| Conventional Long Name: | Civitas Schinesghe |
| P1: | Polans (western)Polans |
| P2: | LechitesLechitic tribes |
| S1: | Kingdom of Poland |
| Year Start: | 966 |
| Event Start: | Baptism of Poland |
| Year End: | 1025 |
| Event End: | Coronation of Bolesław I the Brave |
| Flag Border: | no |
| Image Map Caption: | Duchy of Poland around the year AD 1000 |
| Image Map2 Caption: | Poland in c. 960-996. |
| Government Type: | Monarchy |
| Common Languages: | Lechitic Old Polish |
| Religion: | Roman Catholicism (institutional) Slavic paganism |
| Capital: | Gniezno |
| Leader1: | Mieszko I |
| Leader2: | Bolesław I the Brave |
| Year Leader1: | c. 960–992 |
| Year Leader2: | 992–1025 |
| Title Leader: | Monarch |
Civitas Schinesghe (pronounced as /la-x-church/; pl|Państwo Gnieźnieńskie), also known as the Duchy of Poland or the Principality of Poland, is the historiographical name given to a polity in Central Europe, which existed during the medieval period and was the predecessor state of the Kingdom of Poland.
See also: Names of Poland. Civitas Schinesghe, meaning "Gniezno State", is the first recorded name related to Poland as a political entity, dating to the year 991 and attested to in a later papal regesta called Dagome iudex from 1080. The document states that the Piast duke Mieszko I and his wife, Oda von Haldensleben, had given the guidance of unam civitatem in integro, que vocatur Schinesghe ("a whole state, which is called Schinesghe") over to the Holy See.[1] [2]
Though the proper Latin name for Poland, Polonia, which came into use some time later, is not explicitly used in the document, the name Schinesghe presumably refers to Gniezno, which was one of the main gord strongholds of the West Slavic tribe of Polans. According to philological analysis, the letters "Sc" were substituted for the letter "K" (which was phonetically interchangable with the letter "G"), thus the original record would therefore read "Khinesghe" or "Kninesne." Another theory posits the name as an imperfect Latinization of Polish: hrady knezske or Polish: grody książęce, "ducal gords."[3]
In 966, Mieszko I, the ruler of the Polans, accepted Christianity through the auspices of the Roman Church in the Baptism of Poland.[4] According to Gallus Anonymus, it was Mieszko's first wife, Dobrawa, the daughter of Boleslaus I, Duke of Bohemia, who convinced her husband to convert to Christianity. Also, the chronicler, Thietmar of Merseburg, attributed Mieszko's conversion to Dobrawa's influence. The Baptism also had political significance and was most likely intended to bring Mieszko's state closer to the Duchy of Bohemia and to prevent future attacks by the Holy Roman Empire in an attempt to Christianize Mieszko's lands by force. Subsequently, Mieszko's realm was recognized by the papacy and accepted as part of Christendom. In 968, a missionary bishopric was established in Poznań. The regesta titled Dagome iudex first defined Poland's geographical boundaries with its capital in Gniezno and affirmed that the state was under the protection of the Popes.[5]
Following the death of Mieszko I, his eldest son, Bolesław I the Brave, became the next Duke of Poland in 992. Bolesław I quickly consolidated his rule, expelling his stepmother, Oda, and half-brothers from Poland. He also expanded the borders of the early Polish state by taking Lusatia, Moravia, Upper Hungary, and Red Ruthenia.[6] In 1000, he organized the Congress of Gniezno and obtained the right of investiture from Otto III, the Holy Roman Emperor, who assented to the creation of three additional bishoprics in Kraków, Kołobrzeg, and Wrocław and an archdiocese in Gniezno. During the meeting of the two rulers, Otto also bestowed upon Bolesław I royal regalia and a replica of the Holy Lance, which were later used at his coronation as the first King of Poland in 1025, when Bolesław I received permission for his coronation from Pope John XIX, an event that elevated Poland from a duchy to a kingdom.[7]
The Dagome iudex outlines the borders of the Polish realm:[8]