Our ancestors came to European lands from the east and settled between the Odra River and the Bug River. These early Slays were an agricultural people who settled in communities where a division-of-labor was the established economic system. Families lived in huts made of wood with thatched roofs, and their homes often were clustered about each other so that a wall could be built entirely around them to protect the populace.
‘Within the settlements were clans under the direction of the family leaders who ruled and guided the people. Frequent meetings of all clan leaders brought problems to the attention of the group, and thus the Slavic tribes became famous for community solutions to difficult situations. Inhabitants were also guided by their own religion which, although pagan, still included concepts such as heaven, hell, and worship through prayer and song. Also a part of the religious background was a reverence for the earth. Considered the source of life and the "mother of the people, the land was a part of the soul of the Slays. Earth provided food, grazing area, a homestead and the beauties of nature in plants and flowers. The people joined themselves to it spiritually; and even today, so many centuries later, our people still exhibit an obvious love for the land and the miracles it yields.The ancient Slavic tribes, unlike some of their contemporaries, were developing a central political structure rather slowly. Many remained small scattered groups and often vied with each other for land area or power in a certain region. The strife, coupled with inter-clan jealousy, competition and, later, varying religious beliefs, continued even into the time when the tribes became nations. It seems that the people’s individualism, love of personal freedom, and a reluctant approach to social organization, led to division and caused Slavic groups – even those closely associated linguistically – to become adversaries in a span of only a few centuries. During the great migration of the IndoEuropean family of nations, the Slavic groups moved from their "cradleland" to various other areas of the continent.
An old Polish legend, The Story of Lech, Czech and Pus, speaks of this migration in terms of folklore. Passed on by oral tradition, the story explains the migration of the Slays by representing tribes in the personae of three brothers. From their forefathers the brothers inherited the land on which they lived. Unable to occupy the land together because of limited space, they decided to separate. One day while walking along a road and discussing what must be done with regard to the separation, the brothers looked to the sky and saw three eagles flying. Each brother quickly selected an eagle to represent him and observed the direction of its flight. A black eagle, selected by the brother named Rus, flew toward the East. At that moment Rus decided that would be the direction he would take. He and his entire clan migrated eastward to form Russia. The second brother, Czech, selected a brown eagle which flew to the South. He took his clan southward and established the Kingdom of the Czechs. The third eagle, a large white bird selected by Lech, flew to the North. This was where Lechs people already lived, so they remained on the ancestral territory and their nation became Poland.
Relying on historical facts and not on folk tales, the Slavic migration involves more than three tribal groups and more than two directions. Between the fifth century AD, and the seventh century A.D., large tribal groups (some of whose names do not remain in any form on the European continent) began to leave the area where they had lived for over two thousand years. Meeting opposing forces, settling with or near non-Slavic people, or flooding areas sparsely populated, the groups were the forerunners of the present Slavic nations. To the East went tribes that formed Byelorussia, Russia, and the Ukraine; to the West travelled tribes that formed the settlements of the Wends (also called Sorbs or Lusatians) in what is now East Germany; to the South migrated the people who formed Yugoslavia and Bulgaria; and on the lands where the Slays had originally lived, or nearest to them, settled the tribes which formed Poland and Bohemia, today’s Czechoslovakia.
Those groups remaining in their original settlements began to form tribal states, and between the seventh and ninth centuries there appeared four influential tribal groups on Polish soil. These were the Slezanie (Silesians), Wi~lanie (Vistulans), Ledzianie (Lenthans) and Polanie (Polans).
The Silesians inhabited what is now southwestern Poland where they constructed numerous strongholds as well as fortifications to protect their lands from invaders. With the large amount of building by the Silesians, one wonders why they did not emerge as a separate nation. Since most of the group strength was used in defense of the land area, only a small amount of energy could be channeled into state building.
Early History | Beginnings of Christianity | Early Leadership | First Rulers | The Latin Rite | A New Dynasty | The Queen of Poland
The End of the Monarchy | The Partition | Cultural Leaders | Poland Now