German–Polish War (1002–18)
| German–Polish War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Holy Roman Empire
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 Kingdom of Poland
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Henry II | Bolesław I the Brave | ||||||
The German–Polish War which took place from 1002 to 1018 consisted of a series of struggles between the Ottonian king Henry II of Germany (Holy Roman Emperor from 1014) and the Polish Piast ruler Bolesław I the Brave. The locus of conflict was the control of Lusatia, Upper Lusatia, as well as Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia. The fighting ended with the Peace of Bautzen in 1018, which left Lusatia and Upper Lusatia with Poland, but Bohemia became a duchy in the Holy Roman Empire.
Bolesław maintained good relations with Emperor Otto III, together they fought against the West Slavic Lutici tribes and the Polabian Slavs. The Polish ruler also allied with Margrave Eckard of Meissen to contain the influence of the Přemyslid dukes of Bohemia. In 1000 Bolesław and Otto met at the Congress of Gniezno and solemnly celebrated their mutual recognition and friendship.
The circumstances changed significantly, when in January 1002 Emperor Otto III suddenly died at the age of 21, leaving no heirs nor any succession arrangements. The Bavarian duke Henry IV, member of a cadet branch of the Ottonian dynasty, raised claims to become King of the Romans–against rivalling Margrave Eckard of Meissen, who within a few weeks was attacked and killed by Saxon nobles. Henry was elected king in Mainz on June 7.
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