__NOTOC__Selencia was an early 12th-century entity at or near the southern coast of the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and fr ...

, mentioned only in the chronicles of

Gallus Anonymus ''Gallus Anonymus'' ( Polonized variant: ''Gall '') is the name traditionally given to the anonymous author of '' Gesta principum Polonorum'' (Deeds of the Princes of the Poles), composed in Latin between 1112 and 1118. ''Gallus'' is generally reg ...

, who listed it as one of three northern neighbors of

Piast Poland The period of rule by the Piast dynasty between the 10th and 14th centuries is the first major stage of the history of the Polish state. The dynasty was founded by a series of dukes listed by the chronicler Gall Anonymous in the early 12th cen ...

around 1115 (the other ones being " Pomorania" and " Pruzia." It has been proposed that Selencia was a misspelling of

Lutici The Lutici or Liutizi (known by various spelling variants) were a federation of West Slavic Polabian tribes, who between the 10th and 12th centuries lived in what is now northeastern Germany. Four tribes made up the core of the federation: th ...

a, or that Selencia was a short-lived state centered on the

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech language, Czech, Lower Sorbian language, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder ri ...

estuary, probably destroyed when in 1122 Boleslaw III Wrymouth of Poland defeated, according to the annals of Cracow, a ''"Zuetopolc dux Odrensis."''

Gallus Anonymus

Selencia is mentioned twice in the first book of

' ''

Gesta principum Polonorum 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 lik ...

(The Poles' princes' deeds),'' a chronicle composed in

between 1112 and 1118 to glorify the

Piast dynasty The House of Piast was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 930–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of king Casimir III the Great. Branc ...

in general, and the contemporary Piast ruler Boleslaw III Wrymouth in particular. The first mention is written in the present tense, describing Boleslaw III Wrymouth's fight against his pagan neighbors at the

- Selencians, Pomeranians and

Old Prussians Old Prussians, Baltic Prussians or simply Prussians ( Old Prussian: ''prūsai''; german: Pruzzen or ''Prußen''; la, Pruteni; lv, prūši; lt, prūsai; pl, Prusowie; csb, Prësowié) were an indigenous tribe among the Baltic peoples that ...

, while the second mention refers to Boleslaw I Chrobry's fight against the same peoples.Gaethke, Hans-Otto: ''Kämpfe und Herrschaft Heinrichs von (Alt-) Lübeck und Lothars von Supplingenburg im Slawenland 1093/1106-1125,'' in: Zeitschrift des Vereins für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde (ZVLGA), vol. 80 (2000), pp. 63-163, here pp
138.
br/>
First mention in

: ''

'' lib. I prehum (in MGH SS 9
p. 425
: ''"Ad mare autem septemtrionale vel anphitrionale tres habet affines barbarorum gentilium ferocissimas nationes, Selenciam, Pomeranam u et Pruziam, contra quas regiones Polonorum dux assidue pugnat, ut eas ad fidem convertat; sed nec gladio praedicationis cor eorum a perfidia potuit revocari, nec w gladio iugulationis eorum penitus vipperalis progenies aboleri. Saepe tamen principes eorum a duce Poloniensi proelio superati, ad baptismum confugerunt; itemque collectis viribus fidem christianam ab negantes, contra christianos bellum denuo paraverunt."''
English translation per Güttner Sporzynski, Darius von:
Poland and the Papacy Before the Second Crusade
'' in Balard, Michel (ed.): La papauté et les croisades. Actes du VIIe Congrès de la Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East, Avignon 27-31 aout 2008 (Crusades subsidia, vol. 3), Farnham 2011, pp. 257-270, here p. 260: ''"On the Northern Sea, olandhas as neighbours three most savage nations of pagan barbarians, Selencia, Pomerania, and Prussia, and the duke of the Poles is constantly at war with these countries, fighting to convert them to the faith. But neither has the sword of preaching been able to sway their hearts from faithlessness, nor the sword at their throats wiped out this generation of vipers inits entirety. Yet often their leaders when defeated in battle by the Polish duke have taken refuge in baptism, only to deny the Christian faith when they recovered their strength and take up arms afresh against the Christians."''

Second mention in Gallus Anonymus: ''Gesta principum Polonorum'' lib. I.6 (in MGH SS 9
p. 428
: ''"Ipse namque Selenciam, Pomoraniam et Prusiam usque adeo vel in perfidia resistentes contrivit vel conversas in fide solidavit, quod ecclesias ibi multas et episcopos per apostolicum, ymmo apostolicus per eum ordinavit."''
English translation: ''"For when Selencia, Pomerania and Prussia stood firmly by their unfaithfulness, he beat them down. When they had converted, he strengthened the faith by establishing many churches and bishops in the name of the pope - actually, the pope established them through him."''

References

Footnotes

{{reflist

Bibliography

*Gaethke, Hans-Otto: ''Kämpfe und Herrschaft Heinrichs von (Alt-) Lübeck und Lothars von Supplingenburg im Slawenland 1093/1106-1125,'' in: Zeitschrift des Vereins für Lübeckische Geschichte und Altertumskunde (ZVLGA), vol. 80 (2000), pp. 63–163, here pp
139
*Kossmann, Oskar: ''Das unbekannte Ostseeland Selencia und die Anfänge Pommerns,'' in: ZfO, vol. 20 (1971), pp. 641–685. *Schmidt, Roderich: ''Das historische Pommern. Personen, Orte, Ereignisse,'' Cologne/Weimar 2009, p
58
History of Pomerania