Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum
| Gesta principum Polonorum | |
|---|---|
| Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum | |
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| Author(s) | Anonymous (see Gallus Anonymous) |
| Patron | unclear |
| Language | medieval Latin |
| Date | 1112 x 1118 |
| Provenance | unclear |
| Authenticity | authentic, but surviving only in later manuscripts |
| Principal manuscript(s) | Codex Zamoyscianus (National Library of Poland Ms. BOZ cim. 28), Codex Czartoryscianus (Czartoryski Museum of Kraków Ms. 1310), Heilsberg Codex (National Library of Poland Ms. 8006) |
| Genre | Historical narrative; gesta |
| Subject | The reign of Boleslaw III Wrymouth (books ii and iii); Boleslaw's ancestors (book i) |
| Period covered | c.800–1112x1113 (mainly 1080s–1112x1113) |
The Gesta principum Polonorum (English: Deeds of the Princes of the Poles) is a medieval gesta, or deeds narrative, concerned with Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth, his ancestors, and the Polish principality during and before his reign. Probably completed between 1112 and 1118, the extant text is present in three manuscripts with two distinct traditions. Its author, though anonymous, is traditionally called Gallus (a name which means "Irish") probably a non-Pole connected with the monastery of Saint-Gilles or somewhere else in western Europe.
The book is one of the earliest written documents on the history of Poland, but also gives a unique Eastern European perspective on the general history of Europe, supplementing what has been handed down by Western and Southern European historians. It pre-dates the Gesta Danorum and the next major source on early history of Poland, the Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae, by roughly a century.
The title intended for or originally given to the work is not clear. In the initial capital of the text in the Zamoyski Codex, a rubric styles the work the Cronica Polonorum, while in the same manuscript the preface of Book I opens with Incipiunt Cronice et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum ("[Here] begins the chronicles and deeds of the dukes or princes of the Poles"). The incipit for Book II entitles the work Liber Tertii Bolezlaui ("Book of Bolesław III"), and that for Book III Liber de Gestis Boleslaui III ("Book of the Deeds of Bolesław III"). These however are not reliable as such things are often added later.
The latest editors and only English translators of the text style it Gesta principum Polonorum ("the deeds of the princes of the Poles"), primarily to acknowledge its faith with the gesta genre (and the likely authenticity of this part of the title) and to avoid confusion with the later work known as the Chronica principum Poloniae ("chronicle of the princes of Poland").
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