Popiel

Who is Popiel?

Prince Popiel ІІ was a legendary 9th century ruler of the West Slavic tribe of Goplans and Polans, the last member of the pre-Piast dynasty, the Popielids. According to the chroniclers Gallus Anonymus, Jan Długosz and Marcin Kromer, as a consequence of his bad rule he was deposed, besieged by his subjects, and eaten alive by mice in a tower in Kruszwica.

As the legend goes, Prince Popiel ІІ was a cruel and corrupt ruler who cared only for wine, women, and song. He was greatly influenced by his wife, a beautiful but power-hungry German princess. Because of Popiel's misrule and his failure to defend the land from marauding Vikings, his twelve uncles conspired to depose him; however, at his wife's instigation, he had them all poisoned during a feast. Instead of cremating their bodies, as was the custom, he had them cast into Lake Gopło.

When the commoners saw what Popiel ІІ and his wife had done, they rebelled. The couple took refuge in a tower near the lake. As the story goes, a throng of mice and rats rushed into the tower, chewed through the walls, and devoured Popiel and his wife alive. Prince Popiel was succeeded by Piast Kołodziej and Siemowit.