[2] The Lekhes were divided into several tribes, of
which, according to Nestor, at first only those who settled on the
vast plains, _polie_, of the Ukraine, were called _Polyane_, Poles,
i.e. inhabitants of the plain. The tribes which occupied Masovia were
called _Masovshane_; the Lekhes who went to Pomerania, _Pomoriane_,
etc. The specific name of _Poles_, as applied to all the Lekhish
tribes together, does not appear until the close of the tenth century,
when the generic appellation of Lekhes or Ljakhes had perished. In the
year 840, the chiefs of the different tribes united themselves under
one common head; at that time they are said to have chosen a
husbandman by the name of Pjast for their duke, and the male
descendants of this, their first prince, lived and reigned not less
than six hundred and thirty years. From Germany and Bohemia
Christianity was carried to Poland by Romish priests, probably as
early as the ninth century. In the beginning of the tenth, some
attempts were made to introduce the Slavic liturgy into Poland. Both
species of worship existed for some time peacefully side by side; and
even when, through the exertions of the Latin priesthood, the Slavic
liturgy was gradually superseded by the occidental rites, the former
was at least tolerated; and after the invention of printing, the
Polish city of Cracow was the first place where books in the Old
Slavic dialect, and portions of the Old Slavic Bible, were printed.
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