Mieszko is considered the first ruler of Poland’s Piast Dynasty (named for the legendary peasant founder of the family), which endured for four centuries.
Between 967 and 990, Mieszko had taken over substantial territory along the Baltic Sea and in the region known as Little Poland to the south.
By the time he officially submitted to the authority of the Holy See in Rome in 990, Mieszko had transformed his country into one of the strongest powers in Eastern Europe.
Mieszko's son and successor Boleslaw I (992–1025), known as the Brave, or the Mighty, is to build on his father's achievements and become the most successful Polish monarch of the early medieval era.
Boleslaw will continue the policy of appeasing the German Empire while taking advantage of its political situation to gain territory wherever possible.
The circumstances in which Boleslaw takes control of the country following the passing of his father anticipates what will later become a prevalent practice among the Piast dynasty: the struggle for control, usually a military one, among the offspring of nearly every deceased monarch of the Piast dynasty.
Boleslaw is no different, and shortly after the death of Mieszko I (May 25, 992), he banishes his stepmother Oda and his two half-brothers, as they are competitors to the throne.
The exact circumstances of Boleslaw's ascension to the Ducal throne are unknown, but it is known that by June, he was the unquestioned ruler of Poland—as Emperor Otto III asked for his military aid in the summer of 992.
Immediately after gaining the full control over Poland, Boleslaw also quells the opposition of powerful families by blinding two of their leaders, the magnates Odylen and Przybywoj.
As cruel a sentence as this is, it proves most effective as it results in such obedience of his subjects that from this point on there is no mention of any challenge to his position whatsoever.
