The northern gate of Greater Poland: a castle on the point where the Noteć flows into the Warta, called by Gallus the guard and key of the kingdom, with a market settlement and the toll on the river traffic and the road to Pomerania and the Oder.
It is Greater Polish in 1200 and goes to Brandenburg as a dowry only in 1260; there is no Landsberg (Gorzów) yet on the Warta below it (founded 1257).
Who holds it
- Name
- Duke Mieszko III through the castellan of Santok (not named)
- Title
- Lord of the castle and market
- Since
- see lord_1200
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
Duke Mieszko III through the castellan of Santok (not named)
How things stand that morning
A ducal castle with a market settlement; no town law.
Charter
None. No town law in 1200: the place is a ducal castle (gród) with a market settlement (suburbium) under ducal law.
Council
None: the castellan and the duke's officers judge, collect the market dues and tolls, and keep order.
Communities
The castle garrison and the castellan's household.
Fairs and markets
None recorded.
Militia
None as a town body; the castle garrison and the knights of the castle district.
Walls and castle
Earth-and-timber castle on the river fork.
Trade and crafts
River toll on the Warta and the Noteć; the road and ford to Pomerania; fish, furs, timber.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Gallus's description and the castellany are firm; the 1200 details are general.
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
- Santok, en.wikipedia
- Gallus Anonymus, Gesta principum Polonorum (Santok as guard and key of the kingdom; the Noteć wars of Bolesław III): as reported by en.wikipedia
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.