Piast the Wheelwright
{{short description|Semi-legendary Polish figure}}
{{Infobox royalty
| succession = Duke of the Polans
| predecessor = Popiel
| successor = Siemowit
| spouse = Rzepicha
| issue = Siemowit
| house = Piast (founder)
| father = Chościsko
| birth_place =
| death_date = 861? (claimed age 120)
| death_place =
| burial_date =
| burial_place =
| religion = Slavic paganism
|image=File:Piast (99006906).jpg|caption=Portrait of Piast the Wheelwright}}
Piast the Wheelwright ({{c.}} 740/741? – 861? AD; Polish: Piast Kołodziej {{IPAc-pl|ˈpʲast kɔˈwɔd͡ʑɛj}}, Piast Oracz, i.e. Piast the Plower, or Piast; Piast Chościskowic, Latin: Past Ckosisconis, Pazt filius ChosisconisuBadania krytyczno-historyczne i literackie by Jozafat Bolesław Ostrowski, 1870 (Polish)Polish cognomen “Chościskowic” and its Latin versions of “Ckosisconis” and “filius Chosisconisu” (lit. son of Chosisco) refer to his father, supposedly named “Chościsko”) was a legendary figure in medieval Poland (9th century AD), the progenitor of the Piast dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Poland.{{cite book|author=Norman Davies|title=Heart of Europe: The Past in Poland's Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lMQei5CPZUgC&pg=PA249|access-date=29 February 2012|date=23 August 2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-280126-5|page=249}}
Legend
File:Aniolowie u Piasta - Piast Kolodziej z Kruszwicy dal poczatek familii Piastow ca 1860 (50847304) (cropped).jpg, {{circa|1860}})]]
Piast makes an appearance in the Polish Chronicle of Gallus Anonymus,{{citation | publisher = Gimnazjum | location = PL | url = http://www.staropolska.gimnazjum.com.pl/ang/middleages/Sec_prose/Gall.php3 | title = Excerpts from the Gallus Anonymus' chronicle | access-date = 2009-04-02 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090125032115/http://www.staropolska.gimnazjum.com.pl/ang/middleages/Sec_prose/Gall.php3 | archive-date = 2009-01-25 | url-status = dead }}. along with his father, Chościsko, and Piast's wife, Rzepicha.
The chronicle tells the story of an unexpected visit paid to Piast by two strangers. They ask to join Piast's family in celebration of the 7th birthday (a pagan rite of passage for young boys) of Piast's son, Siemowit. In return for the hospitality, the guests cast a spell making Piast's cellar ever full of plenty. Seeing this, Piast's compatriots declared him their new prince, to replace the late Prince Popiel.
If Piast really existed, he would have been the great-great-grandfather of Prince Mieszko I (c. 930–92), the first historic ruler of Poland, and the great-great-great-grandfather of Bolesław I the Brave (967–1025), the first Polish king.
The legendary Piasts were native of Gniezno, a well-fortified castle town founded between the eighth and ninth century, within the tribal territory of the Polans.Dzięcioł, W. (1966). The origins of Poland. London: Veritas.
Legacy
Across more than the next thousand years, no figure in Polish history was named Piast.{{Cite book |last=Jasienica |first=Pawel |author-link=Paweł Jasienica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kUIMAQAAMAAJ&q=piast |title=Piast Poland |publisher=American Institute of Polish Culture |year=1985 |isbn=9781881284000 |page=26 |language=en}}
Two theories explain the etymology of the word Piast. The first gives the root as piasta ("[wheel] hub" in Polish), a reference to his profession. The second relates Piast to piastun ("custodian" or "keeper"). This could hint at Piast's initial position as a majordomo, or a "steward of the house", in the court of another ruler, and the subsequent takeover of power by Piast. This would parallel the development of the early medieval Frankish dynasties, when the Mayors of the Palace of the Merovingian kings gradually usurped political control.
References
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{{Monarchs of Poland}}
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Category:Year of birth uncertain
Category:Year of death uncertain