You are here
Incursions
Boleslaw Chrobry
992. King Otto with a strong force of his own men again went to Brandenburg1. Henry, duke of the Bavarians, came to him, as did Boleslav, prince of the Bohemians, with a huge multitude in aid to the king. But Boleslaw, the son of Mieszko, not at all able to come himself to the lord king (for indeed a powerful war against the Russians threatened him), sent his warriors sufficiently loyal to him in service to the king. Yet the lord king, trusting the promises of the Slavs to be good, and not wishing to resist his princes, again granted them peace and from there returned home. But they, in their customary way, lied in everything. 2
995. King Otto lay waste the Abodrites, and overthrew their burgs and fortresses. Boleslaw, son of Mieszko, brought him aid with a large army, and also the Bohemians came with the son of the other Boleslav. And the king took himself to Saxony with a vast army. … The Slavs lay waste to Saxony by frequent attack.3
[1002.] Boleslav...assembled an army and seized Margrave Gero's march as far as the river Elbe. Then, with siege troops sent ahead, he captured the burg of Bautzen, with all its possessions, and immediately thereafter attacked Strehla.4 Secretly, he also tried to bribe the residents of Meissen... [more on this]. Elated by this success, Boleslav occupied the entire region up to the Elster and secured it with a garrison. [more on how Boleslav's claimed to do so with Henry's permission, on negotiations concerning the region after Henry's coronation, Boleslav's frustration] When he arrived at the city of Strehla, he immediately set fire to it and abducted a large part of the local populace.5
[1003. Boleslav Chrobry further negotiating for Meissen, moving an army to the region, sparing Strehla]6 In one day the whole fertile region of Lommatzsch was ravaged with fire and sword and had its inhabitants abducted. [also receive booty and several thousand captives from Mügeln]7
1003. King Henry subjugated Italy, Bohemia and Duke Boleslaw as well as all the people of the Slavs.8
[1004.] Boleslaw attacked the Bavarians... with a large force. In response, the king assembled an army and attacked the lands of the Milzeni.9
[1004. King Henry invades Bohemia to oust Boleslaw Chrobry from power there, taking Zatec by force and reinstating the Premyslid Jaromir as ruler in Prague. Afterward, Jaromir assists Henry in attacking the Milzeni and beseiging Bautzen--ultimately surrendered by Boleslaw.]10
[1005. Jaromir, the Liutizi, and the residents of Wollin complain to King Henry about predations by Boleslaw as a result of the peace agreement; Henry agrees to renounce it. Boleslaw lays waste to Möckern, outside Magdeburg, and takes Zerbst. He then takes the regions of Lausitz, Sorau, and Selpuli and besieges Bautzen.]11
[1009. A force of Poles tries to take Meissen but is easily repulsed, to Boleslaw's displeasure.]12
1010. Expedition to the Slavs, from which the king returned sick with a few men.13
1015. The emperor again went with an army against the Poles.14
[1017.] Moravian soldiers of Boleslaw surrounded and killed a large but careless band of Bavarians.15