Castellany of Biecz

Who he is

Name

Not named for 1199-1200 in any source we could reach

Title

Castellan (kasztelan) of Biecz

Since

Not pinned

Born

Not known

Family

Not known

Confidence

low

No charter of 1199-1200 naming this castellan was found; Polish charter editions (Kodeks dyplomatyczny Małopolski) could not be reached.

Overlord

Duke Mieszko III at Kraków

What it holds

• Biecz castle and market at the crossroads
• The Ropa and Wisłoka country up to the Low Beskids
• The road to Hungary over the Beskid passes

How it was acquired

A ducal office: the duke appoints and removes the castellan.

Allies and rivals

Answers to the duke and the palatine.

How things stand that morning

Held for Mieszko III by the most likely reading; castellan not named.

Wealth

Tolls at the crossroads of the Hungarian and Ruthenian roads, besides the usual tribute; the tithes go to St Florian's at Kraków (1184).

Military

The castle with its garrison and the district levy; the castle folk owe guard duty, carting and labour on the ramparts.

Places of note

• The castellany of Biecz on the Ropa: The castle (gród).

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Castellany by the 12th century and the 1184 tithe gift (en.wikipedia, Biecz); no castellan named before 1243.

On the map: Bounds unknown; the line towards Galicia and towards the Sandomierz country round Pilzno is a guess.

Primary sources for Kraków (Mieszko III)

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
• The Hypatian Chronicle (the Kievan Chronicle compiled about 1200 at the Vydubichi monastery; the Galician-Volhynian Chronicle in the 13th century). The southern record. Read online
• The Book of Census of the Roman Church, Cencius Camerarius (Cencio Savelli, later Pope Honorius III) (1192, with later additions). The papal rent roll: every church, monastery, town and kingdom that owed a census to Rome in 1192, diocese by diocese, with the sums, followed by lists of papal lands and castles, the ceremonial Ordo and copies of charters. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online