This multi-part outline will be devoted to the military deeds of Poles and their ancestors in the pre-Piast era—the Silesian tribes, including the Bobrzanie—in various periods of history: from the dawn of our history to the mid-20th century.
The traditions of Polish arms along the Bóbr have no continuity in their historical development; they repeatedly break off, only to erupt again with a wealth of strength and color.
There is a fairly widespread belief that the history of Polish arms in the land along the Bóbr was written only by the Second World War. This is a mistaken view. The oldest chapter in the history of these arms dates back to the end of the last millennium, that is, to the pre-Piast era, which has been lost in the obscurity of history.
Material evidence is provided by the Śląskie Ramparts, sometimes called the Chrobry Ramparts, which have survived to this day, though only in fragmentary form and solely in forested areas.
It was a powerful defensive system that continues to fascinate. These ramparts remain a great mystery awaiting solution by Polish archaeologists and historians. The Śląskie Ramparts are early medieval elongated ramparts—dated to the 8th–10th centuries AD—border fortifications extending for approximately 100 km from Gromadka in the south to Krosno Odrzańskie in the north. They lie several kilometers east of and parallel to the Bóbr River. Only near Szprotawa do they cross to the western, left bank, returning to the right bank after several kilometers. The most accessible section for visitors is a fragment located in the forest between the villages of Leszno Górne and Leszno Dolne, beside the E-14 road. Here the Śląskie Ramparts cross the road.
Archaeological research indicates that the defensive system of the Śląskie Ramparts formed a belt 20–45 meters wide, consisting of three, and less often two, massive parallel lines of ramparts—earthen embankments separated by ditches. The embankments were approximately 6 meters wide at the base and about 3 meters high (today, 0.5–1.0 m). A palisade approximately 3 meters high ran along the crest of the ramparts, or boxes filled with earth were placed side by side. This raised the total height of the embankments to 6 meters.
Let us recall that similar border defensive fortifications were widely known in antiquity (the Great Wall of China, the Roman limes, the Serpent's Wall in Ukraine, and the Kuyavian Ramparts). Unfortunately, there is an almost total lack of written sources concerning the Śląskie Ramparts. We are therefore left with hypotheses. Let us focus on the two strongest hypotheses of Polish historians. According to the first, the builders of the Śląskie Ramparts were five Silesian tribes, including the Bobrzanie. These tribes were to have created a tribal union, that is, an early state-like entity, around the 9th–10th centuries AD.
The second hypothesis attributes the Śląskie Ramparts to Bolesław Chrobry. Let us focus on the first hypothesis. The early Silesian state-like entity bordered the state of the Wiślanie to the east; to the northeast were the seats of the Lechitic states, which would eventually form the Polish state at the end of the 10th century. This state may have emerged, among other reasons, because a small state created by the Silesian tribes lay to the west and provided protection against Germanic raids. Soon after its creation, the state of Mieszko I absorbed the early Silesian state-like entity.
The small Silesian state, like other state-like entities of the time, was protected by impassable border forests, great rivers, and swamps. Its natural border barriers were reinforced in the east by the powerful Przesieka Śląska, in the west by the Śląskie Ramparts, in the south by the wooded Sudetes, and in the north by the mighty Oder, which followed a latitudinal course here. Facing west, the Śląskie Ramparts held back raids by the Sorbian tribes and, in the later period, Germanic raids.
According to the second hypothesis, the builder of the Śląskie Ramparts was Bolesław Chrobry (hence the term “Chrobry Ramparts”). Chrobry's state border ran here between the Lusatian Neisse and the Bóbr. Borders were not delineated as precisely then as they are today. It is known, however, that this monarch strengthened borders primarily with fortified settlements, which he built or reinforced. Between the Lusatian Neisse, the Bóbr, and the Śląskie Ramparts lay an impassable, heavily waterlogged forest, traces of which have survived to this day (in the Węgliniec–Parowa–Ruszów–Iłowa area).
South of Gromadka, osieki—woodland barriers—formed, in a sense, an extension of the Śląskie Ramparts (they existed, among other places, around the village of Osła). Marshy areas, preserved to this day in the Rokitki–Miłkowice area, also extended the ramparts; farther south there were fortified settlements with castles in Grodziec, Warta Bolesławiecka, Wleń, and possibly Bolesławiec. (We will write about the Bolesławiec fortified settlement next time.) Numerous defensive fortified settlements dated to the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries existed in the Bolesławiec area, in Dąbrowa, Mierzwin, and Otok Żeliszów. The Bolesławiec fortified settlement is the oldest among those mentioned and may have been the tribal center (capital?) of the Bobrzanie tribe. (To be continued.)