THE POLANIAN DYNASTY 63
prince's deputy in all matters of war and peace. The Polish title stresses his role
as 'warleader', the Latin title his role as 'head of the palace'. He was assisted by
the skarbnik (Thesaurius), or Treasurer; the kanclerz (Cancelarius) or
Chancellor; and by an array of domestic courtiers including the Komornik
(Camerarius) or chamberlain; the czesnik (pincerna) or cupbearer; the stolnik
(dapifer) or steward; the miecznik (ensifer) or sword-bearer; and the chorazy
(vexilifer) or standard-bearer. The princely Rada or Council, consisting of some
dozen dignitaries, secular and clerical, enjoyed no separate prerogative. In the
period of fragmentation, all these offices were multiplied in each of the courts
of the provincial princes, and thereafter could not be easily reduced by the
recentralized monarchy. Thus the office of Wojewoda, originally the object of
one single appointment, made its appearance in each of the provinces, and
remained as the focus of regional power for centuries to come. It tended to
retain the full apparatus of a princely court, even after the regional principalities
disappeared, and in many instances could resist the impositions of the king to
whom it was theoretically subordinated. To counteract such centrifugal ten-
dencies, Lokietek followed the example of the Bohemian kings by instituting a
new and much more dense network of district officers. The function of the new
starosta (capitaneus) inevitably overlapped with those of the old kasztelan and
the Wojewoda, and could not be simply separated from them. Most typically in
the political sphere, the starosta provided a channel to the king for the aspira-
tions of the provincial nobility against the excessive influence of the Wojewoda
both in local affairs and the Council. It is also possible that some forms of
regional assembly survived the reunification of the kingdom from the previous
period. The 'colloquium' of regional dignitaries had assumed extensive judicial
functions, and was not challenged by the 'conventiones terrestrae' of the nobil-
ity until the end of the fourteenth century. These Conventions could conve-
niently be regarded as the ancestors of the later sejmiki, and hence of the Polish
parliamentary system as a whole. But little is known of their workings. In the
Piast era, none of these institutions had crystallized into their final form.
Society was organized on a military basis. At the top of the social scale, stood
the Druzyna or 'Team' of the prince's bodyguards. These seem to have been
similar to the Huscarls of the Anglo-Saxon kings, and were drawn from a broad
class of heredes (dziedzic) holding land from the prince in return for military ser-
vice. Among the military class, several strata can be distinguished. The
moznowladztwo or 'baronial caste' consisted of powerful families, often related
to the prince by blood or distinguished service. They dominated the Council, the
offices of state, and the political life in general. In the early centuries, they con-
sidered themselves to be co-proprietors of the king's realm, and participated in
its revenues. They represented a serious limitation on the patrimonial nature of
princely power. Although they swore fidelity to the prince, and formally sub-
mitted to his authority, they were the source of most of the rebellions, and of the
interminable intrigues of the regional rulers against the senior Piast princes. In
due course, their influence was matched by that of the great abbots and bishops