The castle district of Gniezno, the first seat of the Piasts and the archbishop's city: the duke's castellan holds the castle on Lech's Hill beside the cathedral of St Adalbert, judges and collects for the duke, and keeps the market under the castle.
The archbishop's own estates (Żnin and others) lie scattered through the district and are Church map ground.
Who he is
- Name
- Not named in any charter of 1199-1200 we could reach (not pinned)
- Title
- Castellan of Gniezno (kasztelan gnieźnieński, comes Gneznensis)
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Family
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No name given: the brief forbids naming castellans without a charter.
Overlord
Duke Mieszko III (or his son Władysław in the southern share)
What it holds
- Gniezno castle and its district, from Kłecko and Trzemeszno to Witkowo and Czerniejewo
- The market under the castle and the pilgrims' trade of St Adalbert's shrine
How it was acquired
Castellanies are ducal offices: the duke appoints and removes the castellan.
Allies and rivals
The castellan answers to the duke; his knights and the castle folk owe him service.
How things stand that morning
Held for Mieszko III by a castellan whose name for 1199-1200 is not pinned.
Wealth
The ducal dues of the district's villages, the market and the toll at the castle.
Military
The castle's garrison and the knights of the district.
Places of note
- Lech's Hill: castle and cathedral: Castle and see.
- Lednica (Ostrów Lednicki): The old Piast island castle on Lake Lednica, declining by 1200 (its own castellan by then is not pinned).
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Gniezno's castellany is old and certain; its holder in 1200 is not named in what we could reach.
On the map: Castle districts are drawn as the castle and its nearest neighbours; their real extent in 1200 is not recorded.
Primary sources for Greater Poland
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Chronicle of the Poles, by Master Vincent (Wincenty Kadłubek), Wincenty Kadłubek (about 1190 to 1208). Book 4 is a contemporary's account of the fight for the senior throne of Kraków. Read online
- The annals of the Kraków chapter and the other Polish annals (kept from the 11th century; the Kraków chapter annals continued to 1266). Short dated entries that fix the chronology Kadłubek blurs: the deaths of dukes and bishops, Mieszko the Old's captures of Kraków, Prussian raids on Masovia, church consecrations. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.