Topic: Origins of Poland– revision lesson

Target group

5th‑grade students of elementary school

Core curriculum

5th‑grade students of elementary school

V. Poland in the early Piast period. Pupil:

1 ) situates the state of the first Piasts in time and space and presents its genesis;

2 ) explains the circumstances of the Piast's baptism and the cultural, social and political consequences of the Christianization of Poland;

3 ) characterizes the development and crisis of the monarchy of Bolesław Chrobry and Mieszko II;

4) characterizes the reconstruction and development of the Piast state during the reign of Kazimierz Odnowiciela and Bolesław Śmiały;

5 ) presents the achievements of Bolesław Krzywousty; describes the conflict with the German Empire;

6 ) describes the Polish society of the first Piasts.

VI. Poland during the district breakdown. Pupil:

1 ) places Poland in the period of district breakdown in time and space;

2 ) describes the causes and indicates the effects of neighborhood breakdown;

3 ) places at the time the most important events related to Polish‑Teutonic relations and the threat of Tatar invasions in the period of district disintegration;

4 ) describes social and economic changes, including settlement movement;

5) characterizes the process of unification of the Polish state at the turn of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, pointing to the role of the Piast rulers (with particular emphasis on the role of Władysław Łokietek) and the Church.

General aim of education

Students repeat knowledge about the beginnings of Polish statehood

Key competences

• communication in foreign languages;

• digital competence;

• learning to learn.

Criteria for success
The student will learn:

• to characterize the most important achievements of the first Piasts;

• how and when Cracow was founded;

• to characterize the most important events and figures from the medieval history of Poland;

• to understand the importance of royal baptism and royal coronation for the existence of a strong state.

Methods/techniques

• activating

  • discussion.

• expository

  • talk.

• exposing

  • film.

• programmed

  • with computer;

  • with e‑textbook.

• practical

  • exercices concerned.

Forms of work

• individual activity;

• activity in pairs;

• activity in groups;

• collective activity.

Teaching aids

• e‑textbook;

• notebook and crayons/felt‑tip pens;

• interactive whiteboard, tablets/computers.

Lesson plan overview

Before classes

1. Students remember and repeat knowledge from previous lessons.

Introduction

1. The teacher gives the students the purpose of the lesson and the criteria for success.

2. Then he explains the students that today's lesson will have a different character than the previous one - it's the students who are to play the role of teachers. He explains that repeating the news about medieval Piast Poland will be based on the knowledge that students have.

Realization

1. The teacher begins the classes, presenting the students the purpose of the lesson - it is the transfer of the most important information to a friend from a foreign country about the beginnings of Poland. Students choose what and how they would like to say about their country. As a timeframe, the teacher establishes baptism by Mieszko I in 966 and the end of the reign of Władysław the Elbow‑high over the united Poland in 1333. Pupils carry out Task 1 as help and preparation. The teacher makes sure that the task has been correctly completed and provides feedback.

2. The teacher plays the role of a foreign student and asks to tell him the history of Poland from the beginning of its existence. He asks questions (he decides what he would like to focus on), e.g. why Mieszko I was baptized? Why did Bolesław Chrobry want to become king? Why did the Piasts' monarchy break up after the death of Bolesław Krzywousty? What were the locations of cities and villages? Why did Konrad Mazowiecki fetched the Teutonic Knights on his land, etc. The teacher should adapt the questions to the content and themes that were discussed during the previous lessons.

3. On the basis of questions and answers, the teacher evaluates the knowledge gained by the students.

Summary

1. The teacher complements the students' knowledge and explains issues that were incomprehensible or misinterpreted by the students. He provides feedback.

2. At the end, the students do Exercise 1 (indicate the privileges granted in the Kraków location document), and answer questions in Exercise 2, Exercise 3 and Exercise 4. The teacher makes sure that the tasks have been correctly completed and provides feedback.

3. At the end, the teacher gives the students an evaluation questionnaire in which they evaluate their own work, colleagues and the attractiveness of the lesson.

Homework

1. The teacher sets homework (it is not an obligatory part of the script): Read the excerpt from the „Kroniki wielkopolskiej” from the e‑textbook and remind yourself how the beginnings of Poland were presented.

