Lech, Czech and Rus (Czech pronunciation:[lɛxtʃɛxrus],Polish pronunciation:[lɛxt͡ʂɛxrus]) refers to afounding legend of three Slavic brothers who founded three Slavic peoples: thePoles, theCzechs, and theRuthenians[1] (Belarusians,Rusyns, andUkrainians). The three legendary brothers appear together in theWielkopolska Chronicle, compiled in the early 14th century. The legend states that the brothers, on a hunting trip, followed different prey and thus travelled (and settled) in different directions: Lech in the northwest, Czech in the west, and Rus in the northeast. There are multiple versions of the legend, including several regional variants throughoutWest Slavic, and to lesser extent, otherSlavic countries that mention only one or two brothers. The three also figure into theorigin myth ofSouth Slavic peoples in some legends. Their stories are often, to some extent as well, used as a myth to understand the eventual foundation of the Polish, Czech and Ruthenian states, in accordance with the legend.[2]
.jpg)
In the Polish version of the legend, three brothers go hunting together, but each follows a different prey, and eventually, they travel in different directions. Rus went to the east, Čech headed west to settle onŘíp, a mountain rising from the Bohemian hilly countryside, while Lech travelled north. While hunting, Lech followed his arrow and suddenly found himself face-to-face with a fierce, white eagle guarding its nest from intruders. Seeing the eagle against the red of the setting sun, Lech took this as a good omen and decided to settle there. He named hisgród ('fortified settlement')Gniezno (Polish:gniazdo 'nest') in commemoration and adopted the White Eagle as hiscoat-of-arms. The white eagle remains a symbol of Poland to this day, and the colors of the eagle and the setting sun are depicted in thecoat of arms of Poland, as well asits flag, with a white stripe on top for the eagle, and a red stripe on the bottom for the sunset. Lech founded the Polish Kingdom at the beginning of the fifth century.
According to the13th-centuryWielkopolska Chronicle, Slavs are descendants of Prince Pan ofPannonia. He had three sons – Lech (the youngest), Rus, and Čech (the oldest), who decided to settle north, east, and west, respectively.[3][4][5][6][7][8]
A variant of this legend, involving only two brothers (and three sisters), is also known in theCzech Republic. As in the Polish version, Čech is identified as the founder of theCzech nation (Češi pl.) and Lech as the founder of thePolish nation.Zdeněk Nejedlý argued thatCosmas of Prague'sChronica Boemorum (12th century) described Čech's arrival from Northeastern Bohemia once calledWhite Croatia.[9] The older chronicles from 14th century (such as those ofDalimil,Wenceslaus Hajek and Přibík Pulkava z Radenína) do not specify the location of Čech and Lech's homelandCharvaty, but in theAlois Jirásek retelling ofStaré pověsti české (Old Bohemian Legends) from 1894 it is more closely determined;Za Tatrami, v rovinách při řece Visle rozkládala se od nepaměti charvátská země, část prvotní veliké vlasti slovanské (Behind theTatra Mountains, in the plains of the riverVistula, stretched from immemorial time Charvátská country (probably meaning so-called Great or White Croatia[10]), the initial part of the great Slavic homeland), andV té charvátské zemi bytovala četná plemena, příbuzná jazykem, mravy, způsobem života (In Charvátská existed numerous tribes, related by language, manners, and way of life).[11] In the same century,Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor in 1347 claimed "seniority ofCroatian".[12]Dušan Třeštík saw parallels of number seven and else in the Croatianorigo gentis of five brothers and two sisters from the 30th chapter ofDe Administrando Imperio byConstantine VII (10th century).[13]
However, numerous battles had made the country very unfavorable for the people, who were accustomed to living in peace, cultivating the land and growing grain. According to other versions, the reason was that Čech had been accused of murder. They gathered their people and set off towards the sunset. According to theChronicle of Dalimil (1314), when Čech and his people climbed Říp Mountain, he looked upon the landscape and told his six brothers that they have reached the promised land: a country where there are enough beasts, birds, fish, and bees so that their tables will be always full, and where they could defend themselves against enemies.[14] He settled in the area with a tribe and, according to thePřibík Pulkava version (circa 1374), his brother Lech continued his journey to the lowlands over the snowy mountains of the north, where he founded Poland.[15]
