An interesting aspect of the discussion about the veracity of the depiction of Polish Gods as relayed by Długosz is the pathetic timidity of the Polish academic response to the abuses perpetrated on the “Polish Pantheon” by the confabulist in chief, Aleksander Brückner. Łowmiański, Gieysztor and many others have been caught up in a slavish, Stockholm syndrome-like trance by the vehemence of Brückner’s attacks on the idea of Polish paganism flourishing into the 15th century to such an extent that, even when they dared to deviate from Brückner on other topics, they were rendered incapable of independent thought when it came to discussing Polish Gods. Whether because of intellectual laziness, for lack of cojones or as a result of some combination of both, they did not deviate from the party line set by the cantakerous German curmudgeon more than a century ago.

This is particularly shameful given that Brückner’s arguments fail so transparently that it is difficult not to suspect ill will on the part of the Berlin professor. His primary argument was that there could be no paganism that survived into the 15th century. Why? Because the Church did such a good job quashing them for 500 years.

Yet, pagan customs is precisely what church leaders describe in plentiful writings of the period. Brückner says that the clergy had no idea what they were describing and only erroneously believed that what they were seeing were pagan practices as opposed to, as Brückner would have it, mere marriage rites. (As an aside, apparently, Brückner was asleep when God was invoked during his own wedding, as per standard Christian recitations).  In other words, Brückner from his 20th century Berlin academic perch was better able to understand 15th century Polish peasant customs than all the 15th century Polish parish priests combined. At least according to Brückner.

But if Catholic clergy was so stupid as to misunderstand common Slavic words as names of deities, how could such clergy been able to crush pagan worship prior to such time? Were they just uniquely incompetent in the 15th century? Neurotoxins in the Holy Water or the wafers?

And, if they were competent in crushing idolatry (just overzealous in seeing idolatry everywhere) then why did they still fail to crush Polish idolatry right then and there? After all, had Brückner read Kolberg’s ethnographic studies of the 19th century he would have found appellations of Łado, Łado. He also would have noticed that, by far, the most common protagonist of peasant songs in Poland at that time was Jasień. There you have your Yassa and Lado. And that is half a millenium after the 15th century sermons. In other words, if Poland was converted to Christianity in 966 then even more time passed since the aforementioned 15th century priestly remonstrations against worshipping “idols” to Brückner’s and Kolberg’s time as had passed from such alleged conversion to the 15th century.

The truth is that the Church organization in Poland was not strong enough to even begin to root out paganism until the Polish state afforded the Church some stability. And the state could not afford stability for the Church until the state itself became stable. That, in turn, did not begin in earnest until the 14th century. In other words, it is entirely possible that the Church was neither able to convert nor even interested in converting the peasant masses to its faith until such time. And, as noted above, even afterwards the songs, refrains, midsummer night dances and fires continued well into the 19th, 20th and, in places, even to this day.

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