Piast dynasty
Polish royal dynasty
The House of Piast (Polish: Piastowie) was the first historical ruling dynasty of Poland. The first documented Polish monarch was Duke Mieszko I (c. 960–992). The Piasts' royal rule in Poland ended in 1370 with the death of King Casimir III the Great.
Branches of the Piast dynasty continued to rule in the Duchy of Masovia (until 1526) and in the Duchies of Silesia until the last male Silesian Piast died in 1675. The Piasts intermarried with several noble lines of Europe, and possessed numerous titles, some within the Holy Roman Empire. The Jagiellonian kings ruling after the death of Casimir IV of Poland were also descended in the female line from Casimir III's daughter.
Origin of the name
The early dukes and kings of Poland are said to have regarded themselves as descendants of the semi-legendary Piast the Wheelwright (Piast Kołodziej), first mentioned in the Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum (Deeds of the Princes of the Poles), written c. 1113 by Gallus Anonymus. However, the term "Piast Dynasty" was not applied until the 17th century. In a historical work, the expression Piast dynasty was introduced by the Polish historian Adam Naruszewicz; it is not documented in contemporary sources.
The public source identifies “Piast dynasty” as polish royal dynasty. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Piast, dynasty and Polish.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q201615. VIAF identifies the subject as 72189298. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1370, 1526, 1675 and 1113.
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This entry incorporates text from “Piast dynasty” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.