Polish national custom identifies the starting date of Polish history as 966, when Prince Mieszko (r. 963-92) accepts Christianity in the name of the people he rules, in spite of convincing fragmentary evidence in Poland of prior political and social organization.

In return, Poland receives acknowledgment as a separate principality owing some degree of tribute to the German Empire (later officially known as the Holy Roman Empire).

Under Otto I, the German Empire is an expansionist force to the West in the mid-tenth century.

Mieszko accepts baptism directly from Rome in preference to conversion by the German church and subsequent annexation of Poland by the German Empire.

This strategy inaugurates the intimate connection between the Polish national identity and Roman Catholicism that will become a prominent theme in the history of the Poles.