Athleta Christi

The tomb of Boleslaw the Great (aka the Brave) was located in the Poznan cathedral.  This much we know from the Greater Poland Chronicle.  The cathedral itself was upgraded in the then popular “Gothic” style by Casimir the Great in the 14th century.  The first (? see below) mention of an inscription on the upgraded tomb dates to 1422 and is found in a document dealing with the feud between the Teutonic Knights and the King of Poland (it is a witness statement on behalf of the Polish King by one George Merkil, a notary of Poznan).  According to the subsequent testimony of Jan Dlugosz (in the “Lives of Bishops of Poland” or Vitae episcoporum Poloniae), it was Casimir who included this inscription regarding the deeds of his predecessor:

“[Casimirus] sarcophagos Regum humiles et solo sequatos, petrosa mole super imposita erexit, delitescentesque umbras, ne in perpetuam residerent oblivionem, vindicatas illustravit, et Posnaniensi ecclesiae vasa aurea et argentes dono data reliquit.”  

The first edition of the text – it was previously thought (again see below) – came from 1490 when Stanislaw Streczaka a Benedictine monk from Tyniec mentioned it in his copy of the Gesta Romanorum (the manuscript was in Lviv where it was apparently destroyed in a fire in 1848).

what is believed to be the actual tomb underneath the Poznan Cathedral

In any event the tomb was moved in the second half of the 18th century and in 1790 was destroyed when a portion of the cathedral tower fell off.  Once the tomb was destroyed (metaphor?) and the Polish state partitioned (over the years 1772-1795), suddenly everyone became interested in what that inscription said.

A number of authors were discussing it (Lubienski, Starowolski, Hartknoch, Zalaszowski, Czacki, Sarnicki, Naruszewicz) before Joachim Lelewel really made a study of it.  Here it is:

“In this grave there rests
a chieftain, a noble dove
You were called Chrobry
may you be eternally blessed
Though from a pagan father,
yet your mother was a believer
Drops of holy water caused
that you became God’s servant
When you hair was cut
it was laid in Rome
From then among conflict
you were Christ’s athlete
You won [many] lands
and made many wars
Distinguished chief
praise to you, stout Boleslaw
Thus the kingdom of Slavs
Goths,* and too of Poles
The Emperor did raise higher
so thou need not be a duke
And [in turn] many gifts you
you gave [him]
You gave to him
[for] riches/wealth you had aplenty
And to give you fame
did Otto give you the crown
For your great deeds
may you find salvation. Amen”

Athleta Christi showing the (old) Prussians the (not yet royal) finger

(Hic iacet in tumba
princeps generosa columba
Chabri tu es dictus
sis in evum benedictus
Perfido patre
tu es, sed credula matre
Fonte sacro lotus
servus Domini puta totus
Precidens comam
septeno tempore, Romam
Tu possedisti
velut verus adleta Cristi
Vicisti terras
faciens bellas quoque guerras
Inclite dux
tibi laus, strenue Boleslaus
Regni Sclavorum
Gottorum sue Polonorum
Cesar precellens
a te ducalia pellens
Plurima dona sibi
que placiere tibi
Hinc detulisti
quia divicias habuisti
Ob famamque bonam
tibi contulit Otto coronam
Propter luctamen
slt tlbl saLVs Amen)

And in Lelewel’s version (with a Polish translation) (note that the lines are differently ordered here):

At the time of Lelewel’s writing the oldest copy was thought to be one from 1490.  Interestingly, older versions appeared later – most recently one that was discovered by Wojciech Mischke (an art historian) and that has been dated to the beginning of the 15th century.  How Mischke discovered it should be a subject of independent study.  The language appears in the Codex HM 1036, of the Huntington Library in San Marino (California not Italy) but “appears” is a bit of a tongue in cheek joke.  It barely appears.  Or rather, it was erased and overwritten with a poem praising Pius II (who was Pope between 1458-1464).  We can only assume that someone who tried to read the remains of the writing understood enough of what it said so as to bring in a Polish medievalist like Mischke for a consult (another mystery). You can see it here (folio 206):

What is interesting, however, too was that there is apparently another writing earlier than the Chrobry inscription that is visible underneath.  Here is the back of that page (folio 205) where you can see it peeking through an Epigram of Martial:

 Other pictures of the manuscript can be found here.

* So what about these Goths?  That Goths conquered the Veneti is evident from Getica itself.  A memory of Goths was preserved all over Eastern Europe (much like Vandals in Central Europe).  Numerous examples abound:

• Gallus Anonymous speaks of the Sarmatians as Getae – probably meaning the Prussians (The Slavic lands… begin with the Sarmatians who are also known as Getae/Goths)
• Kadlubek speaks of the Prussians as Getae during the events surrounding the Polish pagan rebellion of the 1030s
• The Greater Poland Chronicle speaks of the Getae as Russians during the same events
• The Chronicle of the Priest of Dukla discusses the Goths basically as a variant of Slavs
• Various Frankish Annals (Borna duke of the Guduscani) refer to certain Slavic tribes in the Balkans as Goths
• Then you have the above inscription, which probably refers to the Prussians, etc

Here is the Bielowski description in Polish: