Kruszwica 1.) also Krus'wica [this spelling used throughout article], from the German Kruschwitz, town on Lake Goplo in Inowroclaw province, fertile terrain with significant layers of peat; two areas: a). Kruswica as a town and b). Gustawowo, the manor farm. In 1880 there were 700 inhabitants, in 1871 there were 73 houses, 683 inhabitants, 270 protestants, 334 Catholics, 79 Jews. The inhabitants practice farming and trade. It is the seat of the local area commissioner.
The Catholic parish church is in the Kruswica decanate; the Protestant church is part of the Inowroclaw diocese. There is a multi-class elementary school; 201 illiterates; there is a sugar refinery, and brewery. The post office is 3rd class; transport to Inowroclaw where there is the nearest train station and telegraph, about 15 kilometers; letter mail via post office to villages of Papros and Jerzyk. There is a road. In 1882 a canal was finished between the Notec River and Lake Goplo as starting point; in October of the current year was an opening ceremony with participation of the highest dignitaries. Kruszwica in the old Brzesc-Kujawy voivodship, in 1792 had 14 houses and only 79 inhabitants; in 1811 it had 25 houses and 135 inhabitants; in 1831 it had 41 houses, 228 inhabitants - 160 Catholics, 43 protestants and 25 Jews. The town is small and poor but it was the first capital of the Lechites [Polonian tribe], a rich and prosperous place, now only with a dim memory of the past. The origin of the town name -- Kruswica -- is explained two ways. In one version it is composed of two words "kragla, kruchom" (around) and "swieca" (giving light or bright) because the Goplo Lake would brighten the town with reflections off the water. Surowiecki explains that the name was a composite of the words "grod" (krut) and "Swiecza" (pagan god of light) so it is the town of that deity and the lantern found on top of Popiel's "Mouse Tower" was to serve as a guide for the boats sailing on Lake Goplo.
According to the chroniclers at the beginning of the ninth century Popiel I took over the government of Poland and moved his capital from Gniezno to Kruswica and there led a decadent life. After a short reign he installed his young son, Popiel II as successor, but his uncles ruled instead. Later, he had a domineering and greedy wife. In his time two travelers visited Kruswica, and they were turned away from the prince's house. These two were thought to be the Saints Cyril and Methodius who were touring the Slavic countries to bring the enlightenment of the gospel. Instead they visited at the humble household of Piast and in the home of this farmer or wheelwright they found hospitality. They arranged a splendid hair-cutting [coming of age] ceremony for Piast's son Ziemowit at which the food and drink miraculously multiplied and at which the prince was present. Popiel II, fearful that one of his uncles might take his place as ruler, committed murder [the Polish Macbeth] to which he was egged on by his wife. Feigning illness he called all his relatives together and poisoned them. The bodies were then sunk in Lake Goplo, with Popiel proclaiming that the gods had punished them with sudden death. From these bodies bred thousands of mice which then sought out the murderer. Popiel fled to a tower on the island in Lake Goplo, but the mice caught up to him and devoured him and his wife [Polish Willard]. Bielski describes the choosing of the successor in the following way. After Popiel's demise the people gathered to choose a new prince but could not come to terms after long discussions. Soon they grew hungry and someone shouted out "Let us choose the one who first comes to us across Lake Goplo, but let it not be a woman nor lad under sixteen." Piast had his house on the lake shore and bee-houses on the opposite side of the lake. Being there he gathered a barrel of honey and placing it on his wagon took the ferry back the very first thing next morning. He saw the crowd at the shore waiting to see whom God had willed then as their ruler, and he thought that they had come to buy his homey. When he disembarked they hailed him as their prince. Piast moved the capital to Gniezno. These are the oldest reports about Kruswica.
