Background
After his death in 997 during a mission among the pagan Prussian tribes, Bishop Adalbert of Prague was quickly canonized by the common effort of Duke Bolesław I and Emperor Otto III. Thus, Adalbert became the first Slavic bishop to become a saint. His body, bought back by Bolesław from the Prussians for its weight in gold, was put into a tomb at Gniezno Cathedral, which became the ecclesiastical center of Poland.
According to the chronicles of Thietmar of Merseburg, Otto III, who had been a friend of Adalbert, committed to a pilgrimage from Italy to St. Adalbert's tomb in Gniezno; in his attempt to extend the influence of Christianity in Eastern Europe, and to renew the Holy Roman Empire based on a federal concept ("renovatio Imperii Romanorum") with the Polish and Hungarian duchies upgraded to eastern federati of the empire. As part of this policy he also invested Grand Prince Stephen I of Hungary with the king's crown (the Crown of Saint Stephen).
The Polish Piast dynasty under Mieszko I had extended their domains beyond the Oder river, where their claims to power collided with the interests of the Saxon margrave Gero. After his defeat by Gero's troops in 963, Mieszko I decided to come to terms with Emperor Otto I and agreed to pay tribute for this part of his lands. In turn he gained the title of amicus imperatoris ("Friend of the Emperor") and the acknowledgment of his position as a Dux of Poland. He continued his policy of convergence with the Empire by marrying Oda, the daughter of the Saxon margrave Dietrich of Haldensleben, in 978 and by marrying his son Bolesław I to a daughter of Margrave Rikdag of Meissen. As a precaution however, shortly before his death in 992 he placed his realm (Civitas Schinesghe) under the protection of Pope John XV according to the dagome iudex regest.
When his son Bolesław succeeded him, Poland remained an ally of the Empire in the campaigns against the Polabian Lutici tribes. Emperor Otto II, father of Otto III, died at age 28 in 983 and his widow Theophanu and grandmother reigned for the child-king Otto III. In 996 Otto III was crowned as Holy Roman Emperor at Rome. By the time of the congress at Gniezno in 1000 AD, he was 20-years old.
Read more about this topic: Congress Of Gniezno
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