Changes

Virtually every general-audience publication that however briefly retells the history of beer in Poland mentions two mandatory anecdotes. The one about [[Saint Piva of Warka]] we already dealt with before. This time, we're going to focus on the other one – about how Duke Lestek the White (also known as Leszek, the modern Polish spelling of his name) wriggled out of going on a crusade.

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| Leszek the White stayed out of crusades by arguing that there was no beer in the Holy Land; Pope Innocent III granted him a dispensation.

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{{Video|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNpNQ1bCQAo|szer=400|poz=right|opis=Jacek Kowalski sings of Lestek the White}}

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| <poem>A vow he once made

To join a crusade,

Which passes away

With no ale! No ale!</poem>

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So it's true! It's this one brief mention in the papal letter that made future historians label Lestek as a lazy, obese drunk. Especially that "having changed habit into nature" souns very much like a nice euphemism for "being an alcoholic". But there's a few things here that don't look right...

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| Being a neighbour to the Prussians, he may easily enter their land with a large force and not only defend the neophites, but also convert other pagans with his effort and diligence.

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A year after Lestek's untimely death, but possibly on still on his orders, a Dominican friar of House Odrovonsh set out from Cracow on a mission to Kiev. Better known as [[Saint Hyacinth of Pierogi|Saint Hyacinth]], he is believed to be the one who brought the first recipe for pierogi on his way back to Poland. A short time before that, Conrad concluded that his brother's peaceful approach towards the Prussians was going nowhere and it would be better to hire the Teutonic Knights to do the job of converting his pagan neighbours. It must have seemed like a good idea at the time; how could he know he had just caused Poland a series of problems that would only end in 1945? For the time being, it just meant less trouble with the Prussians. It would only be the next generation of Polish dukes that had to face an invasion so terrifying, the Prussian raids would seem like a mild nuisance in comparison. Even the combined forces of the Teutonic Knights and the sons of Lestek and Henry the Bearded were unable to stop the hosts led by the Night King&mdash; I mean, Baidar, grandson of Gengis Khan (who, incidentally, had died the same year Lestek). Apart from fire and destruction, did these Mongol-Tatar hordes also bring recipes for tartar sauce and steak tartare? That's a topic for another post.