Topics of coins
1000th Anniversary of the Coronation of Boleslaus the Brave
The coronation of Boleslaus the Brave in 1025
was one of the most momentous events in
a string of other similar ones that the ruler’s
reign abounded in. It was the duke’s activity
that led to the foundation of the Archbishopric
of Gniezno in 1000, which was then equivalent
to the emancipation and strengthening of the
power of the state, besides the mere religious
significance of the event. This was possible thanks
to the Polish ruler’s support for the mission to
pagan Prussians led by the bishop of Prague
Wojciech Sławnikowic, later to become Saint
Adalbert, the patron saint of Poland, and then
buying the martyr’s body back in exchange for
an amount of gold – as legend has it – equal to its
weight. Of great importance to the whole affair
was the close alliance or even friendship between
the Polish ruler and Holy Roman Emperor
Otto III, which opened the way to the subsequent
coronation of Boleslaus the Brave.
Around 1000 Boleslaus ordered the mintage of
a coin known as the Princes Polonie denarius, on
which the Latin name of the country appeared for
the first time, thus manifesting the existence of
a political organism of importance equal to other
countries of established Christianity. The advance
of Christianisation, along with the foundation
of the archbishopric, provided the inhabitants
protection against being traded as slaves.
The hard and prolonged wars with King of
Germany Henry II, won by Boleslaus the Brave,
had given the newly forming community a sense
of success and the winner ethos, which later on
proved to be of significance in difficult times.
The coronation of Boleslaus the Brave coping his
excellent reign infused the historical memory of
the emerging Polish community with the belief
that they were on a par with the leading nations of
Christian Europe. Over the centuries, the memory
of this event strengthened the morale of the Polish
community, and during the partitions period it kept
alive the ideas of independence and empowerment
in the subsequent generations of Poles.
The images of Boleslaus the Brave used in the current
issue of collector coins originate from the 18th
and 19th century. Having arisen from the creative imagination of artists, they bear evidence to the
interest in the figure of the first Polish king.
prof. Andrzej Pleszczyński