Problem świętości władców we wczesnym i pełnym średniowieczu - przypadek polski na tle środkowoeuropejskim

The text looks at the issue of the sanctity of the rulers, especially non-martyrs, in Latin Europe in the Early and High Middle Ages. The starting point for the discussion is a frequently asked question about the reasons for the lack of such a phenomenon in Poland. The analysis of narrative and archaeological sources has detected no worship of the fi rst Polish rulers – Mieszko I and Bolesław the Brave. The paper examines whether the absence of the cult of saint kings in Poland was in fact unusual. The author comes to the conclusion that the religious cult of rulers-confessors was in fact a rare phenomenon in medieval Europe, most probably due to the diffi culties in linking the king’s role with the standards of holiness applicable in the period.