Mieszko I and Dobrawa
By 960, Duke Mieszko, the first of the Piast rulers, held sway over a substantial territory, but sought more. In 965, Mieszko made a strategic alliance with the Duke of Bohemia, Bolesław I the Cruel, by marrying Bolesław’s daughter, Dobrawa, a Roman Catholic. Mieszko, a pagan, was urged to be baptized as a Christian. Mieszko’s baptism, on April 14, 966, is known today as the “Baptism of Poland” and considered to be the founding event of Polish statehood. The event was especially important because it made Poland the most eastern of all Roman Catholic countries. To the east was the Orthodox world, not fully integrated into the European world. The result was a profound sense of attachment to the west, a central element of Polish culture.
