# Network of fortified gords expands (800)

URL: https://poland-history.com/timeline/800-network-of-fortified-gords-expands
Location: Poland

West Slavic communities built many timber-and-earth strongholds (gords) that served as refuges, tribal centres and seats of emerging elites. Within the broader Slavic Tribes period: Slavic tribes settled the region from the sixth century, building fortified gords and tribal territories. Legends of Lech, Krakus and Piast preserve memories of this age, which ended with the rise of the Polans around Gniezno. At this point in the timeline (800), the governing authority was Slavic tribal rulers (Tribal chieftains). Early West Slavic tribes such as the Polans, Vistulans, Masovians, Silesians, Lendians and Pomeranians were led by local chiefs and elders before the Piast state united most of them. Network of fortified gords expands mattered because it left a lasting monument of Poland's cultural and political history. The event is placed here so readers can follow it alongside changes in government, warfare, society, religion and culture across Polish history.

## Why it matters
Network of fortified gords expands mattered because it left a lasting monument of Poland's cultural and political history.

Ruler at the time: [Slavic tribal rulers](https://poland-history.com/rulers/slavic-tribal-rulers)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Gord (archaeology)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gord_(archaeology))
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica topic lookup — Network of fortified gords expands](https://www.britannica.com/search?query=Network+of+fortified+gords+expands)
- [Wikipedia — Polish tribes (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_tribes)