More definite historical records date to Mieczyslaw I, the first Christian prince in Poland. It was he who established the bishop's cathedral in Kruszwica and equipped it generously granting a tithe. To the end of the eleventh century Kruswica remained among the leading towns in the country. For 200 years the Cathedral had the honor of being the seat of the Kruswica bishop. The first bishop was Lucidas, an Italian sent by Pope John XIII. In 1034 when Przedzislaw, a Czech prince, invaded and put the countryside to fire and sword, not sparing churches, Kruswica shared this fate. In 1096 Zbigniew, illegitimate son of Wladyslaw Herman, was exiled from Wroclaw by his father and fled to Kruswica. Before the king and his men arrived from Wroclaw, Zbigniew gathered an army from among the Kruswica and Pomorania natives. Wladyslaw surrounded the castle where Zbigniew posted a guard; and then personally went to the field of battle with several regiments. There was a battle at Lake Goplo. The rebels fought valiantly but the opposition was too great, they had to fall back. The king chased them into the water and there they were killed with such ferocity that according to the chroniclers (Gallus, Kadlubek, Dlugosz, and Kromer) the lakeshore was piled with bodies of men from the area and Goplo lake water was tinged with red. For a long time the fish were poisoned and no fishing could be done. Zbigniew fled to the castle, but was captured alive and then imprisoned in Sieciehowo. The king was angry with the Kruswica inhabitants that they rebelled against him. He had the town and cathedral sacked and destroyed. It was then that the cathedral church was much damaged and the town never rose to regain its former glory.
In 1109 Boleslaw III Krzywousty brought his army to Kruswica to punish the constantly rebellious Pomeranians and then moved on to Naklo. At the beginning of 1149 a gathering of princes took place in Kruswica which was attended by: Boleslaw Kedzierzawy; his brother Mieczyslaw; sons of Krywousty; Fryderyk, the Magdeburg Archbishop; many Saxon princes, among them Otto II, the northern margrave, son of Albert Niedzwiedz and brother in-law to Boleslaw Krzywousty. The purpose of the gathering was the signing of an alliance that would give them mutual support. In 1159 Onolt or Onoldus, the last bishop of Kruswica, tenth in his line, moved the cathedral from Kruswica to Wloclawek and from then on the diocese was called Kujawska or Kujawsko-Pomorska. In 1230 Konrad I, prince of Mazovia and Kujawy, gave Kruswica to the Teutonic Knights -- in the description it included the Chelm lands, situated between the rivers: Vistula, Drewca, and Osa. In 1271 Boleslaw, a Wielkopolski prince, fearing it being taken by the enemy in the Pomeranian wars, burned down the Kruswica castle that had been given to him by Ziemiomysl, a Kujawian prince. Casimir the Great rebuilt this outpost replacing the formerly wooden structure with one of brick. In 1370 he gave Kruswica and other properties to his grandson Kasimir and daughter Elzbieta, and Boguslaw a Szczecin prince. The last will and testament was later declared invalid and the castle reverted to the crown. In 1383 Abracham Socha, Count Zagloba, Plock Voivode, took Brzesc in the name of Ziemowit, Mazovian prince and pretender for the hand of Queen Jadwiga, who arrived at Kruswica which immediately surrendered and with it all of Kujawy. Because of this the Mazowian prince also called himself the prince of Kujawy. Socha was named the Kruswica starosta, and sent out regiments to loot church properties. Many years later (in the second half of the fifteenth century) during the times of Dlugosz [the chronicler] Kruswica was little different from a village. Various military disasters halted the transport of goods on Lake Goplo, and trade turned toward Gdansk leaving the inhabitants in poverty.
In 1422 Wladyslaw Jagiello improved the life of the townspeople by granting a privilege, freeing them from the adjudication of castellans, judges, administrators, thus taking them from under Polish law and placing them under the Magdeburg law. Thus the right to try, punish and even execute malefactors was in the hands of the mayor or the town's wojt. Kazimierz IV Jagiellonczyk freed the inhabitants of Kruswica from paying entry and market fees to other towns and thus arrivals in Kruswica on market day were also freed from them. In 1592 Zygmunt II decreed 4 great market days. These privileges were confirmed by later kings in the years 1635, 1680, 1701, 1720. In the fourteenth century Kruswica was a county town, the castle was the starosta's residence. It went to ruin but was restored in 1590 during the times of Adam from Chomiazy Balinski, a Kruswica starosta. It is unknown when it was completely destroyed. It appears, however, that this took place during the reign of Jan Kazimierz and the Swedish war. At that time the castle was still in existence and had strong walls which the Swedes used for defense. They first occupied it in 1655. Stefan Czarnecki, the Kiev Castellan, tried to get them out, but gave it up as his forces were insufficient. In 1657, on June 18, when the Swedes were leaving Poland the castle was burned and destroyed. The Swedes looted all that could be taken and the former capital was forgotten over the next several centuries. The remains of the castle testify to its stout construction, its walls were four "elbows" thick. An underground passage led into the fortress.
