Inclusions of socio-political matters and matters considered in terms of outlook in the medieval art history research. Case studies

Medieval art frequently had political functions. After depicting the scope of political aspects and an example of political thoughts in Ottonian illuminated manuscripts there is an analysis of perspectives on medieval art. For example, point of view at Romanesque architecture can be marked in terms of outlook typical for a particular period. All the more important is the large-scale recent research on Romanesque architecture in Poland. There are attempts at demythologization of art and attempts to free the approach to art from ideology. Two different examples of well-known Gothic equestrian statues were discussed. Approaches to both sculptures and reception of them became politicized. The aim of discussions in this article was to point the political aspects in approach to works of art and in analyses of them. One of the conclusions is that the changing within the space of time political factor should be in many cases taken into consideration. In addition to that, the works of art should always be treated first of all as aesthetic, artistic objects.

Financial carieer of Przecław Potulicki, the castellan of Rogoźno, in late medieval Wielkopolska

The second half of the fifteenth century saw the growing importance of the magnates of Wielkopolska, supported by King Casimir the Jagiellon, who sought a counterbalance to the hitherto leading role of the nobles of Małopolska. This was the beginning of lasting political and property careers of a number of families from Wielkopolska.

Christianisation and the elite of Great Moravia against the early medieval Central Europedieval Central Europe

From the position of Christian rulers, faith expansion concerned not only individuals, but also entire communities. A decision appertaining to the choice of Rome or Constantinople as a place of importation of Christianity was both significant and political. Following a number of failed attempts of Christian missions among the Slavic tribes, the ninth and eleventh century saw the emergence of the foundations of statehood along with a number of conversions acts of rulers and their milieux. The eighth century saw the development of stronghold centres on the Morava river (Mikulčice, Staré Město, Uherske Hradiste). The strongholds were rapidly remodelled in the late eighth/early ninth century, hence even prior to the Moravians putting in an appearance in Frankfurt in 822. At the time in the area of western Slovakia occurred the most aggressive expansion into the territory of the Avars located on the left bank of the Danube and new Moravian strongholds (Pobedim, Devin, Smolenice–Molpír) were erected east of the White Carpathians, at least as far as The Váh. These phenomena can be regarded as social upheavals within the political elite of the Moravians, centred on the Morava River, which resulted in the expansion into the territories in south-western Slovakia occupied by the Avars and the ensuing construction of new stronghold centres. That expansion presumably presaged the creation of a base against the Khaganate in Pannonia. The erection of the first churches in the area on the initiative of the princes and nobles attests to the scale of the changes which occurred among the Moravians, having probably stemmed from very intensive, yet unmentioned in written sources, contacts between the tribal Moravian aristocracy and the Frank Counts from the borderland. It is reasonable to conjecture that there was not any organised mission, as evidenced by the ethnical diversity of the Moravian clergy emerging at the time. It consisted, apart from the Bavarians, also of the clergy from Italy and the Greeks of the Dalmatian cities.

Understanding feudal issues in the Czech and non-Czech literature from the perspective of historiographical discourse

Similar to other historical phenomena, understanding feudal issues has always been closely related to the changes of historiographical discourse. In the nineteenth century, the institution of fief was treated as a component of feudalism and as such fairly negatively valued, whilst when in later literature, popular became a notion of feudal law, a kind of a legal system, its importance was highly overrated. Examined within the framework of legal history, the issue of fiefdom gained independence with the advent of processuality of the historical process in historical sciences, e.g., in the form of influence of sociology in the monograph from the late 1920s La société féodale by Marc Bloch, who saw elements similar to feudalism and feudal institutions in areas outside Europe. Positive assessment of the feudal system emerged in the context of the formation of territorial structures of the state, mainly due to the German scholar of history of law – Heinrich Mitteis. Further impulses, largely referring to older ideas, occurred together with the problematisation of some institutions formerly deemed immutable, such as feudalism, as well as the recognition of the feudal system as an independent social structure, not subject to the influence of historical factors and processes, e.g., in the 1953 monograph of Georges Duby La société aux XIe et XIIe siècles dans la région mâconnaise. Some shortcomings of the structural perspective were overcome by a more flexible interpretation of the phenomena in the spirit of the postmodern discourse, e.g., through studies on vassals. The postmodern critique inspired the work of Susan Reynolds (Fiefs and Vasalls), who in addition to the use of traditional concepts, undermined the continuity of the historical process, or our understanding of the continuity of the historical process in accordance with Neo-Kantian philosophy. The Czech historiography, naturally, went through analogous processes, the change best attested to in the 1952 paper Lennie právo v Čechách by František Graus, who, within the Marxist discourse on the periodisation of history, applied the structural approach to the problems of feudal system, yet, as regards the title of the said article, still remained within the former discourse.

Confirmatory documents issued by the rulers for the Bohemian and Silesian cities until 1419.