Wenceslaus Hajek's version from 1541 adds many (probably fanciful) details not found in other sources. According to Hájek, the brothers were dukes who had already owned castles in their homeland before their arrival in the region and dates their arrival to the year 644.[14]
A similar legend with partly changed names (Čeh, Leh, Meh and sister Vilina), was also registered in folk tales inCroatia in theKajkavian dialect ofKrapina inZagorje (northern Croatia).[16][17] However, some believe it isn't of ancient origin but rather it was introduced among commoners by literary people since 16th century.[18] Hajek was the first to mention Krapina as place of origin of Leh meanwhile Čeh ruled over Psar near stream/river Krupa, whileKlemens Janicki wrote that Lech emigrated from islandHvar inDalmatia.[18] Already since 16th centuryVinko Pribojević,Faust Vrančić,Mavro Orbini and others from today's Croatia wrote that Čeh and Leh arrived from Croatia and related Czech and Polish language with Croatian, whileJuraj Ratkaj was the first to assert that Čeh, Leh, and Meh's origin is in Krapina.[19] Many wrote about it, includingJohann Christoph Jordan who personally came to Krapina to hear it told by the local people and mentioned it inDe Originibus Slavicis (1745),[16] in 1702 was held a theatre play, in 1848 the three brothers were part of the coat of arms of Varaždin county and the flag was present during the office inauguration ofJosip Jelačić, the legend was in addition popularized especially byLjudevit Gaj, while Stjepan Ortner published the legend in full form in 1899.[19] The legend was one of the reasons Croatian language was chosen in 17th century as the common Slavic language for Catholic books for all Slavic nations.[20]
In the Bohemian chronicles, Čech appears on his own or only with Lech. Čech is first mentioned in Latin asBohemus in theCosmas' chronicle of 1125.[citation needed] The earliest Polish mention of Lech, Čech, and Rus is found in theChronicle of Greater Poland[21] written at the end of the 13th or the beginning of the 14th century.[citation needed]
The legend suggests a common ancestry of thePoles,Czechs and theRuthenians (Rus'), and illustrates the fact that as early as the 13th century at least three different Slavic peoples were aware of being ethnically and linguistically interrelated. The legends also agree on the location of the homeland of theEarly Slavic peoples inEastern Europe. This area overlapped the region presumed by mainstream scholarship to be theProto-Indo-European homeland in the general region of thePontic–Caspian steppe.[22] In the framework of theKurgan hypothesis, "the Indo-Europeans who remained after the migrations became speakers of Balto-Slavic".[23]
The most well-known version of the legend is seen to be somewhat Polonocentric, as it mentions a national symbol (the white eagle) only for Lech and the Polish nation, while relegating the two other brothers Czech and Rus to secondary characters. Furthermore, this particular version does not address the origin of the South Slavic peoples.[citation needed]
The legend also attempts to explain the etymology of theethnonyms:Lechia (another name for Poland includingSilesia), theCzech lands (including Bohemia,Moravia, and alsoSilesia), andRus'.Jan Kochanowski, a prominentRenaissance Polishman of letters, in his essay on the origin of theSlavs, makes no mention of the third "brother", Rus. Moreover, he dismisses the legend entirely, stating that "no historian who has taken up the subject of the Slavic nation [...] mentions any of those two Slavic leaders, Lech and Czech". He goes on to assume that "Czechy" and "Lechy" are quite probably the original names for the two nations, although he does not dismiss the possibility that there might have been a great leader by the name Lech whose name replaced the original and later forgotten name for the Polish nation.[24]
Three largeoaks in the garden adjacent to the 18th-century palace inRogalin,Greater Poland, are named after the brothers (Lech, Czech i Rus), and are several hundred years old.[25] They vary between 670 and 930 centimetres (22 and 31 ft) in circumference. They are part of theRogalin Landscape Park, and together with others they have been declarednature monuments and placed under protection.[26]
Lech, Czech i Rus, legendarni bracia, eponimiczni założyciele Polski, Czech i Rusi.