14

Me: 21.09.2021       Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse!   I hope you feel better today! I feel a bit lonely without a message from you. :-((((   To continue with history of Poland! Władysław I Herman (1044 – 1102) (duke of Poland 1079 – 1102) had two sons and many daughters. The sons: - Zbigniew (b. c. 1070/73 – d. c. 1112/14) was considered illegitimate - Bolesław III Wrymouth (1086 – 1138) When Władysław I Herman died, Bolesław Wrymouth was made heir of Poland. However, there were many groups and people, who tried to influence the destiny of the country. 1) nobles 2) palatine Sieciech (the title “palatine” was created around 50 years earlier, it was a kind of regent or replacement of the duke.) 3) Henry V, King of Germany (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125) 4) Kiev seemed to have a lot of problems with nomads from the steppe lands in the east (from the Carpathian mountains in the west, the black sea in the south-west till the Gobi desert in the east) therefore, it didn’t get involved this time.   Henry V, King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor, even invaded Poland to make Zbigniew duke but succeeded only for a short period of 4 or 5 years. Then, it was Bolesław III Wrymouth, who reigned for 31 years till 1138.   Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse! What a wonderful world! There is nothing more important in my life than you and to inform you about my studies of the history of Poland! (Please, don’t laugh! I’m serious! :-D )

Krystina: 21.09.2021 You are great! You are the best! 😘

Me: 23.09.2021       Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse!   Yesterday and today, I didn’t have internet at all. I hope there will be some kind of internet connection when I want to send you a message on Thursday.   At the end of his life, Bolesław III Wrymouth (1086 – 1138) (king 1107 – 1138) got closer to his western neighbour, the Germans, again. It was not only the political side but as well the clerical side. The Polish church recognised the supremacy of some German bishop. At this stage, the Polish duke seemed to have a rather weak position and the nobility seemed to be strong. For that reason, the Polish duke was always looking for support by German, Hungarian, Kiev …….. kings and princes. Is this the sign of weakness and lack of organisation in the country or does it mean that the nobility was so strong that it could sometimes even send the duke into exile? For example there was this “Sieciech”, he was “count palatine” and is said to have governed the country instead of Władysław I Herman, the father of Bolesław III Wrymouth.   What kind of support did the German, French, English, Spanish ….. kings have (for example free cities, nobility, church) in their own country?   In your last message, you say that I’m great and the best but some of this greatness and bestness depends on you! What do I care for all those people in the world! Your opinion is important to me!   Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse! I hold you strongly but tenderly in my arms!

Me: 25.09.2021       Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse!   At the end of his life, Bolesław III Wrymouth (1086 – 1138) (king 1107 – 1138) got closer to his western neighbour, the Germans, again, to get support. Why did the Roman empire of German nation seem more stable than the Polish kingdom or dukedom? First, I thought that it was because of different power centres the German king could get support from. Those power centres were free cities, nobility, church and the military. However, I found out that in the 11th century, free cities existed only in Italy. And only in the 13th century began the existence of free cities in the German realm.   Europe had a population of around 80 million people in the middle ages. Around 3.3 percent (2.6 million) lived in the 92 largest cities. The next 118 biggest cities had in average 12.000 inhabitants, in total 1.4 million. So, there were around 4 million people (5% of the total population) living in cities.   Let’s go through the different stages of development from a settlement to the highest degree of free city! - settlement: some houses - for ten settlements, there had to be a church built and so it became a village - the next step was the right to hold a market - then, it got the right to build a wall around its settlement - the next step was very long: the right to establish a Chamber of Crafts. There, they could decide whether a craftsman from outside had the right to settle down in the city, they could determine the prices for certain goods - the right to elect their own mayor - the right to have their own military - if a bondsman or serf from some surrounding settlement ran away, the city had the right to give him or her refuge - then, they got the right to collect their own tax - they had only to recognize the authority of the king or emperor but not that of regional lords - they got the right to mint or coin their own money - the free or imperial city had the right to participate in the imperial diet (this was a kind of council; king, emperor, lords, representatives of free cities were present)   Of course, these free cities wanted to stay free, therefore they supported the emperor, who needed their support as well and therefore defended the cities’ status.   However, all this didn’t exist in the 11th century in Germany.   Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse! I’m waiting for the moment when we meet and caress each other!

