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Medieval chronicle from Poland

The Gesta principum Polonorum (; "Deeds of the Princes of the Poles") is the oldest known medieval chronicle documenting the history of Poland from the legendary times until 1113. Written in Latin by an anonymous author, it was most likely completed between 1112 and 1118, and its extant text is present in three manuscripts with two distinct traditions. Its anonymous author is traditionally called Gallus (a name which means "Gaul"), a foreigner and outcast from an unknown country, who travelled to the Kingdom of Poland via Hungary. Gesta was commissioned by Poland's then ruler, Boleslaus III Wrymouth; Gallus expected a prize for his work, which he most likely received and of which he lived the rest of his life. The book is the earliest known, written document on Polish history. It gives a unique perspective on the general history of Europe, supplementing what has been handed down by Western and Southern European historians. It pre dates the Gesta Danorum and the next major source on the early history of Poland, the Chronica seu originale regum et principum Poloniae, older by roughly a century. The oldest known copy of the work is currently owned by National Library of Poland in Warsaw.

The title intended for or originally given to the work is not clear. In the initial capital of the text in the Zamoyski Codex, a rubric styles the work the Cronica Polonorum, while in the same manuscript the preface of Book I opens with Incipiunt Cronice et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum ("[Here] begins the chronicles and deeds of the dukes or princes of the Poles"). The incipit for Book II entitles the work Liber Tertii Bolezlaui ("Book of Boleslaus III"), and that for Book III Liber de Gestis Boleslaui III ("Book of the Deeds of Boleslaus III"). These however are not reliable as such things are often added later.

The author of the Gesta is unknown, but is referred to by historiographic convention as "Gallus", a Latin word for a "person from France or Gaul" (though also, potentially, a forename). Author's anonymity though, was done on purpose due to his\hers (as mentioned in the work) desire to dedicate the work to God only a notion widely popular in the medieval times. When Polish bishop Marcin Kromer completed his work Folio 199, he left a footnote in it that credited Gallus as the author of Gesta which he brought up in the work. It roughly read: This work is by Gallus, I reckon he was a French monk, the one who lived during the times of Boleslaus III. It was the very first time when the author was referred to as "Gallus". In Gottfried Lengnich's printed edition, Lengnich named the author as "Martin Gallus" based on a misreading of Jan Długosz, where Gallus was conflated with Martin of Opava. allegedly Bishop of Kruszwica, though likewise this theory has failed to gain general acceptance. Another historian, Karol Maleczyński, argued that the evidence suggests a connection with Flanders, while Danuta Borawska and Tomasz Jasiński have argued based on stylistic evidence that he was connected with Venice and that he authored an anonymous translatio of St Nicholas. Marian Plezia argued in 1984 that his writing style suggests an education in one of the schools of central France, likely Tours or Orléans. Plezia and others further argue that Gallus' extensive knowledge of Hungary testify to connections there, postulating a connection to the Benedictine monastery of Somogyvár in Hungary, a daughter house of St Gilles'. He appears to have been closely connected to the Awdańcy clan, a kindred of Norse or Rus origin who had been successful under Boleslaus II, and who had been exiled to Hungary but returned to prominence in Polish affairs during the reign of Boleslaus III. As he stated that "the city of Gniezno means "nest" in Slavonic, it is thought that the author may have known the language of the country. All that is certain is that he was a monk and a foreigner living in Poland, perhaps on a Polish benefice.

Generally, it is thought that the original text was composed at some point between 1112 and 1117. The dedicatory letter on the preface of the Gesta fixes completion of the origin text between 1112 and 1118. The last event mentioned in the work is the pilgrimage of Boleslaus III to Székesfehérvár in Hungary, which occurred in either 1112 or 1113.

The work begins with an address and dedication to Martin, Archbishop of Gniezno, and to the bishops of Poland's regions, Simon (Bishop of Plock, c. 1102–29), Paul (Bishop of Poznań, 1098–c. 1112), Maurus (Bishop of Kraków, 1110–18) and Zyroslaw (Bishop of Wroclaw, 1112–20). Thomas Bisson argued that the text was primarily written in the gesta genre of Latin literature as a celebration of Duke Boleslaus III Wrymouth, defending his actions and legimizing his dynasty (compare the near contemporary Deeds of Louis the Fat). The work is divided into three books, focused on genealogy, politics and warfare. Book one, of 31 chapters, treats the deeds of the ancestors of Boleslaus III (beginning with the legendary Piast the Wheelwright), and their wars against the neighbouring Germanic and Slavic peoples such as the Rus, the Bohemians, the Pomeranians, the Mazovians and the obscure Selencians. The first Book claims to rely on oral tradition, and is largely legendary in character until the reign of Mieszko I. The earlier material tells of the rises of the Piasts from peasants to ruler, a tale common in early Slavonic folk myth. Book two, of 50 chapters, traces the birth of Boleslaus, his boyhood deeds and documents the wars waged by himself and "count palatine" Skarbimir against the Pomeranians. Book three, of 26 chapters, continues the story of the wars waged by Boleslaus and the Poles against the Pomeranians, the war against the German emperor Heinrich V and the Bohemians, and against the Baltic Prussians.

The Gesta is not extant in the original, but instead survives in three different manuscripts representing two different traditions. The Codex Zamoyscianus (Z) and Codex Czartoryscianus (S) represent the first, and earliest documented tradition, the latter being derived from the former. The Heilsberg codex, though later and surviving in less detail, is an independent witness to the text and constitutes the second distinct tradition.

The earliest version lies in the manuscript known as the Codex Zamoyscianus or Zamoyski Codex. This was written down in the late 14th century, probably in Kraków between 1380 and 1392. Between the mid 16th century and the 18th century, the manuscript was located in the German speaking Prussian town of Heilsberg (today the Polish town of Lidzbark Warmiński), hence the name.