In the previous issue of "Głos," we began exploring an inexhaustible subject: the history of Polish arms in the Bolesławiec region. Today we continue these reflections.
For many centuries, from the beginnings of our state, the lands along the Bóbr and Kwisa rivers formed the Polish-German political and state border, where the young Polish state fought defensive wars; the Polish-Lusatian linguistic border; and the boundary between the ecclesiastical administrations of the Bishopric of Wrocław and the Bishopric of Meissen. The Polish-Lusatian linguistic intermingling persisted until the seventeenth century.
Let us begin by recalling that for a state to emerge, develop and survive the storms of history, it had to possess a well-organized armed force.
The history of Polish arms in the Bolesławiec region at the dawn of our statehood is lost in the mists of history. There are no written sources, while the existing hillforts—archaeological remains dating from this period—have not been examined. Some of them, such as the hillfort in Mierzwin, were only partially investigated, and the results of the research were not published. The picture we wish to present is incomplete, barely outlined and at times hypothetical.
We must begin with the numerous hillforts scattered across the lands along the Bóbr—in contrast to the accounts of many chroniclers describing the lands along the Bóbr and Kwisa as heavily forested and marshy, and supposedly uninhabited.
Let us begin with the hillfort in Bolesławiec, dating from the tenth to the thirteenth century, situated on the high Prabóbr escarpment, at the foot of Wałowa Street, in the northern part of the town. It lies approximately 100 m east of the intersection of Staszica and Stolarska streets. This is a hollow hillfort with a trapezoidal plan and rounded corners. Fragments of defensive earth ramparts, 0.6–1.5 m high, have survived to the present day. The ramparts are approximately 8 m wide at the base. They were therefore massive ramparts several metres high, on top of which a palisade (stockade) could have been built. The hillfort covers 0.5 ha and measures 100 × 50 m.
The two-part conical hillfort in Dąbrowa, dating from the twelfth to the thirteenth century, is located in a broad valley through which the Bobrzyca flows. It lies approximately 650 m east of the village centre, which is situated by the highway. It should not be confused with the old structures from later centuries located in the same village by the Bóbr, at the confluence of the Bóbr and Bobrzyca rivers beside the road bridge. The massive structures, increasingly falling into ruin, were dismantled several years ago.
The hillfort in Mierzwin dates from the tenth to the thirteenth century and is located approximately 250 m northeast of the southern part of the village. The hillfort measures 34 × 25 m and rises to a height of 3.5 m. It is a conical hillfort with an oval shape.
The hillfort in Otok dates from the tenth to the twelfth century. It is situated on a hill 250 m above sea level, in a forest approximately 1 km northwest of the village. It has an oval plan, with a bailey measuring 11 × 19 m. The defensive ramparts are well preserved, with an inner height of 0.7–1.5 m. This is a very small hillfort.
The hillfort in Żeliszów dates from the thirteenth to the fourteenth century and has a quadrilateral plan, with a double defensive rampart and moats. The hillfort’s bailey measures 20 × 15 m; the ramparts are 6 m high and approximately 6 m wide at the base. The hillfort lies in a forest on a rise approximately 150 m south of the church. We know that a small knight’s stronghold stood here. Let us note that approximately 200 m south of the Żeliszów–Ustronie road, the remains of approximately 1,500 shafts with washing equipment have survived beside the stream. Gold-bearing sand was mined and washed here. In the nearby village of Płuczki (sic!), there was a large mining basin where gold was extracted in the first centuries of our millennium.
The hillfort in Wykroty is conical, has an oval plan and dates from the thirteenth to the fourteenth century. Traces of ramparts and a moat are visible. The preserved height of the hillfort is approximately 1.5 m. It is situated in a picturesque old park. Here, too, as in Żeliszów, there was a small knight’s stronghold. Nearby stands a massive penitential cross engraved with a spear. We omit the castles in Grodziec and Kliczków, known to everyone, whose origins date back to the birth of the Polish state, as well as the traces of settlements and hillforts located along the Kwisa in the Osiecznica municipality, dating from the turn of the tenth and eleventh centuries AD and even earlier.
Whom should these hillforts be attributed to, and who built them and erected structures in the form of wooden castles? The oldest of the aforementioned strongholds should be attributed to the Bobrzanie, who erected them under the leadership of their “tribal princes.” At the end of the tenth century, when the Bobrzanie became part of the state of the prince of Gniezno, the strongholds became administrative centres, transformed into castellanies—that is, a uniform administrative system for the entire country. The boundaries of the castellanies followed the tribal boundaries of Silesia. (To be continued in the next issue)