In a work by Puffendorf "Historia gestorum Caroli Gustavi" there is an engraving showing the castle in the fourteenth century. (The publication "Przyjaciel Ludu" [Peoples' Friend] from 1841 has a drawing on page 205). It had several towers, one tall, the others smaller, built in the Gothic and Renaissance manner, which gave the place its character. On a hill near the lake, on a round granite base, stands an octagonal tower built of brick whose purpose was to serve as a lookout for the castle, as is usual for guard towers built for defense. This is the so-called "Mouse Tower" of the Popiel legend. Its height is just over 100 feet, the thickness of the wall at bottom is 8 feet, at middle 7 feet, and 7 to 5 near the top. There is a wall attached to the tower, probably a remainder left over from the castle, near its top is an opening in the tower from whence it was possible to enter. In the area there are remains of brickwork and foundations of the castle. After it was destroyed by the Swedes it was never rebuilt and much of the plentiful material were used for other construction. It was the Prussian king Fryderyk Wilhelm IV, a great admirer of antiquities, who preserved the tower from complete ruin. Near the village there are several poor fishing huts, and Lake Goplo surrounds the hill on three sides. Near the tower there is a palace built out of brick taken from the castle walls for the owner, a German, currently the owner of Kruswica. Along the southern shore of the lake is the border between the Polish Kingdom and the Great Kingdom of Poznan.
Of all the antiquities remaining to document the former glory of Kruswica is the church, formerly the cathedral, which resisted the force of time. The restoration of the church was done thanks to Fryderyk Wilhelm IV who was in love with antiquities. The cathedral stands on a treeless rise, on the southern side of Lake Goplo, opposite the place which is mentioned as the location of Piast's cottage. Supposedly, in this place in 1863, there was an idea to start building a mound to memorialize the national millennium. The entire cathedral building, later a collegiate church, is built of six-sided granite blocks and sandstone. Outside it is decorated on the west side with a medium tall tower with three domes and a second, smaller one, in the center of the church with two domes covered with sheet metal. The first, from foundation to the domes is 70 feet tall, the domes are 45 feet high, with an 8 foot cross on top. Together it is 123 feet high. On the top, from the east, there is an iron cross, and the whole construction resembles a cross. From the original style of the church it appears that it dates back to the times of Boleslaw III Krzywousty and was probably the work of Piotr Dunin, the count of Skrzyn and Ksiaz, who, as is known, built 77 churches in various parts of Poland and who ruled Kruswica. The interior dimensions, similar to all churches of this construction is 60 paces long and 20 of width, a ratio of 3 to 1. On each side there are 3 arcades that separate the nave without vaulting, but rather have a ceiling of wooden beams that have yellow star decorations on a blue field. The altars are elaborate in the rococo style. In the church there is plenty of light and a lot of gilded decorations. In general the restoration was done according to studies of Romanesque churches with the desire to preserve the original appearance which has remained since the beginning of the twelfth century.
There are also walls that date to an earlier period. The author of the article entitled "Kruswica" in Orgelbrandt's Encyclopedia correctly points out that "there is a lack of Catholic feeling in this work and interpretation of the ancient appearance; it appears to be a very sterile and protestant scholarly study which was substituted by the restorers for religious feeling which was experienced by the architect who originally planned the building. The restorer had such taste that in the cemetery surrounding the church he placed glass spheres on supports, as are used in beer gardens for decoration. This is a most distasteful signature, though studied and interpreted in Puffendorf's picture. The restoration was done in 1859. Now, after the restoration, there are no celebrations as would be required per the mementos and miraculous pictures within would suggest. It all has cooled off, all that would remind one of the Piast times; the seventeenth century is most evident. One cannot find the interior decorations, large and ancient, or the old murals, beautifully wrought gravestones, which are mentioned in Sobieszczanski's "Wiadomosci o sztukach pieknych" [News about the fine arts]. "Przyjaciel Ludu" from 1842 on page 216 enumerates a large quantity of paintings and portraits, some of which we can mention. There was a portrait of Mieczyslaw I with the sign "Mieczyslaw I, a prince from a pagan line in the year of Our Lord 964, founder of the Kruswica cathedral and eight other cathedrals, and also churches in towns and cities, which he endowed with villages, tithes, and other sources of income. 2). A portrait of Boleslaw Chrobry [the Brave] in armor, also with a sign; 3). A portrait of Lucidas, the first bishop at Kruswica; 4). Portrait of the first bishop buried in Kruswica in 1099; 5). 6). 7). Portraits of later bishops buried at the cathedral; 8). A painting showing persons of various ages and classes; the clerics teach the Christian faith; while the bishop baptizes the people. The bishops marks the place for the church; the clerics demolish the idols and throw them into Lake Goplo. 9). and 10). Also paintings of the bishop surrounded by the priests or crowds of people etc. As a result of the restoration there are only a few of paintings repainted from the old ones. These recall the ancient times of the cathedral and the people. There are also signs engraved in marble, placed by Gebicki in memory of the first bishops.
