Gallus Anonymus

Gallus Anonymus (Polish: Gall Anonim; 11th-12th centuries) was the Polish historian, the author of Cronicae et gesta ducum sive principum Polonorum (Chronicles and Deeds of the Dukes or Princes of the Poles, ca. 1115).

The national origin of Gallus Anonymus (the "Anonymous Gaul") is unknown; he was probably French (hence "Gallus") or Italian. He might have been a Cistercian monk.

Gallus greatly influenced the subsequent course of Polish history, as his version of Poland's early history emphasized that the ruler's authority was inferior to that of God, as expressed in the voice of the assembled people (as in the Latin proverb, "Vox populi, vox Dei" â€" "The voice of the people is the voice of God"). This concept, via the Chronicles of Wincenty KadÅ‚ubek and the Sermons of StanisÅ‚aw of Skarbimierz, contributed to the development of the unique "Golden Liberty" that would characterize the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, whose kings were elected and were bound to obey the Sejm.