Send Gift Baskets to Glogow, Poland

Among Poland’s oldest towns, Gogów has a long history. In the past, it was founded by a Polish tribe called the Dziadoszanie, a West Slavic tribe. In the 10th century, Mieszko I of Poland erected a new stronghold as part of the emerging Polish state. The first known historical record comes from 1010, in Thietmar of Merseburg’s chronicles, after the troops of King Henry II of Germany in the conflict over the March of Lusatia and the Milceni lands had attacked the forces of the Polish Duke Bolesław I Chrobry and again besieged Głogów on August 9, 1017, without result. The Peace of Bautzen was concluded by Henry and Boleslaw the following year.

In 1109, King Henry V of Germany was involved in a fratricidal war between Polish dukes Boleslaw III Wrymouth and Zbigniew, but he could not defeat the Polish forces in the Battle of Gogów. Duke Wadysaw II the Exile and his sons were finally able to take the town in 1157 when Frederick I Barbarossa invaded the Silesian lands.

Wadysaw II’s youngest son Konrad Spindleshanks rebuilt Gogów in 1180, the residence of his principality, which fell to the Duchy of Silesia after he died in 1190. During the fragmentation under Duke Bolesaw II, Bald and his younger brother, the Duchy of Glgów, was established under Duke Konrad I in 1251. It was two years later that he granted the town of Magdeburg rights. The city prospered through trade and crafts, brewing and clothmaking from the 13th century onward. Similar to many Duchies of Silesia, Gogów also fell under the rule of King John of Bohemia in 1329.

The Gogów line of the Silesian Piasts ended with the death of Jan II the Mad in 1504. A year later, the troops of King Matthias Corvinus appeared at the city gates and expelled Jan for his harsh measures. It was ruled by future Polish kings John Albert and Sigmund the Old between 1491 and 1506.