There are also the headstones of two local cannons: Jan Sieklicki and Pszczonowski; and also a well worn stone on the floor that has the engraving of a woman in bas relief. It is a portrait of Zofia of Pampowo, the wife of Jan of Oporow, from mid-fifteenth century. Some items from the church's treasury should be mentioned: silver candlesticks, a gothic monstrance and a reliquary for the bones of St. Peter; a bronze basin especially noticed by lovers of antiquities which was even considered to be a leftover from the pagan era, from the time of Piast and Rzepicha [his wife]. On the bottom of the basin there is engraved or rather embossed a female figure in a flowing dress. On her head, or under it there is a cap (or rather a pillow). In her right hand there is a flowering branch, in her left hand there is a wreath; the figure is wrapped in briers, leaves and flowers. Under the woman's left arm is an embossed lily similar to the kind that appears on coats of arms. Lepkowski, a professor of archeology in Krakow, maintains that this is a [representation of a] woman about to give birth, a symbol of hope and rebirth in a new life. The basin is actually an artifact of the Catholic church, used as a tray for collecting offerings during religious services for the dead or for holding the ashes for Ash Wednesday, or the earth that a priest would sprinkle on a coffin. At a Czech museum in Prague there is a similar basin which was described by Wocel in his work "Grundzuge der Alterthumskunde"; the image on it is that of the goddess of life, so it is a relic of pagan times. The archives from which one could reconstruct a detailed history of the nine centuries of the Kruswica church have been scattered. Part is supposedly in Wloclawek, and part of it in Krolewiec.
Today the church stands alone, but one can find remnants of foundations running in various directions and these indicate the past presence of buildings, and the size and wealth of Kruswica. Szajnocha states that at Lake Goplo the history of our nation started and Kruswica shined as a capital as long as there were water connections for trade to flow between Lake Goplo and the Warta River, the Vistula and the Baltic. All the boats going on the Warta, Prosna, Ner, Widawka, Liswarta, and Obra [Odra ?] Rivers sailing to Gdansk had to go through there. But after natural changes and the network of channels was disrupted, the town faded even without the need for destructive wars, because the economic conditions dictated that the trade go elsewhere, to a new capital. Despite its early demise, Kruswica had up until mid-eighteenth century a minor titular castellan; the last being Bogatko Kazimierz. The starosta held his office until 1772, the year that the area went under Prussian rule. The Kruswica starostwo district included the town of Kruswica and manor farm, the castle, [towns of] Lagiewniki, Gocanowo, Wlostow, Sierakunce with Gembicze castle, a fulling operation, the adjoining villages, and fisheries on the Goplo and Notec River. The first starosta was Piotr Dunin, chancellor to Boleslaw Krzywousty; in 1578 it was Grzegorz Zakrzewski a Calvinist; in 1759 Jakob Niemojewski; in 1761 Floryan Lubienski; in 1763 Longin Karlowski, and after he was shot [by firing squad] in Brzesc, it was Andrzej Cienski (until the Prussian takeover).
Czyt. Kod. Dypl. Pol. II, 12, 17 and nast. Lepkowski: Bibl, Warszawa 1863. Klosy t. XVI.
Source: Polski Slownik Geograficzny [Polish Geographical Directory] Vol. IV, pages: 737-740.
Translation: Peter J. Obst (2008)