The book was published in its Polish version in 2013. The present edition has been revised wherever necessary and consequently differs slightly from the original Polish edition. Apart from the need to correct some obvious and initially overlooked errors, the revision has been prompted by the opinions of the reviewers of the Polish edition and of my critics, for which I would like to thank them sincerely. In some matters our knowledge has evolved or new and important literature on the subject has emerged, and I could not ignore it. This concerns to some extent studies in the history of Poland, though more so the role of women in other regions of Europe in the Early and High Middle Ages, a subject providing an important background to my analysis.
Translating this kind of study into English is not an easy task for various reasons. First of all, it requires some standardization of the names of places and people. In the case of geographical names, established English forms are obviously used whenever available.
A more complex question is that of translating the names of people. For the purpose of this edition Slavic names are given in the form in which they are used in a given individual’s country of origin.1 Thus individuals who came from Poland are called Bolesław, Kazimierz, Władysław, Leszek, while those from Bohemia – Boleslav, Břetislav, Vladislav etc. In some cases (for example, Bolesław – Boleslav) this means that the same name is rendered in a variety of ways. In line with this rule, the Bohemian wife of the first historical Polish ruler is described as Doubravka. She appears in Polish studies as Dobrawa (a version based on the one given by Thietmar) or Dąbrówka (a similar version to the one used by Gallus Anonymous and Cosmas of Prague). I follow the version based on the latter, as according to most scholars it is closer to the original form of the name than Dobrawa.2 The rule that Slavic names are given in the version accepted in the various individuals’ countries of origin also applies to the name Kazimierz, even though its English equivalent, Casimir, is more popular in English-language literature than English equivalents of other names of Slavic origin.
Foreign names, irrespective of who carries them, are given in their established English versions: Gertrude, Matilda, Agnes, Judith, Hedwig, Henry etc. I have decided that presenting them in a form depending on their country of origin – as in the case of Slavic names – would be hard to apply here and would cause unnecessary confusion: the book features individuals from various countries carrying the same name and it would impossible to adapt the spelling to their country of birth in each case. This also concerns the names of Liudolfing women, which often appear in the English-language literature in their German forms or close to their German forms: for example, Mathilda, Adelheid or Hadwig.
Rulers’ nicknames are given, as is usually the case, in their English versions. The exception is Bolesław Chrobry, well-established in the English- and German-language literature. The English equivalent of the nickname – sometimes used – is the Brave.
What also requires an explanation is the name of Władysław Herman’s second wife, Judith of Germany. This is an important issue, because this particular ruler had two wives with the same name and they have to be distinguished. While the first of them is called Judith of Bohemia, the second is referred to in the English-language literature as Judith of Swabia and in modern Polish scholarship – as Judyta Salicka (Judith the Salian), after the dynasty from which she came. Her English nickname, ‘of Swabia’, is misleading, because nothing suggests that she had anything to do with Swabia as a region. It seems to be a calque of the name Judyta Szwabska used in the older Polish literature on the subject. But in this case the adjective ‘Szwabska’ does not refer to Swabia, but is a slightly archaic and somewhat pejorative synonym of the adjective ‘German’ in Polish. That is why I have decided that it would be better to call the person in question Judith of Germany, although the term does not really appear in the English-language literature on the subject.
Considering quotation of primary sources, I use available English translations as much as possible; whether following a published translation or using my own translation of the text, the original version is always given in the footnotes. In the case of secondary sources I use, if possible, versions available in languages more popular than Polish. If Polish (and Slovakian) positions are available in English, German, French or Italian translations, I follow them, mentioning the original editions only when I refer to some parts which were removed or changed in translation.
The only exception here is St. Wencelsas, present in this book more as a venerated saint than a historical ruler and therefore under the customary English version of his name instead of its Czech version, Václav.
Cf. especially Danuta Borawska, “O imię Dąbrówki,” in Polska w świecie. Szkice z dziejów kultury polskiej, eds. Jerzy Dowiat et al. (Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1972), 41–59; Przemysław Nowak, “Z antroponimii słowiańskiej: Dobrawa czy Dąbrówka żoną Mieszka I?,” Przegląd Historyczny 103 (2012), no. 3, 537–542 (passim).