Piast TOTAL WAR Militarism in Early Piast Poland

The exhibition is a story about the Polish military in the period from the middle of the 10th to the middle of the 12th century.These were times when war was a constant state of affairs. The rulers of the early Middle Ages, not only the Piasts, treated their armies and war as one of the most important tools of policy – both towards their neighbors and within their country. Our exhibition shows what this first Polish army looked like: how it was organized, what weapons it fought with, against whom and in what way. And it was an army at the head of which the Piasts were able to achieve significant victories, although defeats also befell them.
The exhibition will feature more than 100 relics dating mainly from the 10th to the 12th c. – From the lands that were once part of the early Piast monarchy. These are not only weapons, but also other finds related to the military aspect of our ancestors’ activities. Other elements of our story will be fragments of written sources from that period and illustrations inspired by ancient miniatures. A separate thread is the story of Boleslaw the Brave’s fictitious squadron – the warlord Niemir.
The exhibition “Piast TOTAL WAR. Militarism in Early Piast Poland” was prepared by the Museum of the Origins of the Polish State in Gniezno and the Archaeological Museum of the Middle Rhineland in Świdnica, and its first installment in Gniezno museum in 2019-2020.

Organizers:
Museum of the Origins of the Polish State in Gniezno
Archaeological Museum of Central Nadodrza in Świdnica
Regional Museum in Stalowa Wola
Curators of the exhibition:
Dr. Michal Bogacki, Museum of the Origins of the Polish State in Gniezno
Igor Górewicz
Dr. Piotr Kotowicz, Historical Museum in Sanok
Paweł Kucypera
Arkadiusz Michalak, PhD, Archaeological Museum of Central Nadodrza in Świdnica
The artefacts presented at the exhibition come from the collections of 20 museums and institutes of archaeology:

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, branch in Warsaw; Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, branch in Wrocław; Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, branch in Szczecin; Institute of Archaeology of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun; Archaeological Museum of Central Nadodrza in Świdnica; Archaeological Museum in Cracow; Archaeological Museum in Poznań; Diocesan Museum in Plock; Historical Museum in Sanok; Rev. Stanisław Staszic in Hrubieszów; the Museum at the Castle in Łęczyca; the Museum of the Origins of the Polish State in Gniezno; the Podkarpackie Museum in Krosno; the Janusz Peter Regional Museum in Tomaszów Lubelski; the Stanisław Sankowski Regional Museum in Radomsko; the Museum of Opole Silesia in Opole; the Kostrzyn Fortress Museum in Kostrzyn-on-Odra; the Museum in Piotrków Trybunalski; the Castle Museum in Malbork; the State Archeological Museum in Warsaw.
Author of the story of Nemir: Maciej Lewandowski Selection of sources: Adam Bąkowski (Museum of the Origins of the Polish State in Gniezno) Production: Magdalena Robaszkiewicz (Museum of the Origins of the Polish State in Gniezno) Photos: Marek Kalisinski Drawings: Roch Hercka Translations: Dorian Sobołtyński Arrangement, graphic design: Paweł Kucypera