Search results

1

The Public Life of Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk, Prince Royal

100%

Kiryk F.

Studia Historyczne

|

2005

|

vol. 48

|

issue 1

3-14

EN

Research into the public life of Kazimierz (Casimir) (1458-1484), the second son of King Kazimierz IV Jagiellonczyk and Elizabeth of Austria, has always been hampered by the paucity of source material. Although the last decades of the 15th century are by no means under-represented in the sources, the coverage of Poland's political history no longer received the privileged coverage that it had got in Dlugosz's Annales (until 1480). This is especially true of the regency of Prince Kazimierz. In spite of the fragmentary nature of the collected data, the author attempts to chart the political career and present the dynastic (marital) plans of Kazimierz, Prince Royal from the time of his childhood and youth, when he was trained in the arts of diplomacy, royal administration, and oratory. Like his brothers, the boy was brought up to become ruler of one of the Central European countries and at one point nearly became king of Hungary. Indeed, until the last year of his life Kazimierz looked forward to a royal future for himself. Although he always had a reputation for piety, it was not until late 1483 that his religious life acquired an ascetic stringency. By then he had become keenly aware that his life, wasted by an incurable illness (tuberculosis), would not last much longer. Following his father's wish, Kazimierz acted as regent in 1482-1483. Having set up his headquarters in Radom, he toured the country performing the royal duties. He had his own chancellor's office, put his signature to official letters, issued documents, and kept his own court, which consisted of Polish and Hungarian knights. Contemporary opinion was unanimous in praising his short term of regency. It was expected that Kazimierz would be a worthy successor of his father on the Polish trone (his elder brother Wladyslaw had been elected King of Bohemia in 1471); those hopes were, however, dashed by the death of the young prince.

2

A STUDY OF TRADE BETWEEN POLAND AND HUNGARY IN THE 15TH CENTURY

100%

Kiryk F.

Studia Historyczne

|

2006

|

vol. 49

|

issue 2(194)

199-232

EN

This article sums up an analysis of the entries dated 1480-1498 from the Customs Register of the borderposts at Stara Wies Spiska and Lubowla. It is a detailed record of Polish goods brought from Poland to the town of Kiezmark as well as those exported by the Kiezmark merchants across the Carpathian Mountains to Poland. The book, though only parts of it are extant, is Poland's earliest customs register, which not only documents the country's foreign trade but also contains unique information about the merchants and carriers (vectores), the description of the goods and their destination. There are also notes about the way the merchandise was moved, packaged, and made secure during transport. An analysis of the entries has revealed the names (and surnames) of over one hundred traders from Kiezmark and as many names of carriers (seventy-five of them from various places in Poland). They were active all year round, but business tended to peak in late autumn and in winter, when heavy goods could be moved on sleighs. Exports from Poland (chiefly lead, malachite, salt, hops, wax, honey, edible oil, fish, animal skins and furs, perfumes, pepper, cinnamon, ginger, laurel leaves and other condiments) far exceeded the imports (copper, iron, steel, copperware, wine and horses). We can also find highly interesting entries about trade in paper and books (no doubt the latter originated from Cracow, the leading centre of the printing trade in Central Europe). In addition to its lists of goods that were taken across the border the Spisz Customs Register notes their prices (an important piece of evidence which, matched with other contemporary sources, could well be the subject of a separate study). It also records data which enable us to trace the drift of cross border migrations, from Poland to the Spisz towns of Kiezmark and Lewocza. Above all, however, that late fifteenthcentury customs register demonstrates that in the Middle Ages the Carpathians were hardly a formidable barrier between Poland and Hungary (Slovakia). The mountain range did not prevent the two nations from developing numerous political and cultural ties; nor did it prove to be a major obstacle to the flow of trade.

3

The Early Chapters in the History of Polaniec (From the 12th until the mid-17th Century)

100%

Kiryk F.

Studia Historyczne

|

2004

|

vol. 47

|

issue 3-4

291-312

EN

The origins of Polaniec, a small town on the Vistula to the north east of Cracow, can be traced, on the basis of rather scanty source material, to a marketplace settlement destroyed by the Mongol raids in 1241 and 1260. Further progress, especially in identifying the site of the earliest castellan's town, cannot be made without enlisting the help of archaeologists. Yet, even at this point, it can be assumed that some form of incorporation preceded the 1264 presentation of Mikolaj, son of Bartek, with the bailiwick (wójtostwo) of Polaniec. Jan Dlugosz reports that in the 14th century (an information was confirmed by later sources) Polaniec was moved from its original site to a more convenient location on the banks of the River Czarna, a tributary of the Vistula. The move was followed by two centuries of growth, sustained by local manufacture, trade (which reached out as far as Russia) and agriculture. In the 14th century Polaniec had over 1,000 inhabitants, in the following century their number rose to c. 1,300. The town became an ambitious ecclesiastical and cultural centre with more than 1,500 inhabitants in the 17th century. The popularity of the Polaniec markets and fairs is well attested by the Sandomierz urban chronicles. The Polaniec men had a significant presence on the Vistula trade route, specializing primarily in salt, but also in the transport of corn and agricultural produce downstream to Torun and Gdansk and of barrels of salted herring in the opposite direction. They are also known to have been busy buying and selling oxen. Polaniec was an ethnically homogeneous community from its medieval beginnings until the end of the Jagiellonian Age. The first Jewish families came to stay in Polaniec in the second half of the 16th century and from that time the Jewish population of the town was growing steadily. The clergy and the educated people (the teacher, the cantor, the organist) gathered round the church, the school and the almshouse, while the families of the deputy constable (podstarosta), officials from the Royal Estate of Polaniec and manorial clerks looked to the manor house as their natural rallying point. The size of its urban substance (exclusively timber) and population made it equal to Koprzywnica and Osiek, and well ahead of Bogoria, Iwaniska, Lasocin, Ozarów, or Tarlów.

Refine search results

3 Studia Historyczne

1 2006

1 2005

1 2004

3 Kiryk F.

The Public Life of Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk, Prince Royal

A STUDY OF TRADE BETWEEN POLAND AND HUNGARY IN THE 15TH CENTURY

The Early Chapters in the History of Polaniec (From the 12th until the mid-17th Century)