The author has attempted to provide a holistic view of the practice of confirming the documents for the royal and princely towns in the area of Bohemia and Silesia (the area of Moravia has already been explored in this respect) by the ruler. Confirmatory documents formed an integral part of the production of the writing offices of the rulers of both examined territories, i.e., the Czech kings and the princes of Silesia. Whilst in the case of Bohemia the issuer is unambiguous (the King of Bohemia), the issuers from the region of Silesia could have included the Silesian princes (including the Bishop of Wrocław), the Czech king and the royal starosts (governors) in the principalities directly subject to the Czech ruler as issuers. Generally, confirmatory documents are deemed to have been diplomatic acts which confirmed the existence of a legal reality. These included not only documents (alternatively confirmatory documents issued in the form of a mandate), whereby the rulers confirmed the prevailing legal acts of their predecessors, but also those which confirmed acts of their subjects. A selection of merely one group of recipients was deliberate, notwithstanding the resultant, apparently incomplete image. Such an approach has its advantages, inasmuch as it allows the examination of the resources in a more compact form, and what is more, throughout two territories to some extent shaped by various traditions. The author focuses largely on several issues related to confirmatory documents, notably on the differentiation between confirmatory and dispositive documents. Both types are to some extent convergent, and sometimes the dispositive formula is present in some confirmatory documents. Furthermore, dispositive documents are sometimes deemed to be one of the degrees of confirmation. Nevertheless, in most cases notable is a variance in the usage of both types of documents. First, the author presents a quantitative review of the number of documents issued for particular towns. Was there a direct principle saying that the more important and richer the town, the more confirmative documents are found? How can we measure the ‘validity’ and ’wealth’ of each of the analysed towns? Which towns can boast of confirmations issued by the majority of successive rulers and which have to be satisfied with merely a few acts? This question needs to be explored also from a different point of view: we need to determine the role of confirmatory documents in the policy of the rulers towards the towns as well as how it was reflected in the different phases of the duke’s (king’s) reign. The motives behind issuing individual acts of confirmation and the question what forced the towns to make efforts to have their privileges confirmed are essential elements of the author’s inquiry. The reasons might have been both external, namely the position of the town’s ruler, and internal – problems inherent in the functioning of a given centre.

Confraternity of the Żagań Convent of the Canons Regular from 1401

In this article, the authors present an edition of preserved and to date unpublished documents demonstrating the origin of confraternities between Convents of Canons Regular in Żagań and in Kłodzko. The documents were issued on 5 and 19 March 1401.

Bohemian and Moravian influences in the material culture of the Polish lands during the formation of the early Piast state and their genesis

The text analyses Bohemian and Moravian influences on Polish lands during the formation of the Piast state in the tenth and eleventh centuries. It looks at various levels of material culture: construction, pottery, jewellery, coinage and, more generally, funeral culture. The analysis aims to identify the routes of transmission of southern impacts to Polish lands and to answer the question about the possible migration of Bohemian population into the Polish lands.

Aleksander Gieysztor and Gerard Labuda as Researchers in Universal History

In concordance with the scholarly profile of the Warsaw historiographical school of the time, Aleksander Gieysztor’s early research, which begun in the 1930s. was devoted to the Carolingian monarchy and the origins of the crusade movement. It was not until after the Second World War that Gieysztor turned his attention to the Slavic studies, conducted from the very beginning by the Poznań historiographical school, to which Gerard Labuda remained faithful throughout his research career. Labuda was primarily interested in Western Slavdom, the origins of Slavic states (Samo’s Empire) and the political and legal aspects of the functioning of early states in Central Europe. Aleksander Gieysztor’s studies on Slavic Europe focused mainly on early medieval Rus’ and on comparative research confronting the phenomena of the history of culture and the history of state and social institutions in Central and Eastern Europe with analogous phenomena and processes known from Carolingian and post-Carolingian Europe.

The state of research into the history of hermitages in medieval Slovakia

In this historiographical paper, we map the latest state of research into Christian hermitages in medieval Slovakia. We focus on literature on the subject of hermits, the Order of Carthusians and the Pauline Fathers, published after 1989.

Mendicant orders in the academic discourse on medieval Slovakia after 1989

The changes in Slovakia that followed the Velvet Revolution of November 1989 created a new exploratory atmosphere in historical science, including the history of medieval monasticism.

On the Kutná Hora election of Vladislaus II of Hungary in the light of his obligations and Czech demands

In this article I studied the undertaking of King Vladislaus II of Bohemia (1456– –1516), which he have to oblige to became a czech king after the death of George of Poděbrady and the demands of Czechs expressed on the Diet at Kutná Hora.

The founding of the oldest Benedictine monasteries in Bohemia in the light of written sources (from the 960s to the 1060s)

The article is devoted to the establishment of the oldest monastic institutions in the Czech lands in the 10th and 11th century and the scriptural sources dealing with the circumstances of their establishment. It deals with the founding of the female monastery of St. George at Prague Castle and the male monasteries of Břevnov, Ostrov, and Sázava.

A woman and coins: Euphemia of Hungary’s contribution to the minting

Euphemia (d. 1111) was the wife of Otto I the Fair, prince of Moravia. After her husbands’ death, she ruled as a regent for her minor sons. Together with her offspring, she issued two types of denarii. The present article aims to distinguish the iconography of these coins and of the models they were likely to be based on, to establish th context of their creation and determine the propaganda message they conveyed.