„Quidam de gregariis militibus…” Ordinary people as heroes of the Piast wars until the mid-13th century

Abstract

In the period of rule of the Piast dynasty, the ordinary people constituted a large part of the army, however the authors of the chronicles describing the war events did not pay any special attention to them. Therefore, any mentions of the people from lower social strata, who stood out due to their extraordinary bravery and courage during the military actions, are to be considered even more precious. Among their achievements such incidents like: saving the monarchs’ life during the battles, a spontaneous initiation of a battle, which ended with a total victory, regaining of a lost castle or a heroic defense of an own castle against attacking enemy, were recorded. People performing these feats were simple warriors with low position in a social hierarchy or even placed in the army as servants without any intention of their direct participation in battles. Chroniclers described with appreciation the achievements of those who were obliged to fight holding arms, highlighting their bravery and sacrifice for the rulers, who rewarded it very generously. On the other hand, the military achievements of people belonging to the class of servants, who were not obliged to participate in the military actions were considered by these authors in a different way: as a result of headiness or bravura.