The following terms and recordings will be used during this lesson

Terms

Texts and recordings

Origins of Poland– revision lesson

There are legends about the creation of the Polish state, but historians assume that its origins date back to the reign of Mieszko I – the prince of Polans. His alliance with the Czech ruler, sealed by his marriage to Princess Dobrawa, helped him accept baptism in 966 and allowed to create a church province independent of the Holy Roman Empire.

Not only did this event increase the prince’s authority, but also made Mieszko I an equal partner among other Christian rulers. Moreover, it included Poland in the circles of Latin civilization. Bolesław I the Brave, who assumed power in 992, continued his father’s policy. He strengthened ties with Emperor Otto III, to which the martyr death of Bishop Adalbert in 997 also contributed. The ceremonial bringing‑in of his remains and burial in the Gniezno cathedral made Poland gain relics of a saint popular in Europe and made the young Christian state credible on the international arena.

In 1000, the tomb of St. Adalbert was visited by the emperor himself, thus manifesting his alliance with Bolesław I the Brave and announcing the creation of an independent archbishopric in Gniezno. Unfortunately, the premature death of the emperor and the change of power in the Reich caused the outbreak of Polish‑German wars lasting many years. They ended in the success of Bolesław I the Brave, much like his activities on the Russian lands. His strong position was confirmed by his coronation as the first king of Poland in 1025.

After his death, Mieszko II took power. Unfortunately, the period of his reign brought a collapse in Poland’s position and the ruler’s authority. As a result of rebellions and riots, not only did he lose his royal crown, but also, after his unexpected death in 1034, the country plunged into chaos. In the aftermath, the Piast monarchy collapsed, the subjects rioted, and the neighbors plundered. Poland practically ceased to exist. It was rebuilt by Mieszko II’s son, Casimir, named the Restorer. Having gained the emperor’s military support, he took over Greater Poland and Lesser Poland, and moved the capital to Cracow. He restored and reformed the state organization and carried out a friendly policy with the neighbors. He was succeeded in 1058 by Bolesław II the Generous. He pursued an active foreign policy, which resulted in his regaining the royal crown in 1076.

Unfortunately, excessive ambitions led to a conflict with the elite, which resulted in the murder of the Cracow Bishop Stanislaus of Szczepanów in 1079. This caused a rebellion among the subjects and, as a result, an escape of the ruler abroad. Power was taken over by his younger brother, Władysław I Herman. He did not have enough authority, and his power was weak and based on the magnates. This led to riots of some subjects, supported by the sons of Władysław I Herman – Zbigniew and Bolesław. The death of the duke in 1102 led to a short‑lived conflict between the brothers, ultimately won by Bolesław (Bolesław III Wrymouth).

He began to recover the former Piast lands and strengthen the state after his father’s weak reign. In 1138, in order to avoid conflicts and struggles for power between his sons, he divided his country into districts, appointing his oldest son – Władysław – as his first successor. This initiated the period of the so‑called district disintegration – Poland broke up into many independent duchies, and the constant conflicts increasingly weakened the principle of the principate, while strengthening individual district dukes and the magnates who supported them. The Piasts often fought among themselves for supremacy. As time went by, this led to there being several pretenders who claimed leadership.

In 1226, the Teutonic Order appeared in Poland, brought in by Konrad I of Masovia to protect his lands. They conquered the lands of the pagan Prussians and founded their own state which, over time, began to threaten Poland. At the end of the 13th century, after a break of more than 200 years, a royal coronation was successfully conducted on Przemysł II, Duke of Greater Poland and Pomerania. Unfortunately, his rule lasted less than a year, as he was murdered in 1296. Temporarily, even Czech rulers from the Přemyslid dynasty became kings of Poland – Wenceslaus II and Wenceslaus III. The death of the latter created a convenient situation for Duke Władysław I the Elbow‑high, of the Kuyavian line of the Piast dynasty, to take power. He united Greater Poland with Lesser Poland, and was crowned in Cracow as the king of Poland in 1320. However, Silesia (annexed to Bohemia), Pomerelia (seized by the Teutonic Order), and Masovia (an independent duchy ruled by a side‑line of the Piast dynasty) remained outside the borders of the kingdom. The coronation of Władysław I the Elbow‑high, and the transfer of power to his son, ended the nearly 200‑year‑long period of the district disintegration of Poland.

Based on the knowledge from previous lessons, answer the following questions.