Zemomysl

Zemomysl (Polish. Siemomysł) – a semi-legendary prince of the western meadows from the Piast dynasty. Zemomysl is known only from the chronicle of Gall the Anonymous, according to which he inherited the throne after the death of his father Leshek, was the father of the first authentically existing prince Mieszko I and „raised the memory of ancestors three times higher with his nobility and dignity."

The historicity of Zemomysl, like other Piasts before Mieszko I, is questioned. Until recently, in Polish historiography, the prince was referred to as „Ziemomysł" (this form became widespread thanks to the popular work „Genealogy of the Piasts" by Oswald Balzer (1895), but recently, in the light of the latest research in the field of Polish onomastics, his name is rendered as „Siemomysł This discrepancy is due to the fact that earlier the etymology of the name of the prince was given in the meaning of " about the earth," while the origin of the name from the Slavic word "seed" in the meaning of family, clan is more likely.

The years of Zemomysl’s life and reign are unknown. Hypothetically, he should have been born around 930 (some researchers believe that the reign of Zemomysl was very short, and he was born around 950). Zemomysl is usually credited with the political unification of the lands of the glades, goplians and mazovshans, although it is not excluded that the unification could have occurred during the reign of his father. According to the hypothesis of Heinrich Lovmyansky, in 954 Zemomysl supported the uprising of the Ukran tribe against the rule of the Germans.

The name of the wife (or wives) of the prince is also unknown. According to one version, his wife was the daughter of Prince Vlodislav of the Landjans, a tributary of the Old Russian state. Meanwhile, the lack of sources does not allow us to speak about this version in any serious way. According to the Czech chronicle of Vaclav Hajek, the mother of Mieszko I was Gorka, whose name is not found in other sources, but the dubiousness of this news was noted by Balzer.

It is known about the three sons of Zemomysl. Probably, the eldest was Mieszko, who became a prince after the death of his father, although the eldest could be the son who died in 964 or 965 (according to Balzer, in 963) an unknown son. The youngest son of Zemomysl was Chtibor.

It is quite possible that Zemomysl’s daughter was the wife of an unknown Pomor prince by name. This version is based, among other things, on the fact that the name Zemomysl was borne by the Pomor prince, mentioned in sources under the year 1046. Meanwhile, some researchers believe that she was the daughter of Mieszko I.

Oswald Balzer, in his „Genealogy of the Piasts", attributed to Zemomysl the son of Prokuy, who is now considered not related to the Piast dynasty, and the daughter Adelaide, the legendary „White Princess" – a popular image in early Polish historiography.

According to the works of Polish historians of the 16th-17th centuries, the reliability of which is seriously questioned by modern historians, Zemomysl assisted Oleg Moravsky, allegedly a close relative of the princes of Russia from the Rurik dynasty.