 2001. ISBN 5785900858. Pages 401–404.
  13. ^ a b Labuda, G. Czechy, Rus i kraj Ledzian w drugiej potowie X wieku. // Labuda G. Studia nad poczatkami panstwa polskiego. Poznan, 1988. T. II. Pages 167–211.
  14. ^ Kotlarczyk J. Siedziby Chorwatów wschodnich. // Acta Archaeologica Carpathica. T. 12. Krakow, 1971. Pages 161–186.
  15. ^ Wasilewski T. Dulebowie - Lędzianie - Chorwaci. // Przegląd Historyczny. T. 67. Warsaw, 1976. Pages 181–193.
  16. ^ Die Chronik der Böhmen des Cosmas von Prag. Berlin, 1923 (MGH SS rer. Germ. NS, 2). I, 33–34. Page 60.
  17. ^ The entire vicinity of Krakow was to be administered from Prague: "...ad orientem hos fluvios habet terminos: Bug scilicet et Ztir cum Cracouua civitate provintiaque cui Uuag nomen est cum omnibus regionibus ad predictam urbem pertinentibus, que Cracouua est".
  18. ^ Relacja Ibrahima Ibn Ja'kuba z podróży do krajów słowiańskich w przekazie Al-Bekriego. Krakow, 1946 (MPH NS. 1). Page 50.
  19. ^ The later Halych-Volhynian Chronicle, when describing King Danylo's expedition to Kalisz in 1227, remarks that "no other prince had entered so far into Poland, apart from Vladimir the Great, who had christened that land".
  20. ^ Въ лЂто 6534 [1026] - 6562 [1054]. Лаврентіївський літопис
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