ia, was born on the 23rd of December 1086 and succeeded
his father in 1102. His earlier years were troubled continually by the
intrigues of his natural half-brother Zbigniew, who till he was
imprisoned and blinded involved Boleslaus in frequent contests with
Bohemia and the emperor Henry V. The first of the German wars began in
1109, when Henry, materially assisted by the Bohemians, invaded Silesia.
It was mainly a war of sieges, Henry sitting down before Lubusz, Glogau
and Breslau, all of which he failed to take. The Poles avoided an
encounter in the open field, but harried the Germans so successfully
around Breslau that the plain was covered with corpses, which Henry had
to leave to the dogs on his disastrous retreat; hence the scene of the
action was known as "the field of dogs." The chief political result of
this disaster was the complete independence of Poland for the next
quarter of a century. It was during this respite that Boleslaus devoted
himself to the main business of his life--the subjugation of Pomerania
(i.e. the maritime province) with the view of gaining access to the sea.
Pomerania, protected on the south by virgin forests and almost
impenetrable morasses, was in those days inhabited by a valiant and
savage Slavonic race akin to the Wends, who clung to paganism with
unconquerable obstinacy. The possession of a seaboard enabled them to
maintain fleets and build relatively large towns such as Stettin and
Kolberg, whilst they ravaged at will the territories of their southern
neighbours the Poles. In self-defence Boleslaus was obliged to subdue
them. The struggle began in 1109, when Boleslaus inflicted a terrible
defeat on the Pomeranians at Nackel which compelled their temporary
submission. In 1120-1124 the rebellion of his vassal Prince Warceslaus
of Stettin again brought Boleslaus into the country, but the resistance
was as stout as ever, and only after 18,000 of his followers had fallen
and 8000 more had been expatriated did Warceslaus submit to his
conqueror. The obstinacy of the resistance convinced Boleslaus that
Pomerania must be christianized before it could be completely subdued;
and this important work was partially accomplished by St Otto, bishop of
Bamberg, an old friend of Boleslaus's father, who knew the Slavonic
languages. In 1124 the southern portions of the land were converted by
St Otto, but it was only under the threat of extermination if they
persisted in their evil ways that the people