Me: 27.09.2021       Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse!   Let’s continue with the succession of Bolesław III Wrymouth (1086 – 1138)! We saw how difficult (Count palatine Sieciech and Bolesław III Wrymouth’s half-brother Zbigniew) it was for Bolesław III Wrymouth to fight for the unity of Poland. And now, at his death, he did something completely incomprehensible to me, he made a testament known as "The Succession Statute", which divided the country into different parts to satisfy his four sons. He hoped that his sons wouldn’t fight against each other. However, he had hardly shot down his eyelids when the new masters of the country began to conspire and fight against each other. Of course, each looked for help inside and outside the country. It’s getting a bit too confusing to me about who fought against whom and who managed to be duke of Poland for how long. History books and descriptions inform us that there was a period of 200 years of turmoil and chaos caused by this testament known as "The Succession Statute". Władysław or Vladislaus II the Exile (1105 – 1159) (high duke 1138–1146) was the high duke of Poland and duke of Silesia from 1138 until his expulsion in 1146. He is the progenitor of the Silesian Piasts. He was the eldest son of Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth and Zbyslava, a daughter of Sviatopolk II of Kiev. Probably, the German emperor wanted somebody more of his own influence on the Polish throne and began to support Duke Bolesław III Wrymouth’s younger sons. There was a variety of them: for example the sons of the marriage with Salomea of Berg, a German noblewoman: - High Duke Bolesław IV the Curly (1146–1173) - High Duke Mieszko III the Old (1173–1177) - High Duke Casimir II the Just (1177–1190)   Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse! I can feel and understand you much better than history! :-D Thousand kisses!

Me: 29.09.2021       Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse!   With these 3 High Dukes Bolesław IV the Curly (1146–1173), Mieszko III the Old (1173–1177), Casimir II the Just (1177–1190), we have nearly reached the end of the 12th century. However, what happened or had happened in Europe so far? For example: The First Crusade took place from 1096 – 1099. And at that time, there was Duke Władysław I Herman, duke for 23 years (1079 – 1102). The Second Crusade happened between 1147 – 1150. And at that time, there was High Duke Bolesław IV the Curly for 27 years (1146 – 1173) The Third Crusade took place from 1189 – 1192 and in Poland, there was High Duke Casimir II the Just reigning for 13 years (1177 – 1190) By 1190, Spain was nearly totally freed from the Moors, they were still very strong only in the south around Grenada. Richard I Lionheart born 1157 and died 1199, duke of Aquitaine and king of England (1189–99), duke of Normandy, and count of Anjou. Robin Hood was probably only a legend. Philip II (1165 – 1223), byname Philip Augustus was King of France from 1180 to 1223. And in Germany, it was Frederick Barbarossa (1122 – 1190), he was king and emperor from 1155 till his death in 1190. He participated in the second and third crusade, made different wars against the Italian cities and the pope from 1158 till 1174.   Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse! Let me hug you and caress you tenderly!

Me: 01.10.2021       Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse!   This was also the time of Francis of Assisi (1181 or 1182 – 1226) but ‘ora et labora’ comes not from Francis but from Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550). It’s very interesting: The modern translation of ‘ora et labora’ is ‘pray and work!’ However, ‘labor a / de’ in original Latin means ‘suffer from’. For example: still in today’s English “a woman is in labour” means “she is on her way to give birth and feels pain” So, maybe, the first monks didn’t think ‘pray and work’ but ‘pray and suffer’. :-D The first passion plays were performed in the 15th century, probably in connection with Christmas. However, it was Francis of Assisi, who arranged the first Christmas Jesus nativity scene in 1223.   The University of Bologna was founded in 1088. It was the first university and, of course, some kind of teaching concept was needed. Therefore, scholasticism was invented or established. Scholasticism is not theology or philosophy, it’s a way of thinking and teaching knowledge. It started when people wanted to bring together classical philosophy with the teachings of Christian theology. Plato wrote dialogs. In these dialogs, Socrates was asking ‘yes-no-questions’. Most of these questions could only be answered either ‘yes’ or ‘no’. For example: ‘Is it right that the sun shines during the day and the moon during the night?’ Of course, one can only answer with ‘yes’! He stated, according to Greek philosophy, that the soul went to Hades and then was reborn, which means: came to surface or life again. Neoplatonism states that the soul is immaterial. And scholasticism is maybe a kind of or dialectic (discussion technic) how to discuss especially these topics or matters.   Sometimes, I’m not quite sure whether I understand these things quite correctly myself! :-D   Meine liebliche sexy süße kleine Muse! Let me take you in another world which is only ours!

Continue with 15!