Jeszcze raz w kwestii imienia pierwszego historycznego władcy Polski

• Authors: Robert A. Sucharski
• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

PL

The Name of the First Historical Ruler of PolandDespite numerous studies the etymology of the name: “Mieszko” still remains unclear. An analysis of the manuscript of Gesta by Gallus Anonymous describing, i.a. Mieszko I, makes it possible to discern a crypto-quotation from the Latin text of The Book of Isaiah (65, 15). The chronicler stressed the duke’s baptism and childhood blindness/impaired vision. This is an argument supporting an explanation of the meaning of the name of the ruler of the Polans, based on an Old Slavonic verbal root: “to wink, to blink, to tremble”. The oldest Latin versions of the ruler’s name, originating from the tenth and eleventh centuries, are composed of three syllables, as confirmed also by the Cyrillic Kiev Codex (end of the twelfth century), part of the Hypatian Chronicle, which consistently recorded reduced vowels, so-called yers, in the name of Mieszko the Old: mežьka (in all likelihood, the oldest version of the name). The disappearance of the yers in Polish and the name’s Latinization would subsequently produce the form: Mesco, from which “Mieszko” could be directly derived. The historical progress of the Polish language should also explain an attempt at translating the name of the ruler into Latin, made by Master Wincenty (Kadłubek). The titular name, which originally was a moniker, could have bestowed a right to the throne. It also became a dynastic name used by the Piasts – an excellent parallel can be “Otto(n)” in the Ludolfing imperial dynasty.

Keywords

PL

• Publisher: Polska Akademia Nauk. Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla PAN w Warszawie
• Journal: Kwartalnik Historyczny
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 122
• Issue: 2

Dates

published

2015

online

2015-02-01

Contributors

author

Robert A. Sucharski

Identifiers

DOI

10.12775/KH.2015.122.2.01